This popular sweet chili sauce is one ingredient of Thai cuisine that has permeated just about every grocery store in North America! You'll be happy to know that it is incredibly simple to make, it tastes MUCH better when you make it. It lasts forever in the fridge and makes the perfect edible gift!
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What is Thai Sweet Chili Sauce?
In Thai, this sauce is called nam jim gai น้ำจิ้มไก่, which literally means "chicken dipping sauce," though we use it for many more things than chicken! It's so named because it is most commonly paired with Thai fried chicken.
But more generally, it's our go-to sauce for all deep fried foods, and anything crunchy and salty, such as fried wontons, crispy spring rolls, shrimp cakes, and fried tofu. Sometimes we also use it on things that are not fried, such as grilled meatballs, or even grilled chicken.
Why make something you can easily buy?
I'm all for convenience, but if there's a sauce I much prefer making at home, it is sweet chili sauce. This is because most store bought versions don't have much flavour or complexity beyond the sweetness. They usually contain very little chilies and garlic, and it is mostly made from water and sugar thickened with starch. Some brands are so diluted they even have to add colour to make it appear more orange!
Once you make this recipe you will notice how much chunkier it is than a store bought version, that's because we add a lot more chilies and garlic, which means our sauce is just so much more flavourful. It is also not overly sweet like most commercial versions.
Ingredients and Notes
Here are all the ingredients you'll need and important notes about them. It's a really simple list with mostly staples! For amounts, see the recipe card below.
- Mild to medium red chilies. These make up the bulk of the sauce, and we want to be able to use a lot of it for maximum chili flavour, so we have to choose something mild so as to not make the sauce too spicy. Traditionally, spur chilies or prik chee fa are used, but anything mild will work. I use something called "long red pepper" in my store (pic below) but if nothing else, red bell pepper will be fine.
- Thai chilies. These are the small spicy chilies that we use to add heat to our sauce. Add as many as you like depending on how spicy you want the sauce to be. You can also omit for a non-spicy version.
- Garlic.
- Sugar.
- White vinegar.
- Salt. I like to keep it simple with salt, but you can try adding fish sauce instead.
- Tapioca starch. This is added to thicken the sauce so that it will adhere to food better. Tapioca starch is traditionally used as it cooks up clear, so your sauce will remain clear and beautiful, but cornstarch will also be fine as a substitute if you're okay with a slightly cloudy sauce.
How to Make Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
Here's the bird's eye view of the process. If it's your first time, I recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.
- Blend the chilies, garlic, and water until it looks slushy but not smooth. If using a jug blender, you can add as much of the vinegar as needed to get the blender to blend effectively.
- Transfer into a heavy bottomed pot.
- Add sugar, any remaining vinegar and salt and stir to mix.
- Simmer the mixture for 5 minutes over medium heat. Keep a pastry brush dipped in water handy and if the sides of the pot starts to brown, brush it off with some water to prevent it from burning.
- Dissolve tapioca starch or cornstarch in water and stir the slurry into the sauce.
- Keep stirring until it comes to a boil, then remove from heat. It will thicken further as it cools.
Tips for Success
- When simmering the sauce, be careful not to let the sides of the pot burn. To prevent this, use a small burner so the sides don't heat up excessively, and if using a gas stove, make sure the flames do not come up the sides of the pot. Also, keep a pastry brush in some water handy, and if anything starts to brown on the side, brush some water on it to wash it down into the pot.
- When choosing chilies, while red bell pepper works, if you have the option, choose a red pepper with a thinner pulp which will be less watery. I use a "long red pepper," pic below.
What to Use Thai Sweet Chili Sauce On
So now that you have the sauce, what can you use it for?? To give you a clue, in Thai this sauce is called nam jim gai, which literally means "dipping sauce for chicken". So fried chicken and grilled chicken are both good candidates.
It's also our standard dipping sauce for all things deep fried such as egg rolls and fried wontons. This is because the sauce is sweet and sour, and most fried foods are primarily salty, so the combination works perfectly to balance all the flavours.
Here are a few deep fried recipes you can check out: Green curry spring rolls, crispy vegetarian spring rolls, Thai fish cakes, or crispy fried wontons.
Storage
Keep sweet chili sauce in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge and it will last a very long time because of the high sugar and vinegar content. In fact, I've never seen this sauce go bad in my fridge, even after several months. Some separation might occur - a layer of water might collect on the top - this is normal and you can just stir it back together.
Because it lasts a long time, sweet chili sauce makes a great homemade gift! You can also put it in a mason jar and can it to make it shelf stable.
Watch The Video Tutorial!
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success. You can also watch this video on my YouTube channel!
Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Makes about 1 cup
Description
Authentic recipe for the classic Thai sweet chili sauce. It's our go-to dipping sauce for any fried foods such as spring rolls and fried chicken. It's easy to make and way better than store bought!
Ingredients
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- 1 cup medium/mild red chilies, chopped
- 1-3 Thai chilies, or to taste
- 8 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- ¾ cup white vinegar
- 1½ teaspoon fine grain salt
- 1 Tbsp tapioca starch dissolved in 3 tablespoon water (or use cornstarch)
Instructions
- Blend both chilies, garlic, and water until it looks slushy but not smooth—stop blending as soon as you don't see any more big chunks.
