Thai Sweet Chili Sauce made easily at home
on Jul 01, 2020, Updated Aug 14, 2020
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If you love that perfect balance of sweet heat, this homemade sweet chilli sauce is going to be your new obsession! It’s glossy, sticky and just perfect for dunking spring rolls, drizzling over grilled meats, or adding a zing to your sandwiches.
This Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce is the BEST accompaniment to Asian finger food. It’s sticky, sweet, tangy, and just spicy enough. We are big Spring Roll fans in this household so you just know we have jars and jars of this sauce on hand at all times!
It’s simple to make, and only calls for pantry staples like sugar, garlic, vinegar, and a good kick of chilli paste for that fiery touch. The magic is in simmering everything together until it thickens into a glossy, sticky sauce. The best part? It keeps well in the fridge for weeks, so you’re always ready to spice things up. Trust me, once you make this, store-bought just won’t cut it anymore!
Jump to section: Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
Homemade vs Store-bought
Apart from being really easy to make, here are some more reasons why I like to make this sauce at home
- Tastes cleaner, better than store-bought. No sticky mouth or weird after-taste
- You know exactly what’s going into the sauce – 9 ingredients. No chemicals, stabilizers, etc.
- Super customisable. You can adjust the spice levels, sweetness, make it more less garlick-y – make it exactly as you like it!
- You probably have all the ingredients already. The ingredient list is so simple that you might really not need a special trip to the grocery store.
- You can make a large batch and store it in the fridge so you don’t have to make fresh batch each time.
Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce Ingredients
- Sugar – Creates the sweet, sticky base and helps caramelize the sauce.
- Cayenne or Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder – Adds colour and gentle heat.
- Garlic – Freshly minced for savoury depth and flavour punch.
- Soy Sauce – Brings umami and balances sweetness.
- Salt – To season.
- Vinegar (Rice or Apple Cider) – For tanginess and natural preservation.
- Water – Helps simmer and blend flavours together.
- Chilli Paste – The real heat! Adjust to your spice tolerance. You can make this by grinding fresh Thai red chillies into a coarse paste. Alternatively you can use rehydrated dried red chillies OR in a pinch, sub for Sambal Oelek or red chilli flakes)
- Cornflour Slurry (Cornflour + Water) – Thickens the sauce into a glossy, pourable consistency. Cornflour can be subbed with tapioca or potato starch
Why Use Fresh Red Chillies
I would highly recommend using fresh Thai red chillies (the smaller variety) if you can find them. They deliver that flaming red color and leave behind that spicy tingle on the tongue, usually associated with Asian sweet chilli sauce. Thai red chillies are spicy though, so be careful.
Tip: If you’d like to reduce the heat, slit them open and remove the seeds because the seeds have the most heat in them. Mince the chillies or put them in the food processor. However, don’t make it a very fine paste. Keep it chunky for texture.
Frequently asked questions
If you can’t find fresh red chillies, just use the good old dried red chillies. Soak the dried chillies in warm water to rehydrate them and then grind them up.
I use cornflour as a thickening agent in my sauce. The mixture may look watery at first, but after the cornflour slurry (equal parts cornflour and water) is added, it develops a thicker consistency. However, you can also use potato starch or tapioca starch if that’s what you have on hand.
It’s super versatile! Use it as a dipping sauce for spring rolls, drizzle over grilled meats or seafood, toss into stir-fry noodles, or even spread in sandwiches and wraps. I love this sauce with my Cucumber Rolls, Rice Paper Pancakes, and Grilled Sambal Chicken Skewers especially!
It’s a mild-to-medium heat sauce. The sugar balances out the chilli, so it’s more sweet and tangy than fiery. You can adjust the spice level by using more or less chilli paste or by taking out the seeds from the red chillies when making the paste.
Stored in a clean, airtight jar in the fridge, it stays good for up to 4 weeks.
Yes, just simmer it longer until it naturally thickens, though it may be slightly looser in consistency.
