Homemade Chili Crunch Recipe (Chili Oil Crisp)
Make this homemade chili crunch recipe and it’ll be your go-to spicy condiment. Have you tried this popular condiment? It was originally served in restaurants and it’s now a staple in home kitchens. This crunchy chili oil recipe is slightly spicy, savory and flavorful.
What is Chili Crunch, Chili Crisp, Chili Oil?
This wildly popular condiment has so many other names: chili onion crunch, chili garlic crunch, crunchy chili oil and much more. These are examples of the different terms used to describe basically the same thing: a popular Chinese condiment with onion, garlic and different spices infused in oil. But all you need to know that it’s crunchy, savory, spicy and delicious. The most common ingredients are crushed dried chilies, fresh or dried onions or shallots, dried garlic and sometimes Sichuan peppercorns. Everyone has their own recipe with different aromatic combinations. But chili crisp is essentially a crunchy, crispy, spicy condiment that you can put on anything and it can be found in most Chinese restaurants. Once you make this homemade chili onion crunch recipe, you’ll always want to have it as a go-to condiment.
How to Serve Garlic Chili Crunch or Chili Oil?
There’s always the classic dishes that chili garlic onion crunch or crunchy chili oil is served. But if you think outside the box you open up a whole new world of culinary possibilities. Grilled meats and veggies are always fantastic with a little drizzle of this homemade magic.
- Dumplings are always more exciting with a little drizzle of this homemade crunchy chili oil
- Chili crunch fried eggs are amazing. Add that to an avocado toast.
- Popcorn! Drizzle this stuff on popcorn for a delicious spicy topping. You don’t need the butter!
- On noodles, it’s fanastic.
- Rice, fried rice or pasta
- grilled meats or vegetables
- air fryer chicken wings with this chili crisp is the best!
- mix it with some hummus for a super flavorful dip
- Add it to deviled eggs…. amazing!
- there’s so many more things you can serve with this chili oil recipe. The possibilities are endless.
Video: Homemade Chili Crisp Crunch Recipe
Best Brands of Chili Crisp or Chili Crunch?
We love making this homemade because you can customize all your favorite flavors. But a quick way to enjoy this condiment is to buy it and there’s plenty of great pre-made bottles. It’s available at speciality grocer stores, Asian supermarkets or in the International aisle of your regular markets. Over the last years a new generation of brands have come into the chili crunch crisp market. From more traditional brands to new brands of chili oil with unique spices, there’s something for everyone.
Tips on How to Use Chili Crisp Crunch
- Before eating, stir the chili crunch well. Oil floats to the top and the crunchy ingredients sink to the bottom. So stir the everything together well for easier drizzling. That way each spoonful has a good balance of oil and crunchies.
- Customize your batch by tasting it first. Some folks like their chili crisps light on the seasoning and spice, so taste yours first then customize. If you want it a little less spicy, start with about half the red chili flakes that we recommend in the recipe.
- Add Honey for more sticky consistency instead of oily: To make this chili garlic crunch recipe more sticky, add a little honey to make the sauce more sticky. It’ll be a little more sweet but it’s a nice flavor balance.
- Extra crunchy: The crunch comes from dried garlic and onion. You can easily customize the “crunch” by adding as much or as little as you like.
- Using fresh chopped onion/shallots or garlic will give a nice flavor too but a little less crunch. But the fresh aromatics are hard to beat when you’re using fresh ingredients.
- Spice level to your liking: the heat comes from red chili flakes. Our ratio in the recipe makes this batch Medium. So if you want to be a little more cautious on the heat, add about half. If you really love food extra spicy, double the amount of red chili flakes.
- Small servings: If it’s your first time using this chili oil recipe, go light on the drizzle.
- All homemade chili crunch recipe details are in the recipe box below
Chili Garlic Crunch (Chili Crisp)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) oil
- 6-8 cloves fresh garlic , minced
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) red chili flakes , or to personal taste. For medium spicy, you can start with 1 Tablespoon first, then add more.
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) dried minced garlic
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) dried chopped onion
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) sugar , or to taste
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) toasted sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) kosher salt , if using table salt, use a little less
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) cayenne (optional to taste)
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) soy sauce , or to personal taste. We like it very savory so will add an extra teaspoon or two.
Equipment
- Canning Jars optional
Instructions
- Mince or slice the garlic to your preferred size (it doesn't really matter how big or small it is, just how much of a garlic bite you want).
- Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook about 1 minute or until lightly golden.
- Immediately remove from heat (the garlic will continue to cook a little in the pan. You want it to be just a light golden brown. Don't let the garlic burn or else it will become bitter).
- Stir in rest of the ingredients (red chili flakes, dried minced garlic, dried chopped onion, sugar, sesame seeds, salt, smoked paprika, cayenne, and soy sauce).
- Taste for flavor and adjust to your liking. Cool completely.
- After cooled, store in a mason jar or similar. Stir well before using.
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
Delicious ways of using and serving our Chili Crunch
Like we discussed above, we love experimenting with different dishes. Here’s more details on how what we drizzle this umami bomb on. The flavor combinations are outstanding. Can you tell we’re obsessed?
Fried Egg with Chili Oil or Chili Crunch
Just add about 1 Tablespoon of your chili oil with crunchies in it. Add to a hot pan and fry your egg in it. Easy peasy and it’s fantastic on so many things. Here’s the full recipe for chili crisp fried egg on toast or what ever you want!
- Chili oil fried egg on avocado toast is a great breakfast or brunch dish.
