This delicious sweet chili sauce recipe is made with honey instead of sugar. It is great for dipping or for flavoring your stir fries. It takes only 6 ingredients and 10 minutes to make. You will definitely love it!
One of my favorite dipping sauces is a Thai-style sweet chili sauce. Its sweet and spicy flavors pair perfectly with fried spring rolls or any kind of fried or grilled appetizer. For years, I kept a bottles of store-bought versions in the fridge. But as my cooking abilities improved over time, I started to make my own version, which, in my humble opinion, tastes better and is less sweet.
I developed this sweet chili sauce for one of my dumplings classes at the library. Everyone who tried it loved the sauce, so I thought I should share it on the blog, too! Besides dipping, the sweet chili sauce is good in stir fries or as a finishing sauce for baked salmon or meat. Once you make your own sweet chili sauce, you’ll never go back to the store for another bottle!
COOKING NOTES FOR THE SWEET CHILI SAUCE RECIPE
- Use good honey: The quality of the honey affects the flavor of the sauce. Make sure to use the good stuff!
- Using other starches: In one of my test batches, I replaced the cornstarch with 2 teaspoons of tapioca starch and I found the consistency to be too viscous. If you want to use tapioca starch (or any other starch with this recipe), I would start with 1 teaspoon of it. Check to see if the thickness of the sauce is to your liking before adding any more starch.
- Using other sweeteners: If you want to try variations on the sauce, you can use maple syrup, agave or sugar instead of the honey. Personally, I prefer the sauce when it’s made with my local honey.
USE THE SWEET CHILI SAUCE WITH THESE RECIPES:
- Honey Chili Garlic Shrimp
- Curried Potato Fried Dumplings
- Vegetarian Potstickers
- Rainbow Vegetable Spring Rolls
Sweet Chili Sauce
- Prep Time: 4 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: About 3/4 cup
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (170g) honey
- 1/2 cup (120ml) water
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 minced garlic (or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a medium saucepan. Stir everything until the cornstarch has dissolved.
- Bring the sauce to boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Let the sauce cool for 5 to 10 minutes before pouring it into a jar. Once the sauce reaches room temperature, seal the jar and place it in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Notes
NUTRITION INFORMATION: Amount For 1/10th of Recipe: Calories: 58, Total Fat 0g, Saturated Fat: 0g, Sodium: 60mg, Cholesterol: 0mg, Total Carbohydrate: 15.3g, Dietary Fiber: 0g, Sugar: 14g, Protein 0.2g
D. Sly says
Hi Lisa. This looks like a must try! Could you clarify your lessons learned comment, please? Do you mean tapioca starch as a substitute for, not in addition to, the cornstarch, right? Looking for a way to make the recipe paleo. Thanks.
Lisa Lin says
Great question! You are correct, I meant using tapioca starch instead of cornstarch (not in addition to cornstarch). I will clarify that in my notes.
D. Sly says
Awesome. Thanks!
Annie says
Hi Lisa,
Can you suggest any alternative/substitute for Rice Vinegar?
Lisa Lin says
Hi Annie, I’ve used white wine vinegar before, and I thought the sauce tasted fine. You could probably use apple cider vinegar as well, but ACV tends to be a bit more intense, so you might taste the vinegar flavor a little more. I hope this helps!
Annie says
Thanks Lisa!
Jamie J says
My son requested sweet chili sauce and I found your recipe. Made this for chicken wings and it is delicious! Thank you!
Lisa Lin says
Yay! Glad you enjoyed it!