Sweet Thai Chili Sauce

Fiery Thai chilies are buffered with sugar and concentrated apple cider and set with Clear Jel for a perfect dipping sauce anytime!

As a kid, I went  through a major "plum sauce and chili flake" phase. No dinner plate was sacred - burgers, rice, veggies and proteins all got a dose of the sweet-spicy combination. It wasn't until I got older that I discovered that the combination had basically already been created for me - in a perfect melange known as Sweet Thai Chili Sauce.

While it is almost universally available in the grocery stores, Sweet Thai Chili Sauce is also ridiculously easy to make. Since I grew (and dried) Thai birds-eye peppers last year, I was thrilled to find a recipe for my favourite sauce on Canning Homemade, which I proceeded to modify until I was satisfied - namely adding some boiled apple cider syrup I had on hand. As soon as the mixture hit the heat, you could definitely tell there was spice going on - keep the windows open and turn on the fan! The mixture was perfectly thickened to a "dippable" consistency with ClearJel, which I used because I was canning the sauce and it's a safe thickener to use. If I was making the sauce and using it within a few weeks, though, I'd stick to tapioca starch or, in a pinch, regular cornstarch.

After cooking and cooling, this sauce is ready for anything - my personal favourite is on steamed broccoli, asparagus or fiddleheads, but it's also killer on sauteed cabbage, grilled fish, shrimp or tofu and stirred into plain rice.


Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
Makes ~2 cups, 16 (2 tbsp) servings
1 clove garlic, minced
6 dried Thai chilies
½ cup water
½ cup boiled apple cider syrup
½ cup sugar
½ cup cider vinegar (5% acidity)
¼ tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp cook-type Clear Jel (NOT Sure-Jel)
¼ cup water

1. In a small blender pulse the garlic, peppers, water and cider syrup until finely minced.
2. Pour into a saucepan with the sugar, vinegar and salt.
3. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, whisk together Clear Jel and ¼ cup water in a small bowl.
5. Bring chili mixture to a boil and whisk in the Clear Jel.
6. Stir constantly for one minute.
7. Remove from heat.
8. Fill jar(s) with mixture, leaving 1/2” headspace.
9. Process for 15 minutes in a waterbath, or refrigerate up to 2 weeks. 

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 29.8
Total Fat: 0.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 0.3 mg
Total Carbs: 7.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
Protein: 0.0 g