Sriracha Recipe – Homemade Chili Hot Sauce
We hear there’s been a shortage of a particular brand of hot sauce. But no worries, we have a homemade version for you that’s been tried and true since we first published it in 2009. This Sriracha Recipe is customizable to your taste buds, whether it be more tangy, spicy, salty and savory, this homemade sriracha hot sauce recipe is super easy to make.
Sriracha Cult
Twitter got me into some trouble. Last week, I innocently twittered a photograph of some Vietnamese condiments for a Viet Nhậu (tapas) party we were having for one of our Supper Club Dinners. In that picture, there were some yummy, traditional Vietnamese toppings of scallion oil confit, fried crispy shallots and many more goodies I prepared for the evenings feast. But I never thought a simple Twitter mention of “homemade sriracha hot sauce” would cause such a commotion, create incessant demands for the recipe, and getting all the love and attention over the other toppings. I knew Sriracha style hot sauce was popular, but a cult following? Never. So yes, that’s what I’ll call it from now on, Cult Sriracha.
What is Sriracha?
When I first made this sauce a while back in 2009, I asked myself: What makes Huy Fong’s Sriracha, aka rooster sauce, this ubiquitous Asian, cock-labeled chili sauce so popular? Well, to start the term Sriracha originated in Thailand and is named after a town that become popular after a local woman made a bright and popular hot sauce. It was an adaptation from a classic Chinese hot sauce with garlic and red jalapeno peppers. Now, it’s become a world wide popular chili condiment in a squirt bottle. There’s a gazillion different brands out there on the market. But I myself, can confess to squeezing the dickens out of this bottle of orange/reddish gold goodness. It’s like a prized commodity when it hits the palate and gives incredible sensations of heat, sweet and tang. Sriracha has the perfect balance of all flavors: delicate spice combined with sweet and garlicky tangy undertones that make it perfect in almost any dish.
Video: Homemade Sriracha Hot Sauce Recipe:
Make Homemade Sriracha to Your Personal taste
Huy Fong’s Sriracha isn’t too spicy to where it will cause beads of sweat to roll down one’s face, nor is it claiming to be “hotter than a motha” and attempt to cause a brain concussion. Neither is it trying to break records with the million scoville scale mark, nor is it trying to keep you on the toilet for the entire morning after.
Being the fresh sauce addict that I am and loving to create outside the bottle, I wanted to re-create my own Sriracha recipe in my own kitchen and customize the spice/sweet/tang layers to my own preferences. I can take a little more heat in my sriracha recipe than most and I wanted to raise the spicy bar in the sauce to accommodate not just my own taste buds, but also for my chili loving friends. Give me more spice in my hot sauce and I’ll be a very, very good girl.
YOU MUST MAKE THIS SRIRACHA RECIPE. This is not only so easy, it’s so fresh tasting from all the fresh chilies! I was able to find the right balance of the sugar, vinegar and spice, all blended together to get the smooth, hot sauce consistency. Unlike some other chili sauces with the seeds and peels still coarsely evident, I used tomato sauce as the base to help blend the sauce together and keep it more like the Sriracha consistency. It’s smooth, pretty and delicious. This homemade chili sauce sings sweet and spicy songs in your mouth, while being kind to your body with the perfect amount of heat.
And we don’t find it necessary to push the sauce through a mesh strainer after blending (you can use a blender or food processor for blending). You can strain it after cooking if you want a super smooth sauce, but personally we prefer the slightly more textured sauce that comes straight out of the blender.
Easy Sriracha Recipe
As with any recipe, you can tailor this to your own palate to create your own version of the sauce. I know some folks like their hot sauce to counterbalance the heat with a little more sugar and some like more of the vinegary tang. Go for it and customize all those balancing elements to your body’s tolerance. Personally, I’ve added a touch (just a slight “Diane spicy style” touch) to my version for that extra little kick of heat.
Last but not least, please don’t skimp out on any of the ingredients, especially the fish sauce. The fish sauce adds the savory, salty and umami depth to this recipe. Without the fish sauce, this chili hot sauce doesn’t have the exciting umami layer of flavor that I can taste in the original Sriracha. For vegetarians, you can replace the fish sauce with a soy sauce. All of the listed ingredients come together beautifully to harmonize the flavor and texture of this hot sauce and without them, I wouldn’t dare call it “Sriracha style”.
