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.
Ingredients for chili garlic sauce
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 year round. 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.
One of the best alternatives is red fresno pepper, which produces a very similar result.
We’ve made versions with many other different peppers and shared them with friends, and we were surprised to find that everyone had their own favorite version. The result won’t taste the same as the Huy Fong brand, but it will still be absolutely delicious.
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.
Mise en place
When you’re ready to cook, your table should have:
- Red jalapeno peppers
- Garlic
- Salt
- Sugar
- White distilled vinegar
- Water
- Cornstarch
How to make chili garlic sauce
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 chili garlic shrimp, 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
How to store chili garlic sauce
Store chili garlic sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I wrote down 1 month in the fridge. But in reality I’ve stored homemade chili garlic sauce in the fridge for more than 3 months and it was still good. It’s important to always use a dried clean spoon when using the sauce, to keep the bacteria out. Before using the sauce, always smell it first if you have stored it for a long time. If you plan to store the chili garlic sauce for even longer, it’s better to freeze a portion of it so it lasts longer.
Other homemade sauce recipes
Homemade Chili Garlic Sauce (Huy Fong Brand Copycat)
Ingredients
- 8 oz (225 g) red jalapeno peppers
- 2 heads garlic , peeled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/3 cup white distilled vinegar
- 2 tablespoons water , divided
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Combine the peppers, garlic, salt, sugar, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of 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. Heat over medium-high heat.
- Dissolve the cornstarch with the remaining 1 tablespoon of water to make a slurry.
- Once the chili pepper mixture is warm, add the cornstarch slurry. Stir until bringing 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.
Video
Nutrition
Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.
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.
I don’t see ginger in this particular recipe. Did I miss something?
I had an old recipe that contains ginger, but not in this version. I had some readers who wanted the previous recipe, which I included on the bottom of this post (below the recipe card).
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.
I’ve recently discovered chili garlic sauce and love the flavor profile but not the overwhelming heat that comes with it. What peppers would you suggest using to make this recipe milder? Can’t wait to try it!
I think Anaheim Pepper is really nice. It is still a bit spicy but much less than jalapeno. Poblano pepper and cubanelle pepper are great as well. I wouldn’t use bell pepper because it’s too mild and I think it doesn’t have enough flavor to balance out the garlic.
How long does the chili-garlic sauce last in the refrigerator after making? I love the Huy Fong sauce but couldn’t find a gluten free version for my daughter so hoping this is similar.
It is a fresh sauce so I said up to a month in the fridge in my recipe. However, I did store mine for much longer without any issues. The vinegar and salt helps perserve the sauce, so it could stay Ok for a couples of months as long as you always use a clean spoon when serving the sauce.
The left over non-strainable parts-we just discard? We don’t mix back in with the slurry and strained liquid? Thank you
Yes, I usually just toss the non-strainable bits. Otherwise they add too much texture to the sauce and the texture will be a little chewy and less sauce like.
I am going to make this today as I am thrilled to find this recipe. The commercial brand is becoming unbelievably expensive.
I am going to water bath can it as well, except cornstarch should not be used in a canning process. Clear jel is a much better choice for canning.
I will let you know how it turns out.
Thanks for the recipe
So I canned this in a water bath canner and I also used for thickening – Clear Jel.
I think you said somewhere that the color can change. I cooked it too long and it came out more orange than red. As well as it changed after adding the Clear Jel. So, I would not can it again, but will just store it in the fridge and I would not use Clear Jel again because the color changed too much. Still a great recipe and I will try it again as mine looks nothing like yours….sigh.
I would be inclined to use Fresno peppers for this one as they are more consistently red. By the time a jalapeño turns red it will be very soft. The heat level will be pretty much the same. Whenever I have a bounty of Fresnos in my garden I will make lacto-fermented Sriracha sauce which would last a very long time in the fridge if I didn’t use it so fast! I look forward to trying your recipe for chili-garlic sauce!
That’s a great tip! Thank you so much. I didn’t try it out but I think the result would be very similar 🙂
Great Recipe!
I follow it for the most part except I put in some of the garlic after cooking the liquid to get a super big kick of garlic in the sauce. I use this sauce ALMOST everywhere garlic is called for.
Very nice !
Just wondering why it says to add the water at first then at the end when there is only the one measurement in the list?
Nice catch! I just updated the recipe so now it’s more clear.