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.
Wow, this looks fabulously tasty Maggie! What a great thing to have on hand to add zing and heat to so many dishes.
I truly enjoy the detailed explanations of each recipe you share here, Maggie. Not only do I get inspired, I learn something new each time I visit your blog. So thank you!
Maggie….I literally have chills reading this. That’s how excited I am that you have created this recipe. You are a genius. GENIUS! I am actually speechless. I’m keeping this short because I need to go schedule a zillion pins to share this EVERYWHERE. You are seriously a legend, legend, legend, legend! I can’t WAIT to try this!! 🙂
Hey Nagi, I should thank YOU! It was such a wonderful idea and it is so generous of you to share it! I was quite nervous, because the idea is so great and I don’t want to blow it. This one has became my to go sauce now, and I’ve been using it all the time. Thanks to you, I was able to create a lot yummy AND fast dishes! Many many thanks 🙂
I love the flavors and heat in this sauce! Pantry items are actually one of my favorite recipes because I use them all the time and in all sorts of matters. Thanks for this wonderful sauce, I know I will use it in all sorts of dishes.
Maggie, I’m delighted that you posted this recipe. I like that it can be used as a base for other sauces. My favorite Sichuan dish is Kung Pao Chicken. I’d love to have a really good recipe for that dish, because I have very fond memories of eating it at a restaurant that introduced me to it. That experience was more than 25 years ago, but I’ve never forgotten it.
I’m glad you like this one Susan! Yep, Kung Pao chicken is one of the most popular dishes in Sichuan cuisine, and I like it very much. I posted about it long time ago (you can find the recipe here =>http://104.236.198.25/recipes/perfect-kung-pao-chicken-recipe/). But I’d love to use this all purpose sauce to create an easier version of the Kung Pao chicken soon. Thanks for your suggestion!
I need that garlic press 🙁 Got garlic burn!
Thank you so much for this. I have been wanting to make a Sichuan sauce but never really ventured into it. Will try this out soon and let you know how it goes.
So glad to hear you like this one! Happy cooking and hope the sauce turns out great 🙂
I’ve made the chili garlic sauce a number of times now and it fills the house with such amazing fragrant smells!! We ordered pizza for the kids and the pizza guy smelled the sauce from the front door and said he’d like to stay and have what we were having! After you get the hang of this, it is not time consuming and it really adds depth to any dish you use it with. I prefer fresh garlic and ginger but I’m sure you could use the pre-minced stuff as well.
I’m so agree with you, I can use this sauce in almost any dish. If you want a milder flavor, simply add less. It makes the room smelling so nice 🙂
Oh yeah, I’m pretty sure you can use the pre-minced stuff too. I guess I’m already used to dealing fresh herbs, so it never occurs to my to use pre-minced ones. It’s a great idea for busy people! Thanks for sharing this Emily 🙂
What happen to the peppercorn after u discard it? It won’t be used isn’t it ? tq.
Hi Maura, you won’t need the peppercorns after making the sauce. In fact, you can save them, ground them into powder, and use it in other dishes that call for peppercorn powder. But if I won’t use them soon, I usually just threw them away after cooking them in the oil.
Hi Maggi,
Thanks for this recipe. Where i come from, Kenya, getting some Oriental ingredients can be a problem. Is there a substitute for fermented bean paste. I love to make Chinese dishes. My favourite is Beef in black bean sauce. A friend got me the fermented black beans from one of his foreign visits.
Take care and keep us informed.
Hi Sayed, I cannot think of a great substitution of fermented bean paste. But if you have fermented black beans and love the flavor, you can use them in this recipe instead of fermented bean paste. It changes the flavor profile of the sauce but it is super tasty too.
Thanks for sharing your techniques and recipes. I’m a little confused as to how to handle the chili peppers. The pictures make it appear that the peppers have been chopped up and fried with the seeds; however, the directions say to use whole chili peppers. Are suggesting to simply test the hotness of the pepper by breaking it, otherwise to leave them whole? thanks for the clarification
never mind. i missed the step about cutting the peppers
I use it as a topping for my cream cheese sandwich.
Outstanding. I’ve made three batches, the last two doubles. Good in stir-fry, steamed veg, or just stirred into rice. The chilis are calmed by the toasting and are spicy/tasty…not volcanic. Thanks for the recipe.
Your sauces are so, so good Maggie. I hope you never stop sharing your knowledge. I love the way you explain and the uses for your sauces. It is so helpful when you are a novice but want to learn. Thank you.