- Transfer into a heavy bottomed pot. Add sugar, vinegar and salt and stir to mix.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring in the beginning just until all the sugar is dissolved. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Keep a wet pastry brush handy and if the sides of the pot starts to brown, brush it off with some water to prevent it from burning.
- Once it is done simmering, add tapioca slurry while stirring, and keep stirring until it comes to a boil.
- Remove from heat, taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Transfer into a jar and let cool. This will keep in the fridge for many months (I've yet to see it go bad!).
- Serve with fried chicken, spring rolls, or any deep fried foods.
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Notes
Note: In Thailand we traditionally use spur chilies, also known as "prik chee fa", but you can use any mild-to-medium red chili pepper that you can find. We basically need this for the bulk of the chili flavour and colour, so as long as it's not too spicy!
Judy Kirkpatrick says
I have been making this recipe for the past two years, I am now know for my chilli sauce as I share it with many of my friends as they love it as much as I do. Thank you Pai, for sharing all your great recipes. I do love cooking and eating Thai. Keep up the good work.
Donny says
We love this recipe.. I did do a couple changes, use 5 red Thai chilies, 1 Serrano pepper and about 1/4 of a red bell pepper, deseeded all but 1 Thai chili. Change the white vinegar to rice wine vinegar. (Our personal preference of vinegar). I quadruple the recipe, it made a half gallon mason jar and one 3 oz table serving jar. This might last my family 2 to 3 months. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipes.
Jim in Pattaya says
The last couple of works I've made a few curry pastes and today your sweet chilli sauce. If you had used weight measurements for the chopped ingredients it would be easier to replicate your recipes. Otherwise I'm a happy person eating all your recipes I've cooked from your website. Thanks Pailin
chris says
So easy and so much better than shop bought, I will be making this all the time in future.
Laura says
What can be added to the recipe so it can stored on the shelf? Thank you!
Pailin Chongchitnant says
To make it shelf-stable you'd have to can it (like jam).
Heather says
Hi, I was wondering if you have the recipe for the thai sweet and sour chili dipping sauce that is more watery and clear? It's not as hot as this recipe and I think that because it's thinner, you don't use as much (calorie counting). Please advise if you can help me find this.
Thank you!
Heather
Tyler says
I think you mean prik nam pla.
https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/prik-nam-pla/
Tyler says
Sorry, I just realized the above has no sugar. I make something similar to below, which may be what you're looking for.
https://www.seriouseats.com/thai-style-sweet-chili-dipping-sauce-recipe
Cynthia Simonsen says
I just finished making this and at first it’s sweet and then WOW the heat kicks in:-). It made almost two cups(the recipe says yield 1 cup so, be ready with jars to fit.
Can’t wait t use it for dipping and much more.
Kevin says
What kind of mild/medium red chili?
Adam The HTK Minion says
Hi Kevin! I asked her this question and she said " Doesn't really matter what kind. All work." ... so guess it's up to you and your spice tolerance 🙂 Cheers! Adam
Diane says
I can't imagine ever buying the bottled stuff again. this is so easy to make and SO delicious; I made a batch a couple of weeks ago and I've already finished a pint of it. I can eat an entire bowl of rice with just this; it's THAT good! but of course, it goes supremely well with your veggie spring rolls (I just made a double batch of those tonight -- oh my gosh; they're SO delicious). thank you!
Sam says
As like all your recipe's came out so tasty ! Thank you very much for sharing .
Rousheen Wolf says
I was making your fried pork spring rolls and didn't have sauce! I also didn't have any fresh peppers at all, so I subbed about 2 tablespoons(I didn't measure) dried chili flakes. I also cooked it for a little longer. It's super spicy, but it worked in a pinch!
Darcy says
I made this and it was better than the store bought variety. I also subtituted the sugar with Stevia. The only unfortunate part was, after a while in the fridge, the sauce seem to separate. I'm going to assume, the sugar helps to bind the ingredients better than the Stevia did. A quick stir however, and it was good to go.
Adam The HTK Minion says
Hi Darcy and good to hear! I'm on a low-carb diet so this might be the sort of thing I need 🙂 (... all the "good stuff" seems to separate over time doesn't it?) (awesome email address BTW)
Sarah says
Can I use potato starch in place of tapioca starch or corn starch?
Pailin Chongchitnant says
I've never personally worked with potato starch, but if can thicken, it will be fine.
sabine says
Can I use apple cider vinegar instead of the white vinegar?
Pailin Chongchitnant says
It will have a different flavour, but I suppose it wouldn't be "bad".
Tim says
Finally made it because I’ve got some friends coming over for fried appetizers. It’s just as easy as Pailin says, and so good!
Anne says
The sauce is delicious and so easy to make. Thank you
Peter says
I purchased a new bottle of Thai chili sauce a week ago.
I made your sauce today and WOW what a difference, far far superior.
Thanks Pailin.
Dean says
So delicious so much better than the stuff in the bottle. Will never buy it again. Recipe so easy to follow it perfect.