Top 13 Sweet Chili Sauce Substitutes for Cooking

Sweet chili sauce goes well with anything fried, grilled, and steamed, making it a well-loved sauce among Asians. You can use it for wontons, steamed dumplings, spring rolls, egg rolls, chicken wings, grilled and steamed vegetables, grilled or baked fish and meat, and anything that needs a little kick. 

This famous sauce, made by combining red chili, mixed spices and herbs, fish sauce, vinegar, and salt, has that perfect blend of sweet, salty, spicy, and a little sour. Although this is commonly available in the condiment aisle, especially in Asian shops, you may need a substitute if you run out of it. 

When in a pinch, you can use sriracha sauce, spicy ketchup, hot sauce and honey, tomato chili sauce, bbq sauce, plum sauce with hot sauce, hoisin sauce, harissa sauce, tabasco sauce, Sambal Oelek, Worcestershire sauce, and chili garlic sauce with honey. You can also use spices you already have at home, like dried chili flakes or chili powder, garlic flakes, bell peppers, and ginger, and mix them with rice vinegar, honey, and a little salt to achieve a homemade sweet chili sauce.

The Best Sweet Chili Sauce Substitute

1) Sriracha

Sriracha is a flexible sauce. You can use it as a dipping sauce and marinade for meats, stews, soups, and beverages. It has a similar (but hotter) flavor to sweet chili sauce, making it the best sweet chili sauce substitute. You may also combine it with honey to make it sweeter. 

Simply combine a teaspoon of Sriracha with ¼ teaspoon of honey. Give it a mix, and use it to substitute for 2 teaspoons of sweet chili sauce.

2) Spicy Ketchup

Spicy ketchup is a condiment made with tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, red chili powder, pureed chili peppers, herbs, and spices. It has a smooth, thick texture and a spicy, acidic, salty, sweet flavor.

Due to the same flavor profile, spicy ketchup is an excellent substitute. You can also use regular ketchup and add chili flakes or chili powder to add a spicy kick to the mixture. If you want a sweeter dipping sauce, just add a tablespoon of honey. 

3) Hot Sauce with Honey

To get a comparable flavor without making a sweet chili sauce alternative from scratch, take two cupboard staples: hot sauce and honey. Simply combine a teaspoon of hot sauce and a tablespoon of excellent honey to get something resembling Thai sweet chili sauce. You can use this mixture as a dipping sauce or as an ingredient in a sauce, using a 1:1 substitution ratio.

4) Tomato Chili Sauce

Tomato chili sauce has almost the same flavors as spicy ketchup but gives a sour finish, similar to sweet chili sauce. Like Thai chili sauce, this substitute contains basil, oregano, garlic, onion, red bell pepper, black pepper, and salt. 

When used as a substitute, you can use a 1:1 ratio and add honey to enhance the sweetness to your liking. 

5) Barbecue Sauce

Barbecue sauce is perhaps the easiest to find among the listed substitutes in this article. It is made with tomato sauce, soy sauce, onion powder, mustard, vinegar, sugar, and often black pepper for that extra spice. 

However, if you’re not satisfied with how it tastes, you can cook it with a bit of cornstarch to give it that slurry texture. 

6) Plum Sauce with Hot Sauce

Plum sauce is a sweet-sour condiment with a thick texture and a light brown hue. This sauce contains plums, ginger, sugar, vinegar, chili peppers, and salt. To add a spicy taste, add a tablespoon of hot sauce to 1 tablespoon of plum sauce, and adjust the flavor by adding more chili flakes or chili powder according to your liking.

7) Hoisin Sauce

Due to its salty and tangy taste, you can also use hoisin sauce as a sweet chili sauce substitute. That works best when making marinades for meat, as it provides that savory taste and umami-rich flavor. It also offers that thick consistency that you get in sweet chili sauce.

8) Harissa Sauce

Harissa sauce is used to provide a spicy taste to a variety of cuisines. This sauce includes roasted red peppers and chili peppers, garlic paste, olive oil, cumin, caraway, coriander seeds, and a dash of vinegar or lemon juice as the source of the tangy taste.

9) Tabasco Sauce

Both Tabasco sauce and sweet chili sauce are made from peppers. The main difference between the two is the sweetness of the sweet chili sauce. However, you can fix this by adding honey or sugar to the Tabasco sauce.

10) Sambal Oelek

Sambal Oelek is an Indonesian chili paste substitute for Thai sweet chili sauce. This sauce is made with hot red chili peppers, onion, lemon, sugar, salt, and vinegar. You can add sugar to achieve the sweetness of sweet chili sauce.

11) Worcestershire Sauce

This sauce's key components are vinegar, garlic, onions, anchovies, red chili pepper extract, tamarind extract, soy sauce, salt, sugar, and other flavors. You can use this substitute in various marinades and sauces, soups and stews, and salad dressings.

Although this sauce gives a savory taste, you need to add hot sauce or fresh red chili pepper to enhance the spiciness.

12) Chili Garlic Sauce with Honey

Chili garlic sauce is made with chilies, garlic, vinegar, and salt. It does not have the same sweetness as Thai sweet chili sauce. As a result, you can add honey to achieve a comparable sweet flavor.

13) Homemade Sweet Chili Sauce

To make homemade Asian sweet chili sauce, you will need red pepper flakes, chili powder, a little garlic, fish sauce, vinegar or lemon, and a sweetener (sugar, honey, or fruit extract). Just mix the ingredients, place them in an airtight container, and store them for future use.

Summary

A bottle of sweet chili sauce is a staple condiment in many households, but when you don't have any available, you can choose any of the following best substitutes for sweet chili sauce.

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