Szechuan Chili Garlic Sauce Recipe

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For YEARS, I was obsessed with a chili garlic sauce that was served at my fave Chinese restaurant. I had no problem just polishing off a plate of plain rice as long as there was plenty of this sauce on the table. It was that good. You could make a bowl of friggin’ confetti into a worthy meal with this sauce on hand.

A spoonful of red chili garlic sauce is held above a small glass jar filled with the same sauce. Two red chili peppers lie on the wooden surface beside the jar.

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I tried just about every Huy Fong chili sauce available at my local Asian market, and faithfully, super-carefully recreated their sriracha recipe AND sambal oelek recipe. Then I branched out to chili crisp and nam prik pao, but was STILL trying to find the sauce from the restaurant I liked so much. I figured I had better figure out how to make this stuff once and for all!

This Szechuan-style chili garlic sauce recipe is a secret weapon every kitchen table needs – uncomplicated, punchy, and endlessly versatile. After lots of tweaks and experimentation, I figured out that just a tiny bit of white pepper, Szechuan peppercorns, star anise, and a cinnamon stick were all the sauce needed to be severely legendary, and something I wanted to practically drink by the glass.

You can achieve that restaurant-quality taste in under 20 minutes, using just a handful of pantry staples. This recipe is a one-pot wonder that delivers on both speed and flavor. If you've been on the hunt for a chili garlic sauce recipe that nails it on the first try – fast, flavorful, and foolproof – then you've hit the gosh darned jackpot, babe.

Jump to:

🥰Why you'll adore this Chili Garlic Sauce
🌶️ Ingredients for chili garlic sauce
🤯Variations
📖 How to make chili garlic sauce
💡Serving Ideas
👉Top tips
🤷‍♀️ Recipe FAQs
✌️What to drizzle chili garlic sauce on:
Homemade Chili Garlic Sauce Recipe

🥰Why you'll adore this Chili Garlic Sauce

✊ Vegan AF & GF: Like all of my vegan sauce recipes, this Szechuan chili sauce is made without any shrimp paste, fish sauce, oyster sauce or other animal products. It also happens to be one of the gluten-free vegan recipes that ANYONE will be delighted to be served, provided they don’t hate spice.

🌶️ Perfectly Balanced Heat. The blend of red bird’s eye chilies and Szechuan peppercorns create a harmonious, nuanced heat with just the right amount of kick without overwhelming your palate. Think of this less as a hot sauce and more as a chunky Chinese chili oil.

🕒 Quick and Easy. Ready in under 20 minutes from start to finish!

✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide. Like all of the vegan recipes I share, this garlic chili sauce has been meticulously tested and approved by a frankly quite massive team of recipe testers from all around the world.

Bowl of rich, dark vegan sauce with greens on a wooden table, framed by the text "Your Guide to Legendary Vegan Sauces" in bold, stylized fonts.

🤘learn to make insanely flavorful sauces

This guide to my most popular vegan sauce recipes is 100% FREE, & you'll love the actual heck out of it 🥰

🌶️ Ingredients for chili garlic sauce

A tray with bird's eye chilies, garlic, cinnamon stick, star anise, white pepper, salt, oil, rice vinegar, Szechuan peppercorns, a brown sugar alternative, and a jar of chili garlic sauce—all labeled accordingly.

Red Bird’s Eye Chilies (Thai Chilies)

I did a lot of experimentation with different kinds of chilies and loved the results using Thai red chili peppers for this recipe. I use them regularly to bring heat to dishes such as Vietnamese salad rolls, Indonesian sambal goreng kentang, urap sayur salad, and vegan sisig. Of course, you can use red jalapeños or fresno chilies in their place if you want a milder sauce. But I mean, do you? Do you really??

Szechuan Peppercorns (Chinese Peppercorns)

Szechuan (also spelled Sichuan) peppercorns offer a unique citrusy and a sorta fun numbing sensation for your tongue and mouth rather than intense heat. Any good Asian grocery store will have it, or you can definitely order 'em up on Amazon. They complement the spiciness of the chilies and provide a distinctive flavor profile. Substitute with black peppercorns if there’s no way you can find the OG stuff.

White Pepper

A milder alternative to black pepper, white pepper comes from the same plant but is processed differently, giving it a subtler, smokier flavor. I use it in a lot of vegan Indonesian recipes like bihun goreng, nasi kunyit, and other Southeast Asian dishes like my tom yum paste, and vegan Khao Pad (Thai fried rice). It steps up the overall spiciness of the sauce without overpowering the other ingredients. If unavailable, use a pinch of black pepper as a substitute.

Sugar

A small amount of sweetener is important to balance the acidity in this recipe. I have made it with regular ol’ brown sugar, but I prefer using coconut sugar or palm sugar. Palm sugar is an awesome sweetener to have on hand for Southeast Asian desserts such as ondeh ondeh, turon, and kuih dadar.

Star Anise

A star-shaped spice with a licorice-like flavor, star anise adds complexity and depth to the sauce. I use it in making homemade madras curry powder and kecap manis, which you can learn how to make in my mie goreng recipe. I’m also sometimes use it when brewing vegan Thai tea.

If you can’t get star anise (Asian food stores and specialty stores will have 'em for sure), you can replace it in this recipe with ⅛ teaspoon of anise seeds (the little tiny ones you might use in making picarones, - the sweet potato donuts from Peru).

*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.

🤯Variations

Thai Chili Garlic Sauce:

You can make a raw chili garlic sauce with a fruitier, sweeter flavor than this recipe. It is called nam jim jaew. The downside is that it doesn’t have nearly the shelf life that this recipe has.

