# Sweet Chili Sauce, Sweet and Hot

> Sweet chili sauce has four ingredients: red chilli, sugar, vinegar and garlic, boiled together and thickened with cornflour at the end. The base ratio is one cup of sugar to half a cup of vinegar, with the chilli set to the heat you want.

**Thai Cuisine · 20 min · 16 servings · 55 kcal per serving**

This sauce sells in every supermarket at a steep markup, and all its ingredients are already common. Its advantage is that it goes with almost everything: crispy chicken, spring rolls, prawns, even cheese.

## Ingredients


### Base
- 1 cup — sugar
- ½ cup — rice vinegar or white vinegar
- ½ cup — water
- 4 cloves — garlic, finely chopped
- 2 حبات — hot red chillies, chopped with seeds
- 1 tsp — crushed chilli flakes
- 1 tsp — salt

### Thickening
- 1 tbsp — cornflour
- 2 tbsp — cold water

## Method

1. **Boil** — Put the sugar, vinegar, water and salt in a small pan over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves completely and it comes to the boil.
2. **Chilli and garlic** — Add the garlic, chillies and flakes, lower the heat and let it simmer gently for eight minutes so the flavour concentrates.
3. **The cornflour** — Dissolve the cornflour thoroughly in two spoons of cold water and pour it into the bubbling sauce while stirring. It thickens in under a minute.
4. **Cool** — Take it off the heat — it thickens further as it cools, so don't wait for it to look thick in the pan.
5. **Store** — Once completely cool, transfer to a sterilised glass jar. It keeps a month in the fridge.

## Tips

- The cornflour has to be dissolved in **cold** water first. Added dry, it forms lumps.
- The seeds are the source of the heat — leave them out if you want it more sweet than hot.
- Rice vinegar is milder and closer to the original; white vinegar works but is sharper.
- If it's too thick once cooled, stir in a spoon of hot water.

## FAQ

### Why is my sauce runny?
Not enough cornflour, or it didn't come back to the boil. Return it to the heat and add half a spoon more cornflour dissolved in cold water.

### How long does it keep?
A month in a sealed jar in the fridge. The sugar and vinegar act as preservatives.

### What do I serve it with?
Crispy chicken, spring rolls, fried prawns and chips. It also goes into fried rice.

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Source: https://hanakoleah.com/en/thai-cuisine/sweet-chili-sauce-recipe
Edited by: Marwa Mohamed
Last updated: 2026-09-12