Sweet Chili Sauce (Naturally Sweetened!)

One of my favorite dipping sauces is a Thai-style sweet chili sauce (nam chim kai, น้ำจิ้มไก่). Its sweet, spicy, and tangy flavors pair very well with fried foods or any kind of protein (such as chicken, salmon, or tofu). I used to buy Mae Ploy (affiliate link) or Trader Joe’s sweet chili sauce. However, over time, I felt store-bought versions lacked complexity. They tasted mainly of sugar with a dash of chili heat and some acidity. 

In 2017, I developed a sweet chili sauce recipe that used honey instead of sugar. Because honey has rich malty notes, it made the chili sauce more flavorful. When I taught dumpling classes at Sacramento public libraries, I would make this sauce as a dipping sauce for our dumplings. Everyone loved the honey flavor.

Over the years, I have tried many more variations of the sauce. I wanted to update my recipe with a version that I like most nowadays. Of note, the price of honey has increased, so I modified the recipe to use less honey. To make up for the reduced amount of honey, I added the juice from 1 orange, which adds a lovely hint of citrus flavor to the sauce. 

Once you start making your own sweet chili sauce, you’ll never go back to the store to buy another bottle!

COOKING NOTES FOR SWEET CHILI SAUCE

USING HONEY & OTHER SWEETENERS

I think this sauce tastes best with good quality honey. If local honey is available for you, use it! If you are vegan, feel free to substitute the honey with maple syrup or agave. 

USING CORNSTARCH

To thicken the sauce, I added a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch mixed with a bit of water). If you do not have cornstarch, you can use arrowroot starch or tapioca starch instead. However, the texture of the sauce will be more viscous if you use those substitutes. You can try using slightly less arrowroot or tapioca starch (1 teaspoon instead of 1 1/2 teaspoons), and see if you like the texture before adding more. 

CHILI FLAKES

Traditionally, Thai sweet chili sauce is made with Thai chilis (also known as bird’s eye chili). My recipe uses red pepper flakes/chili flakes that are of medium heat (see photo above). There are so many varieties of chili flakes on the market now, and you can use any variety of chili flakes of medium spice level. If you don’t want the sauce to be too spicy, use 1/2 teaspoon. For more spice, use 3/4 or 1 teaspoon of the chili flakes.

WAYS TO USE SWEET CHILI SAUCE

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Author: Lisa Lin

Sweet Chili Sauce

This versatile sweet chili sauce is naturally sweetened with honey and orange juice. Use it as a stir fry sauce or as a dipping sauce for spring rolls or dumplings. The sweet chili sauce takes only 10 minutes to make and will last in the fridge for a month! If you want the original version of the recipe that I published in 2017, see note 1.

Prep Time4 minutes mins

Cook Time6 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup (75ml water) + 1 tablespoon, divided
• 1/3 cup (75ml) orange juice, if using fresh oranges, juice 1 medium-large orange
• 1/3 cup (112g) honey
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 clove of garlic, minced, or use 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon chili flakes, depending on desired spice level (see note 2)
• 1/2 teaspoon (2g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt, or 1/4 teaspoon table or sea salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

Instructions

• Add 1/3 cup water, orange juice, honey, rice vinegar, garlic, chili flakes, and salt to a small saucepan.

• In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water together, until you no longer see or feel any clumps of cornstarch.

• Heat the saucepan over medium-high heat and bring the liquid to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium-low.

• Give the cornstarch mixture a quick stir to loosen any cornstarch that has sunken to the bottom of the bowl. Add the cornstarch slurry into the saucepan and stir to combine. Simmer the sauce on medium-low heat for 5 minutes.

• Let the sweet chili sauce cool for 10 minutes before pouring into a glass jar. Once the sauce reaches room temperature, cover the jar with a tight lid. Refrigerate for up to a month. Use the sauce to make my honey chili garlic shrimp, or as a dipping or stir-fry sauce.

Notes

1. Original Recipe: Ingredients: 1/2 cup (170g) honey, 1/2 cup (120ml) water + 1 tablespoon of water, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 garlic, minced or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch. The directions are the same as above.
2. Chili Flakes: My recipe uses red pepper flakes/chili flakes that are of medium heat (see photo above). There are so many varieties of chili flakes on the market now, and you can use any variety of chili flakes of medium spice level. If you don’t want the sauce to be too spicy, use 1/2 teaspoon. For more spice, use 3/4 or 1 teaspoon of the chili flakes. I tend to use 1 teaspoon of chili flakes for more spice.

Nutrition

Serving: 1tablespoon | Calories: 29kcal | Carbohydrates: 7.6g | Protein: 0.1g | Sodium: 84mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 7.1g

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