Indonesian Chili Garlic Sauce:

Add a tablespoon of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) to complement the spiciness with a hint of sweetness and depth, and brew the sauce with a few Indonesian bay leaves. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

📖 How to make chili garlic sauce

Nail this iconic Chinese chili sauce on your first shot by following these step-by-step photos with helpful tips. Or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the easy-to-print recipe card.

Close-up of a blender with red chili peppers, crushed garlic, chopped onions, crushed red pepper, and other seasonings ready for blending.

Step One

Prep the Chilies and Aromatics:

Remove the stems from the Thai chilies. Place them in a food processor or blender with minced garlic, Szechuan peppercorns, white pepper, rice vinegar, salt, and palm sugar (or brown sugar). Pulse until a coarse paste forms.

A teal pot with a light-colored interior sits on a lit stove burner, heating up with a small amount of oil inside.

Step Two

Heat the Oil:

In a small saucepan, heat the cooking oil over medium heat for about 2 minutes until it reaches approximately 350°F (175°C).

A light blue pot on a stove containing chopped red chili peppers, a cinnamon stick, and star anise, all being cooked together.

Step Three

Sizzle in the Flavor Bombs:

Carefully add the chili garlic paste to the hot oil. Toss in star anise and a cinnamon stick. Reduce heat to low and stir-fry for five minutes, letting the flavors of the chilies and garlic infuse the oil. Cook until the garlic bits turn very lightly golden.

A jar of Chili Garlic Sauce with a spoon lifting a portion from the jar, and a small dish holding star anise and a cinnamon stick sit on a distressed wooden surface.

Step Four

Remove and Jar Up:

Remove the star anise and cinnamon stick from the saucepan. Allow your homemade garlic chili sauce to cool to room temperature. Transfer the cooled sauce to a clean, airtight container. Refrigerate to preserve freshness, lasting up to 6 weeks.

💡Serving Ideas

By golly, the number of dishes this chili sauce works with is staggering.

It's a fantastic versatile sauce for rice dishes like tom yum fried rice, nasi minyak, Indonesian coconut rice, and vegan kimchi fried rice.

Of course, noodle dishes cry out at night, begging to be drizzled with this stupid-silly-yummy sauce! I am all about having it on the table when I serve Thai noodles such as pad woon sen, vegan drunken noodles, and vegan pad see ew. Burmese Khao Suey, Indonesian bami goreng, Malaysian mee rebus, and Vietnamese soy sauce noodles go great with it too.

Want to hook up your vegan fried chicken? Mix some of this sauce into vegan kewpie mayo and drizzle it onto your vegan drumsticks or vegan buffalo wings with that legendary goodness.

A close-up of a table setting with a small glass jar of red chili sauce, a bowl of food, fresh red chilies, and a bamboo steam basket. — This chili garlic sauce is ESSENTIAL for serving with banh bao chay, hakka noodles, and sambal goreng tempeh.

👉Top tips

Choose the Right Chilies For YOU: Opt for fresh and vibrant red bird’s eye chilies for the best flavor and heat level. To make a less spicy sauce, rather than decreasing the amount of chilies, swap them out for a milder variety like red jalapeño peppers, or Fresno chilies.
Control the Oil Temperature: Start the chili paste in hot oil, then lower the heat as soon as you have started cooking it. This ensures the ingredients cook evenly without burning the garlic, which is KEY to the sauce's vibrant color and flavor.
Store Properly for Freshness: Transfer the cooled sauce to a clean, airtight container and store it in the refrigerator. Always use a clean, dry spoon to get sauce out of the jar, so as not to introduce bacteria.
Spice Protection: If you have sensitive skin, wear gloves when handling peppers to avoid irritation and accidental contact with your eyes or face.
Make Sure You Can Breathe! When cooking the chili sauce, keep the fan on over your stove, or make the sauce with the windows open.

🤷‍♀️ Recipe FAQs

How spicy is homemade chili garlic sauce?

Chili garlic sauce can vary in spiciness depending on the type and amount of chilies used. Off the bat, this recipe is on the more spicy, but tolerable side.

Comparing it to other sauces: It’s much spicier than the New Mexico chili sauce you might use on vegan tostadas and vegan burrito bowls, but wayyyyy less spicy than shatta sauce, which is kinda pure fire. I would say it's on par with the spice level of Zhoug, but not as tangy and garlicky. Adjust the quantity of chilies to suit your heat preference.

Is this the same as Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce?

Nope! I'm not at all going for that in this recipe. But if that's your thing, follow my sambal oelek recipe and add the optional garlic. This particular recipe is a copycat recipe of an Asian chili garlic sauce that a lot of Chinese restaurants in the USA make.

I like THIS recipe, which is more like a chunky chili oil than the popular Huy Fong sauce, but (shhhh) don't tell anyone I said so! Huy Fong's sauce is based on Indonesian sambal, whereas this sauce is commonly served with Chinese food.

Can I adjust the sweetness of the homemade chili sauce?

Yes, you can adjust the sweetness by varying the amount of palm sugar (or alternatives) used. Start with less and add more according to your taste.

How long does chili garlic sauce last?

Properly stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container, chili garlic sauce can last up to 6 weeks. Always check for any signs of spoilage before using.

Is chili garlic sauce vegan?

Most Chinese-style chili garlic sauce on the market is vegan, but if you are not making your own, check the ingredients. Some manufacturers use fish paste, fish sauce, belacan or other animal-based ingredients. And to that, I say: “That Sucks.” Which is why I wrote this recipe for ya!