Maggie, have you ever thought about having a cooking show, on PBS maybe. I love watching cooking shows (real cooking shows like Ina Garten’s, and not like those crazy challenge shows!) Saturday is always my day for watching and learning on PBS, because they have the good ones.
Perfect, now i’m addicted to this sauce.
I eat it straight from the jar few times a day.
I add fine powder made from roasted chilli seeds and peppercorns.
Thank you for this recipe 🙂
Haven’t tried the recipe yet but looks great.
In the Washington DC area a famous restaurant serves “Szechuan Beef Proper”. Do you have a recipe for this and is it different from the usual szechuan beef?
Hi Jonathan, I have a Sichuan beef recipe using this sauce: https://omnivorescookbook.com/recipes/spicy-beef-stir-fry-with-pepper
I also have two other beef recipes that use Szechuan beef flavor profile:
http://omnivorescookbook.com/sichuan-crispy-beef/ (spicy & crispy, dry stir fry)
https://omnivorescookbook.com/szechuan-beef-stir-fry/ (sweet, spicy, lightly spicy, lots of sauce)
The first recipe is somewhere in between.
I’ve ever had the dish you mentioned, so it’s hard to tell which version is closer. The last recipe is quite similar to American Chinese Szechuan beef, with more sauce and it tastes sweeter. The second one is very authentic, numbing, spicy, and savory.
Just try it recently and taste even better than store bought! Tagged you for the result on ig for sure. I’ll surely try your other recipe. Thanks a lot Maggie.
Hi Maggie, could you please repost the old recipe? It’s a real favourite, and I’d hate to see it disappear! Thanks so much for all your recipes!
Hi Jed, I’m glad to hear you like the old recipe! It’s a recipe I developed while I was still living in China. After moving to the US, I realized the chili garlic sauce means a totally different thing, that’s why I changed the recipe. Anyhow, please see the old recipe below:
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 spicy fermented bean paste
(1) Use scissors to cut each chili pepper into 5 to 6 pieces. Prepare ginger and garlic.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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.
(5) 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.
Thanks so much! It’s just the best thing for Kung Pao, I’ve been making it every couple weeks for years now!
Is the old recipe for the Sichuan all purpose chili-garlic master sauce available anywhere now that this recipe has been changed? I love the other sauce with the Sichuan peppercorns!
Hi Caitlin,
I’m glad to hear you like the old recipe!
Here it’s the old one:
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 spicy fermented bean paste
(1) Use scissors to cut each chili pepper into 5 to 6 pieces. Prepare ginger and garlic.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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.
(5) 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.
Hi Maggie! I just came across this recipe online and I would love to give it a try. I have one question, can I keep this in a sterile jar and keep it in room temperature (2-3 weeks) until I open it? I would like to send it to a family member by post. I look forward to hearing back from you.
Hi Maggie
Is there any way you also link to the old bean paste version as I love that one? I will try this one of course!
Thank you also for all the wonderful recipes that you provide.
You are my go to for this cuisine.
Steve
Hi Steve, I just added the previous recipe at the bottom of the post (under the new recipe). Glad to hear you like it!
I liked this recipe. I couldn’t find red jalapeños so I used red Long hot peppers and one red habanero. I’m sure the flavor is a litttle different but your method for making the sauce seems solid. I think it ended up a little spicier than huy fung.
Really good! I made a batch yesterday and we’ve already eaten 1/4 of it…
Easy, fast and delicious!
Hi Maggie,
I suppose I should have messaged you about this recipe when I found it over 5 years ago. This recipe has been such a staple foundation to my Asian chili oil that I make to give out to friends and relatives for Asian New Year’s over the last few years!! This recipe is AMAZING!!!!! This year, I’m going to experiment a bit and cut the peppers into the vinegar mixture to see if “pickling” will add to the flavor at all….thoughts? suggestions?? I’m thinking about leaving the cut peppers in the vinegar/salt/water/garlic/etc. mixture for about 7 days before blending and straining. Any advice would be helpful. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I LOVE THIS RECIPE!!!
Hi Tonya, thanks for leaving a positive review and I’m glad to hear you like the recipe.
I’ve never did the “pickling” but I think it should be delicious! If you try it out, do let me know the result 🙂
Hi Maggie,
Just making this now, in step 1 , but I am a bit confused because the water seems to be added in step one but then does it need to be added to the cornstarch to make a slurry?
I totally forgot to mention that step in the recipe. Thanks so much for pointing it out. I just added the info and now it include both water amounts.
