Simplest Chinese Chili Garlic Sauce Recipe: Spicy, Homemade Sauce!

Whenever you are making something spicy, dumping a few tsp of chili garlic sauce into the dish instantly levels up the spiciness and flavors. Most people are used to buying the chili garlic sauce from the supermarket. Today, I will show you a homemade Chinese chili garlic sauce recipe that you can make with the least effort.

Fortunately, you can store this sauce in the fridge for some time and save yourself some cost. It takes a few ingredients and you can make this sauce very quickly. Let me show you the detailed process with all the necessary information.

Recipe Table In Short

Before getting into the detailed steps, you can check out the overview chart. It contains the timing, serving, and calorie information of the recipe.

Course: Condiment	Cuisine: Chinese		Difficulty: Medium
Total Time: 15 minutes
Serving		Preparation Time	Cooking Time	Calories
Not applicable		7 minutes	8 minutes	14.8 kcal

Tools and Utensils You Need

You will need a few tools and utensils to make this chili garlic sauce. Here is the list.

1. A food processor
2. A kitchen knife
3. Measuring spoons
4. A frying pan

Ingredients Needed for the Recipe

To get the right texture and flavor of this sauce, you need to be careful about picking the ingredients. Here is a complete list.

• Garlic: 20 large cloves
• Chili: 6 red chili peppers
• Sugar: 1 tsp
• Salt: 1 tsp
• Rice Wine Vinegar: 6 tsp
• Cornstarch: 1 tbsp

Chinese Chili Garlic Sauce Recipe: Step-By-Step Instructions

We will make this sauce from scratch. Follow the steps properly to get the right sauce.

Step 1: Peel Garlic and Chop Chilies

Peel 20 large garlic cloves and put them in the food processor jar. Remove the stalks of the red chili peppers. Then, cut them into large pieces and add them to the food processor as well.

You Can Also Try: Chinese Black Pepper Sauce Recipe

Step 2: Add the Seasonings

Add 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of sugar to the jar. Also, pour 6 tsp of rice wine vinegar into the jar. You can add 1 tsp of water at this point.

Step 3: Make a Paste

Start grinding the garlic and red chili peppers in the food processor. Grind them until they turn into a coarse paste.

Step 4: Cook the Sauce

Take a bit of water and 1 tbsp of cornstarch in a pan. Mix them well and then add the freshly made chili garlic paste to the pan. Stir the sauce and let it cook for a few minutes. 

The paste may release some moisture. Please wait until the sauce thickens up and its raw smell is gone. Now you can cool the sauce down and store it in a glass jar for a few weeks.

Nutrition Facts of the Recipe

As this recipe isn’t usually consumed for nutrition, I wanted to skip this section first. Then I thought why don’t you become aware of the nutrients in this recipe as it is important for maintaining a healthy diet? Here is the nutritional value of this recipe.

• Total Carbohydrates: 3.1g
• Protein: 0.6g
• Total Fat: 0.1g
• Saturated Fat: 0g
• Polyunsaturated Fat: 0g
• Monounsaturated Fat: 0g
• Total Dietary Fiber: 0.3g
• Total Sugar: 0.5g
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Sodium: 376mg
• Potassium: 54.8mg
• Calcium: 26mg
• Iron: 0.4mg
• Vitamin A: 0IU
• Vitamin C: 65mg

As this recipe isn’t usually served in the traditional manner, I mentioned the nutrients of 1 tbsp of the sauce. This amount of sauce will contain 14.8 calories, which is quite low.

You don’t get a lot of carbs, protein, or fat from this recipe. It also has no cholesterol. However, you get some necessary minerals, such as sodium, potassium, calcium, etc., from this sauce. As it has chili peppers, you also get some Vitamin C.

Do’s and Don’ts of the Recipe

If you want your sauce to be perfect, following these tips can help. 

Do’s

• You can add a splash of oil to the pan to cook the chili garlic sauce. It will intensify the flavors of the sauce and give it a glaze. Also, cooking in oil increases the shelf life of the sauce.
• If you are storing the sauce in a glass jar with the lid on, open the lid at least once daily. It will release the gas from the jar.

Don’ts

• Even though you can use green chilies for making this sauce, I don’t recommend that. It won’t give you the original color and flavor of the sauce.
• Don’t fry the sauce for too long. Otherwise, you might get a burnt smell from the sauce.

How Can I Adjust the Spice Level of This Sauce?

You can adjust the spice level of this chili garlic sauce in different ways. The easiest way is to increase the amount of red chili peppers used for the recipe. However, it might not increase the heat that much. 

The best way to increase the heat is to add some hot chili sauce or sriracha to the chili garlic sauce. You should add the hot chili sauce or sriracha while cooking the chili garlic paste.

How Long Can I Store This Sauce?

If you follow the recipe properly and cook the chili garlic paste for the right amount of time, the sauce should be well for a few days at room temperature. To store the sauce longer, you need to keep the sauce in the refrigerator.

At lower temperatures, the sauce will remain well for at least a few weeks. In the fridge, the sauce will be good for about 3-6 months.

Is This Sauce the Same as Chinese Chili Bean Paste or Gochujang?

Not at all. This chili garlic sauce is totally different from gochujang. This chili bean paste is traditionally made with a lot of ingredients, including soybean, red chili powder, malt, etc. But the chili garlic sauce doesn’t need a lot of ingredients.

Also, there is no need to ferment the chili garlic sauce. You just grind the ingredients into a coarse paste and then cook them for some time to remove the raw smell.

Where Can I Use This Chili Garlic Sauce?

You can use this chili garlic sauce in a lot of recipes. For example, if you are making stir-fried vegetables, you can use this sauce to make the vegetables more flavorful.

This sauce can also be used in soups or stews to adjust the spiciness. Even fried rice or fried noodle dishes can be made using this chili garlic sauce. It doesn’t have an intense spiciness like the hot chili sauce. Besides, it contains a nice, roasted flavor of the garlic.

My Last Lines

As buying chili garlic sauce from the store is an easy option, many people fall for it. Not only is the store-bought chili garlic sauce more expensive, but it also contains a lot of added chemicals that might be harmful to your health. I recommend you make the sauce at home following my Chinese chili garlic sauce recipe.

Making this sauce is fast and easy. Also, you can make the sauce in large quantities and store it for a few weeks without any problems. It will instantly enhance the flavor of anything you use it in.