This homemade chili garlic sauce recipe is just like the famed Huy Fong brand, giving you authentically garlicky and spicy results that are rich and well balanced. Use it to create your own favorite Asian recipes! {Vegan, Gluten-Free}
If you are a fan of sriracha, you most likely have the iconic bottle with the rooster on it in your fridge. The brand that makes it is called Huy Fong, though it isn’t their only claim to fame. I love their chili garlic sauce, too. It has a special texture and flavor that adds a bright pep and zest to your Asian dishes.
It’s so easy to make your own chili garlic sauce that tastes just like the stuff you can buy at the store. All you need is a jar and my special recipe for recreating it.
What type of peppers to use
My secret for getting the authentic flavor of Huy Fong is to use red jalapeno peppers. That’s what Huy Fong uses, and they bring out that bright red, hot, peppery hue, and the right level of spiciness. Red jalapeno peppers are quite special and might be hard to find. You are likely to see them at Mexican grocery stores. You might be able to find them in regular grocery stores when they’re in season: March to April and late July to August.
If you can’t find them though, you can use other types of chili peppers. The result won’t taste the same as the Huy Fong brand, but it will still be absolutely delicious. We’ve made versions with many different peppers and shared them with friends, and we were surprised to find that everyone had their own favorite version.
NOTE: If you plan to use super spicy peppers (bird’s eye chili, serrano, etc.), it’s important to blend them with less spicy peppers so your sauce won’t be too hot.
Cooking process
Making chili garlic sauce is super easy. I like to think of it as an Asian salsa. It combines those red jalapeno peppers and garlic with sugar, salt, a little vinegar, and a slurry of cornstarch to create the right texture.
You’ll need a blender, a strainer, and a clean mason jar to preserve your spicy creation.
- Blend the peppers with the seasonings until it forms a chunky sauce.
- Remove 1/4 cup of blended peppers to add back later for texture.
- Blend the rest of the ingredients into a smooth sauce.
- Strain the sauce.
- Slightly cook the sauce together with the chunky part.
- Add the cornstarch slurry to thicken it.
NOTE: bringing the sauce to a gentle boil helps thicken it and brings out the flavor of the peppers. Avoid overcooking the sauce, which will make the bright red-orange color go away.
The sauce will be quite spicy once you make it. But the flavor will become milder and more balanced over time.
You should always keep the sauce in your refrigerator so it stays fresh. Then you can use it on all kinds of dishes.
How to use chili garlic sauce
What can you use it on? As a hot sauce, this chili garlic sauce is amazing with chicken wings. You can also add a spoonful of it to any type of Asian-style noodles, or even jazz up steamed or roasted vegetables with it. It’s also a key ingredient in dishes such as sweet and sour fish and pineapple glazed ham. It’s so versatile, which is why I’m sure it’s going to become your new favorite condiment!
Use your chili garlic sauce in these dishes:
- 15-Minute Curry Ramen with Leftover Ham
- Hokkien Noodles
- Hokkien Prawn Mee Noodle Soup (Hae Mee)
- 15-Minute Garlic Noodles
- Vegetarian Pho Noodle Soup
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Homemade Chili Garlic Sauce (Huy Fong Brand Copycat)
Ingredients
- 8 oz (225 g) red jalapeno peppers
- 2 heads garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/3 cup white distilled vinegar
- 1 tablespoon water (plus 1 teaspoon water to make the cornstarch slurry)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Combine the peppers, garlic, salt, sugar, vinegar, and water in a blender. Blend on medium until chunky. Remove 1/4 of the blended mixture.
- Turn the blender to high and liquify the remaining contents of the blender.
- Strain the liquified mixture so that you are left with just the juices.
- Add the strained juice and reserved chunky bits to a pot.
- Meanwhile, add the cornstarch to a small bowl with 1 teaspoon water, stir to mix well to make a slurry.
- Heat the pot over medium-high heat. Once warm, add the cornstarch slurry and bring to a boil.
- After reaching a boil, remove from heat and allow to cool completely. The chili garlic sauce is ready to serve.
- To store, transfer the chili garlic sauce to a clean mason jar and seal it. Store in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Nutrition
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Other homemade sauce recipes
Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.
The post was published on March 2, 2015 and updated by March 29, 2020 with complete update on the recipe using a totally different method. Below is the previous version (I created it when I was living in China, only found out that chili garlic sauce means a totally different thing after moving to the US).
Sichuan All-Purpose Chili Garlic Sauce (previous version)
- 30 grams (1 cup) whole dried chili peppers
- 15 grams (1 thumb) minced ginger
- 60 grams (15 cloves) garlic, crushed
- 1/2 cup peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorn
- 4 tablespoons Doubanjiang (spicy fermented bean paste)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Use scissors to cut each chili pepper into 5 to 6 pieces. Prepare ginger and garlic.
- Add oil and peppercorn to a wok (or small skillet) and heat over medium heat. When the peppercorns start sizzling, continue cooking for about 2 minutes, until they turn dark brown and you can smell a pungent fragrance. If the oil starts to smoke, turn to lowest heat. Remove the peppercorns with a straining ladle or spatula and discard them.
- Add chili peppers and cook over low heat until the color darkens. This will happen very quickly, in less than 1 minute, if you’re using a gas stove.
- Add ginger and garlic and give it a quick stir. Add chili bean paste and sugar and continue to cook over low heat until everything is mixed well and you can smell a strong garlicky aroma, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat and transfer everything to a large plate to cool off.
- When the sauce has cooled, transfer it to a clean jar. You can store the sauce at room temperature for a month or in the fridge for up to 3 months.
I have a question about peeling the ginger; Is it okay to finely grated the ginger without peeling it?
It really comes down to the ginger you use. When I have super fresh ginger or young ginger, they have very thin and smooth skin. And it’s totally fine to grate it without peeling the skin.
But sometimes the skin is quite wrinkly and thick. I would peel it in this case because the texture might not be great even after you grate it.
Thank you, Maggie.
Just made this recipe (it’s cooling now and so excited to try it). Just wanted to know, how long does this keep?
I kept mine in the fridge for a month without any issue (you should always use a clean spoon to prevent bacteria from getting into the sauce). For longer storage, I would consider freezing it.
I tried this recipe because my grocery store wasn’t restocking the Huy Fong brand chili sauce for some reason. It was easy to make and tasted exactly the same as the store-bought version! Thanks so much!! I won’t even bother buying it at the store anymore 🙂
This recipe was amazing! We haven’t been able to find Huy Fong for a year and a half and I was almost desperate enough to buy one on eBay. I found this recipe and it is the same flavor as the jarred stuff but so fresh. Worth the time to make and I’m so glad I found this recipe.
Closest Hoy Fong copycat that I’ve found, yet! Very good!!
My friend and I are getting ready to make this recipe… Will be making a very large batch! Do you think that we could water bath the sauce to make it shelf stable? Or would we need to use an actual canner? Thanks in advance!
I think the water bath method could be good enough although I have not tried it myself for this recipe. I’ve made big quantity before and the sauce stayed quite good in my fridge. So I’d say to give the water bath method a go!
Recipe is good but too thin. My family goes through it really fast so I make a double recipe. I do half the chilis and garlic for the chunky parts and half to strain for juice. I do 3 tsp of cornstarch slurry for a double recipe and it makes it a thicker consistency that sticks to the food better.