Richa’s Top Tips
- Make sure to cool the sauce completely before bottling (this will make it keep longer!)
- Use Kashmiri red chilli powder if you want that bright red colour without much heat.
- For extra heat, increase the chilli paste or swap in bird’s eye chillies.
- Sauce too thick? Thin it with a splash of water. Too thin? Simmer longer.
Serving Ideas
- With spring rolls, momos or my fav potli wontons
- Drizzled over grilled chicken, prawns, or tofu
- Tossed with noodles, fried rice, or stir-fries
- As a dip for fries, wedges, nachos, or nuggets
- Brushed over paneer or chicken skewers as a glaze
Storage Tips
Cool the sauce completely and then transfer it into a clean jar. Refrigerated, this will keep for up to 4 weeks.
This Thai sweet chilli sauce has a permanent spot in my fridge. Once you find out just how simple and delicious this sauce, it will be in yours too.
Watch Thai Sweet Chili Sauce Recipe Video
Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper or Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 3 tablespoon Garlic, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
- 1/2 cup Vinegar, (Rice or Apple Cider)
- 1 cup Water
- 3 tablespoon Chilli Paste, (See Note 1 & 2 – or Sambal Oelek or Red Chili flakes)
- 1 tablespoon Corn Flour, or Cornstarch (See Note 3)
- 2 tablespoon Water
Instructions
- Add sugar, cayenne, minced garlic, soy sauce, salt, vinegar, and water to a saucepan and let it simmer (about 3-4 minutes), stirring occasionally till the sugar dissolves completely and the mixture reduces slightly.
- Add the chilli paste and mix. Simmer again for 2-3 minutes.
- Mix together cornflour and water in a bowl till no lumps exist and stir in this cornflour slurry into the sauce. Mix continuously till the sauce comes to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer till for 3-4 minutes till the sauce is thick, translucent and shiny. Turn off the flame.
- Serve immediately or cool completely and then transfer to a clean jar. Refrigerate for up to 4 weeks.
Video
Notes
- Chilli Paste: You can make chilli paste by grinding fresh Thai red chillies in a food processor to a coarse paste. If using dried red chillies, hydrate them in hot water for 10 minutes and then grind. Sambal Oelek or chilli flakes can be substituted.
- Reducing heat: Take out the seeds off the red chillies to reduce the heat in the sauce
- Cornflour: Can be substituted with potato or tapioca starch
- The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks
Nutrition
This article was researched and written by Navya Khetarpal.
This is diabolically good and so spicy! Absolutely a new favorite sauce. We don’t have chili paste so we used 5 rehydrated chilis as suggested for a substitute.
Hey Tanya, that sounds superb. so so glad you liked the recipe.
I upped the red chili flakes and doubled the cornstarch slurry. Also added chinese five Space and ginger. Absloutely great. Thick hot sweet and tangy.
Hey Allan, that sounds awesome. so so glad you liked the recipe.
This is fantastic!
Hey Joanne, thanks a lot.
So delicious and easy to make
Pretty good how I made it. I altered/switched out some of the ingredients. I reduced cayenne to half. Used 1-1/2 tsp jarred minced garlic. I used garlic chili paste only 1 Tbsp though. I used about 1/4 tsp pepper flakes.Very good on Asian Chicken wraps.I reduced spicy ingredients because my instinct told me to. Glad I did, had some spice not too much. Less garlic for husband he doesn’t care for a lot.
I am impressed with your post here is a new post and you have prepared a new recipe not everyone can do it but you have done it I think you will become another successful person in life.
Good day, I would like to know, if you can tell me what is amount of one cup?
Approx 250 ml
If I can write like you, then I would be very happy, but where is my luck like this, really people like you are an example for the world. You have written this comment with great beauty, I am really glad I thank you from my heart.
Add some monosodium glutamate (MSG) for an extra boost of flavour. MSG makes it taste amazing.