And when you are cutting all the chilies by hand with your knife, we highly recommend using latex or nitrile gloves. It is too easy to spice up your hand and then forget and accidentally touch your eyes or some other sensitive area.
Hope this rocks your spicy hot sauce world and no more worries about the Sriracha shortage.
-Diane
Sriracha Recipe – Homemade Chili Sriracha Hot Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100 g) Thai red chili peppers *Start with less (about half) if you want a more mild, gentle hot sauce
- 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) Vegetable Oil
- 4-5 cloves Garlic , crushed or minced
- 3-4 medium Shallots , minced (@ 1/2 cup minced)
- 15 ounces (425 g) Tomato Sauce (@ 1 3/4 cups)
- 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) Fish Sauce (don’t skimp out on this!) or use Soy Sauce, if you can, try to use the Fish Sauce.
- 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) Rice Vinegar
- 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) Sugar
Equipment
- Canning Jars optional
- Canning Funnel optional
Instructions
- Using gloves over your hands, remove stems of chili peppers, rinse clean. Blot dry with paper towel. Wearing rubber gloves, mince the chili peppers. The smaller the cut, the smoother your final sauce will be.
- In sauce pan, heat oil then add minced garlic and shallots. Over medium heat, saute for about 2-3 minutes or until light brown and fragrant (don't burn your garlic!)
- Add tomato sauce and minced chili peppers. Add fish sauce, vinegar, and sugar. Mix well. Let sauce come to a simmer then lower heat to keep at a low simmer.
- Continue simmering sauce for about 5 minutes. This will break down the skin of the chili peppers and soften them to create the smooth consistency.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
- Transfer sauce to blender and blend until smooth or until most of the chili pepper skin and seeds break down – preferably on the “liquefy” mode.
- Taste the hot sauce. Further customize the hot sauce to your liking: adding more sugar, vinegar or water if you desire. Blend one last time until smooth. Pour into clean, air tight jar and refrigerate. Use within about 4 weeks.
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
How to Store Homemade Hot Sauce?
I like to keep all my homemade hot sauces in airtight containers like mason jars or weck jars. I eat it frequently and don’t often store it for more than 4 weeks in the fridge. It must be stored in the fridge! If you don’t eat it quick enough after about a month, I would suggest sharing it or gifting it. Making a big batch means you can give away these jars of hot sauce as gifts. Think Christmas!
More Vietnamese Recipes that are Family Inspired
Here’s my personal recipe for Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dip and click here for all our popular Vietnamese Recipes that are sometimes traditional and definitely sometimes not.
Sriracha Cookbooks and More!
Awesome and beyond, here’s some goods for the Sriracha lover!
Awesome Sauce T-shirt – It is and we love it!
The Sriracha Cookbook by Randy Clemens – Take your Sriracha love to new heights. You’ll put find new ways to spread the love.
The Veggie-Lover’s Sriracha Cookbook by Randy Clemens – A follow-up to his other hit cookbook. Give your veggies a little zing!More Easy Sriracha Recipes:
- Sriracha shrimp cocktail
- Sticky sriracha chicken wings
- Spicy sriracha roast chicken with sriracha gravy
- White bean dip that’s sriracha spicy
- Honey sriracha glazed chicken wings
- This recipe was originally published in 2009
My favorite thing about this recipe is just how good it tastes. I can’t believe we can actually make our own sriracha at home.
This is so much better than buying from the store. I love how fresh this sauce is.
is this able to be canned once in the jars?
Hi Angela,
Yes you can use the traditional hot canned preservation method.
Can u freeze this sauce
Hi Romilla, we have not tried freezing this yet but don’t see why it wouldn’t work. If it’s thawed again, just make sure to give it a good stir before serving.
I made this and it’s so good that I’ve been making it over and over again, I’ve been putting some in little jars for my friends and they ask me for more!
Fabulous recipe! Thank You!!
So far my favorite homemade sriracha recipe! So yummy!
This sounds like one of the best things ever. I can see why it went wild on twitter. I totally have to make this. Plus, I am a sucker for any recipe that has fish sauce!
That’s awesome that you’re a fan of fish sauce too!
I have been making this recipe for ages now and thought I would say thanks for sharing.
Where I live when we say ‘shallot’ most people think ‘spring onion’. As such, the first time I made the sauce I confused the two. The second time I used actual shallots and while it was still great, every time thereafter I always go back to the spring onions.
Finally, my chillis in the garden grow orange and hot so the lighter colour makes the sauce look as fierce as it tastes!