- Add the chili crunch fried egg to ramen noodles or noodle stir fries
Drizzle Chili Crunch on Potstickers or Dumplings
This is the most classic way to eat this condiment. Buy your favorite brand of frozen dumplings or potstickers. Trader Joe’s has a wonderful collection of frozen potstickers. Heat them up in the microwave and drizzle the chili oil on top.
Use Chili Oil as Popcorn Topping
We tried this and are now obsessed! Instead of melted butter, drizzle a few tablespoons of this on top of popcorn. The salty, crunchy, spicy flavors are fantastic on popcorn. Only problem is that your hands can get pretty oily, so we suggest eating it with a SPOON. Yup, just scoop the chili crunch popcorn in your mouth and it’s a flavor bomb.
Douse it on Chicken Wings or Buffalo Wings
This is one of our favorite ways to serve spicy chicken wings! Drizzle this over your wings and that’s all your need. Each bite is an explosion of flavor and we guarantee this will be one of your favorite ways to use this condiment. Here’s our chili crisp chicken wings recipe.
Add Chili Crunch Oil to Deviled Eggs
We love deviled eggs and this homemade chili crunch oil is perfect as a side topping. It’s always a part of our popular deviled egg bar. Just let your guests dress their own deviled eggs and they’ll wonder why they didn’t have this more often.
Stir in Hummus or other favorite dips
Yes, this is a THING! Wow, swirling a big spoonful of this into your hummus or bean dip takes the dip over the top. The flavors work so well with hummus or any of your favorite dips. Make this chili oil recipe now and your appetizer dips will be even more amazing.
How to Store Homemade Chili Oil or Chili Crisp?
If you plan on eating it everyday, you can leave it out on the counter for about 10 days. We prefer eating it at room temperature because it drizzles better. But most importantly, the flavors taste better when it’s not refrigerated. But if you only eat it occasionally, then store it in the fridge for up to 4 weeks or so. Our recipe has fresh garlic in it. We don’t suggest keeping it in the fridge for too long.
What’s your Favorite Way to Eat and Serve Chili Crunch or Chili Oil?
We love learning all the different ways you’re eating this condiment. Let us know in the comments below. We’re obsessed with this and want to try every version possible. How about chili oil ice cream? Hmmmmm. maybe that’s one we might pass on. LOL.
More Easy Recipes:
- Homemade bread and butter pickles that are crunchy, tangy and lightly sweet
- Cowboy bacon chili cheese fries
- Chili margarita with paprika salt
- Roasted potatoes with chili garlic sauce and fresh herbs
- Savory tomato crisp with heirloom tomatoes
This is a great recipe and a great jumping off point if you’d like to customize.
I was trying to emulate the momofuku brand as best I could. I think it really got close, and this recipe helped. I also went of that brand’s ingredient list (original and “extra spicy).
For oil I used grapeseed. I used slightly extra dried onion and garlic. And a more than 2tbs of crushed red pepper. I also added szechuan peppers, and chopped dried arbol peppers.
Im very happy with the results and savings vs buying. Next time I will use extra red cayenne, maybe add ground white pepper. And who am I kidding, probably more arbol. I want that heat!
Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for all the insight Donny! Glad you were able to customize the chili crunch to your personal taste. Your version sounds deliciously spicy!
who is putting this on popcorn?
We love putting it on popcorn! And putting it on deviled eggs is our go-to.
We just made a large batch of this for holiday gifts! It is so easy and really yummy!
That’s fantastic Leslie! We love gifting jars of these too. Friends and family love homemade delicious gifts.
I can’t get enough of this chili crunch. This is the best version I’ve made and love that it doesn’t have too much oil.
We discovered this recipe in July, and it is our go-to condiment. Excellent recipe, thank you so much.
Recently I’ve taken to making double batches, and instead of 4 tbsp of chili flakes, I have gone 1 each of red chili, Szechuan, Korean chili, and Aleppo. We also split the cayenne/paprika with sriracha. ancho and chipotle powder. Otherwise the recipe is identical and it’s out of this world.
Thanks again for putting this out there!
Hi Trenton, wow love all your spice combinations! All those sound fantastic and so glad you enjoyed our recipe with your custom adaptations.
I’m addicted to this chili oil. It’s so rich in flavor and we put it in just about everything.
Sooooo goood!! Next time I might opt for plain paprika as the smoky flavor is a little overpowering for my taste. but overall really delicious!
thanks Christine! glad you enjoyed the recipe and it’s definitely one to customize to your personal taste. Smoky paprika definitely is stronger than regular paprika.
I’m in love with this recipe. I add it to just about anything.
This is an amazing replication of the one I’ve been purchasing! Thank you so much.
Thanks Lyn! Happy that you’re enjoying a homemade version.
I always turn to your cookbook for inspiration when I’m in a cooking rut. I can’t wait to see what other tips and tricks you have up your sleeve. Your recipe ‘HOMEMADE CHILI CRUNCH RECIPE’ is a wonderful recipe.
is it easy to triple the batch? and how long can you keep it in the fridge?
thanks!
Hi CL, yes you can easily triple the batch. You can keep it in the fridge for about a month if it’s in an airtight container. Enjoy!
Delicious. I had all these ingredients in my pantry so it came together quickly. I adjusted down the cayenne for my taste preference. Would make a great hosting gift.
Delicious. I had all the ingredients in my pantry and it it came together quickly. I adjusted down the cayenne for my palate preference. This would make a great hosting gift.
I’ve been obsessed with this chili crunch recipe since making the first batch. We go through them so fast.