How many half-used bottles of condiments would you say you have in your refrigerator at this very moment. Five? Ten? Twenty? I don’t know how many I have but I know it’s too many. So when I have the opportunity to make a sauce or condiment from things I already have on hand insteading of buying yet another bottle, I’m going to do that. I love sweet chili sauce, but I only use it maybe once or twice per year and each time I’m left with half a bottle that haunts the back of my fridge for-ev-er. So this time I decided to make my own smaller batch of easy sweet chili sauce using a few simple ingredients that I usually have on hand (including another condiment that commonly haunts my fridge!).
What is Sweet Chili Sauce?
This incredibly simple sauce, sometimes called Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, is sweet, sour, and spicy. If you’re a fan of the classic sweet and sour sauce, this is quite similar, but with a delightfully spicy kick. This sauce goes great on tofu, chicken, seafood (especially shrimp and salmon), and vegetables. If you’d like to try the traditional Thai version of sweet chili sauce, check out this recipe from Hot Thai Kitchen, or this recipe from Thai Cookbook.
How to Use Sweet Chili Sauce
Sweet chili sauce is great for dipping or drizzling over your favorite foods. Here are a few recipes where I’ve used sweet chili sauce in the past:
- Sweet Chili Tofu Bowls
- Coconut Crusted Tofu with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce
- Sweet Chili Chicken Stir Fry Bowls
- Coconut Crusted Chicken with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce
It would also make a great dipping sauce for baked chicken wings, chicken nuggets, or dumplings.
Short Cut Sweet Chili Sauce
This isn’t a from-scratch, authentic sweet chili sauce. Sweet chili sauce is usually made with fresh red chiles, but I rarely see those at the store, so I took a short cut. I used sambal oelek, which is basically just red chiles and vinegar. Since vinegar is another main ingredient in sweet chili sauce, this using sambal oelek is a great shortcut.
Where Can I Buy Sambal Oelek?
Thankfully, sambal oelek is really easy to find in major grocery stores these days. Just look in the international foods aisle, near the sriracha. There is another product, chili garlic sauce, which is similar but has garlic in addition to the red chiles and vinegar. You can use that for your sweet chili sauce, but it will add a slightly garlicky flavor.
How else can you use sambal oelek? It’s great in all sorts of stir fry sauces, I like to put it on my eggs, rice bowls, soups, and more. It’s extremely versatile and can be used on just about anything. Here is the archive of recipes that use sambal oelek on this site.
Easy Sweet Chili Sauce
Servings 4 1/4 cup eachIngredients
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar ($0.47)
- 1/4 cup sugar ($0.08)
- 1/4 cup water ($0.00)
- 1 Tbsp sambal oelek ($0.13)
- 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch + 1 Tbsp water ($0.02)
Instructions
- Add the rice vinegar, sugar, water, and sambal oelek to a small sauce pot. Heat and stir the mixture over medium heat until the sugar fully dissolves.
- Stir the cornstarch into 1 Tbsp water until dissolved, then pour it into the sauce pot with the sweet chili sauce. Continue stirring and heating until the mixture comes up to a simmer, at which time the cornstarch will thicken the sauce and go from appearing cloudy to clear.
- Use the sauce immediately, or refrigerate and use within one week.
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Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Homemade Sweet Chili Sauce – Step by Step Photos
Combine 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1/4 cup cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, and 1 Tbsp sambal oelek in a small sauce pot.
This is what sambal oelek looks like. This is the same brand that makes the most popular brand of sriracha, so you can usually find it in stores that sell sriracha. It’s just a mixture of red chiles and vinegar. Super simple, but really good, and extremely versatile! I put it on everything. :)
This is the rice vinegar I use. It’s important to use rice vinegar because it is more mild than other types of vinegar and will make the sauce tangy without being overly sour. I do not suggest using a different type of vinegar.
Heat and stir the mixture in the sauce pot over medium heat until the sugar fully dissolves and the mixture looks clear. This should happen very quickly, within a few minutes.