The sauce turned out very delicious! We ended up using an equal amount of water for the slurry. Had used small hot chili peppers and it was very spicy at first but the heat mellowed out after a few days. Great recipe!
I’m excited to make the Chile Garlic Sauce – I love the Huy Fong brand, but making it myself is better! Question: Is straining the sauce necessary? I often prefer the texture of dishes/sauces that aren’t strained, even though the recipe may call for it. What would be the disadvantage to skipping this step?
Thanks very much!
Hi Lili, straining the finely blended sauce then add back the chunky pieces will produce a result that is the closest to the texture of the store-bought version. If you do not wish to strain it, you probably don’t want to blend the sauce very fine, which will result in a very thick texture. Other than that, you can leave all the peppers in without straining it.
What’s the difference between spicy chili paste and chili sauce? Can your recipe be made into a paste?
Chili paste is much more thicker than the sauce and depending on the type, it can taste very different (saltier, or sweeter etc)
This recipe create the consistency more like a hot sauce, and I don’t think you can make it into a paste.
Thank you, Maggie, for replying to my question about paste vs sauce. Do you, by chance, have a recipe for making paste? the reason I ask is I have a recipe that calls for Hunan Spicy Chili Paste.
I look forward to making your sauce….sounds like it can be used in numerous recipes and is healthier option to the store bought versions with all their preservatives.
Why do you discard the filtered solids? Cant you just add that to the thickened mixture?
I filtered the solids so the end product will have a very similar consistency like the store-bought chili garlic sauce (so you can use it interchangeably in a recipe that calls for chili garlic sauce). You can certainly keep the solids to have a thicker sauce.
Hi there – I am very keen to try this sauce.
I have a huge box filled with red jalapeños that i need to use!
Is this chilli garlic sauce suitable for canning?
Thanks very much
I’ve never tried canning for this one but I don’t see why not. Even if you don’t use canning, it can be stored in the fridge for quite a long time (a couple months as long as you use a clean spoon when you use the sauce). Happy cooking!
Quick question: your “original” non-American recipe mentions adding the bean paste and sugar at the end but I don’t see sugar listed as an ingredient. What am I missing? Thanks in advance for your answer. I am anxious to make this recipe
Thanks for catching it! I must have done it by error when I copy pasted it. Just added the sugar to the list.
Maggie, thank you SO much for this recipe! I was thrilled to find out I could make my own chili garlic sauce when I realized I didn’t have it for a recipe (for which it is very important). It was really easy to make and turned out to be delicious. So wonderful!
I love ALL your recipes and cannot wait to try them
Tastes great and the house smelled amazing! I used a wide variety of peppers from the garden from sweet all the way up to super hots. I didn’t strain the peppers though and I let it cook a while longer adding water as needed.
Hi Maggie, we grow green jalapeños and a few other chilis but I can’t get red jalapeños here. Can green be used and how would that affect the final taste? (I don’t care about the color). Thank you so much!
It’s totally fine to use the green jalapeños or other types of peppers (or a blend). The taste of the sauce will come out a bit different just because other peppers will taste differently, but I think the sauce will be very tasty nonetheless.
Looks great! How long is it good for?
I wrote 1 month in the fridge, but I remember mine stayed quite a bit longer than 1 month (maybe 2 month-ish?). The key is to always use a clean spoon for the sauce to prevent bacteria growth. If you plan to store it longer, I would freeze a portion of it.
I have a good stock of red jalapenos and want to make this, enough to store up. I’m thinking that if I made it and cooked slightly then freeze in portions, I can thaw, reheat and continue with the cornstarch secion of the recipe. What do you think?
That’s definitely doable! Since you will be adding the cornstarch after the freezing and thawing, it shouldn’t affect the texture too much. When you freeze the sauce, the pepper might release a bit liquid after thawing. If you think the sauce is too thin, you can add a bit more cornstarch slurry (1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 teaspoon water, slowly add and stir the sauce, until the desired thickness is reached)
This was Awesome! I used a combo of chilis from our garden. Thank you for the tips Maggie. One last question – can this be frozen without compromising the flavor or quality and for how long would recommend?
I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe!
I have not tried to freeze the sauce, so I cannot tell for sure. I have kept it in the refrigerator for quite a long time (maybe 2 months or more) and it stayed well.
I think you can definitely freeze the sauce and the flavor will stay good. Thawing the sauce might weaken the cornstarch thickening power, so the sauce might get a bit diluted.
It should stay well in the freezer for 5 to 6 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.