Dissolve 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch in 1 Tbsp water, then pour that into the sauce pot. Continue to stir and cook over medium heat until it comes back up to a simmer. The cornstarch mixture will make the sauce look cloudy and white, but that will change…
When the sauce reaches a simmer, the cornstarch will thicken the sauce. At this point you’ll also notice the cornstarch going from white and cloudy to clear. And now your Easy Sweet Chili Sauce is finished!
You can either use the sauce immediately, or refrigerate it and use it within a week.
This recipe worked BEAUTIFULLY. Commercial chili sauces generally have non-vegan ingredients, so homemade is the way to go. This one has excellent balance between sweet, sour, salt, and spice.
I have not yet tried this but would like to – is there any way to sub the sugar for honey or maple syrup? They’re the only sweetners I have on hand.
I haven’t tried either of those types of sweeteners in this recipe, unfortunately, so I’m not sure how much it will affect the outcome. I will say that both of those sugars have a much stronger flavor than white sugar, which is rather neutral, so it will change the final flavor of the sauce.
I tried making this tonight and it tasted good but it smelled really strongly of vinegar. I used the amount of rice vinegar shown but all through the cooking process and even after it cooled, the vinegar smell was still powerful. Any idea what I could have done wrong?
You’ll definitely smell the vinegar strongly while it’s cooking because the heat is creating vinegar vapors. The smell should mellow as the sauce is cooled, but I don’t know why it may have still had a strong smell afterward for you. I don’t necessarily think that is an indication that anything was done wrong, though. :)
Maybe you don’t like vinegar as much. This is a sweet and SOUR sauce. The vinegar is a feature of this sauce. I actually added more vinegar to the end product, according to my taste. For you, maybe use less according to yours. To each their own.
Yes, yes, yes. Everyone loved it. Simple, inexpensive, delicious.
Great recipie!!! Idk what the people that gave it negative reviews did wrong but they definitely did something incorrect. It’s excelent the way it is.
I’m wondering if the negative reviews here didn’t see the note about not substituting rice vinegar. With the ingredients listed, this recipe is perfect. Definitely spicy, but that’s the way I like it. Perfect for dipping eggrolls!
Well guys, I’m a qualified chef and I didnt have Sambal olek so I made my own using Chilli flakes tomato paste fredhly ground ginger , lemon grass and garlic, The measurements worked fine for me, however you can mix more cornflour in water and add more if its not quite thick enough, it will thicken more in the fridge so dont over thicken it when simmering.
For an extra twist you can add kaffe lime leaves whilst simmering or try with star aninice
We made this to go with our fried cream cheese wontons and loved it. So quick and easy. Looking forward to using it for a dipping sauce for other things. Thanks!
Waaaaay to much vinegar christ. takes waaay longer than 10 minutes to thicken. bad recipe
smells like pure vinegar boo
boo
Hi Devin, sorry you didn’t like the recipe! Are there any questions I can help you to troubleshoot?
Did not thicken with the advised amount of cornstarch. looking at a watery mess even after adding more. smells like pure vinegar, obviously need to use less than stated. 10/10 will look for another recipe.
BOO
I’m sorry to hear it Alanna! Let me know if you have any questions I can help you troubleshoot further.
Delicious! Great recipe, but it is very spicy!! Next time I would cut the chili sauce in half.
Thanks for sharing Annie!
Should I leave out the cornstarch until the end using the crockpot?
I’m making a sauce from scratch off your site and doing the crock pot recipie
Thanks in advance ;)
Ooops now seeing this comment here. Yes you can add it closer to the end of cooking.
Are you cooking just the sauce in the crockpot or are you adding it to another recipe?
I’m excited to try this. I appreciate the previous post telling how they cooled the spice factor down. I am not into spicy food either. =)
I used a no calorie sugar substitute as that is all I had on hand. Worked great. Had to add a bit more “sugar” and vinegar (maybe a teaspoon or so of sugar, and a tablespoon of vinegar), but I’m also not a big spicy petson.