How To Make Thai Chili Oil (Easy Homemade Recipe)
Learn How To Make Thai Chili Oil at home with this easy 5-minute recipe! Trust me, you need this homemade chili oil on hand in your kitchen to use weekly, if not daily.
This homemade chili oil goes so well with almost any dish, especially with stir fries, pasta or noodle dishes, with sweet potatoes, and on other roasted veggies. My personal preference is to top tacos with it or mix it in with a tofu stir fry dish. YUM!
If you love spicy food, you need only the best chili oil in your kitchen to grab in a pinch. It’s the best condiment for almost any dish, especially chinese cuisine.
This recipe has very simple ingredients; including red pepper flakes from chili peppers, olive oil or avocado oil, minced garlic, ground coriander, black pepper, and sea salt.
Asian grocery stores usually carry hot chili oil like this. But you’re in a whole other ball game field if you make your own with this recipe.
The bright red color and strong aroma is so pleasing to create yourself. Not to mention, you can change the spice level, use a better oil than the market might use (like avocado oil with a higher smoke point), and add extra flavor based on your taste buds.
I’ve included two ways of making this chili sauce. The aromatic version brings out a great flavor while the easy version is just a lot quicker, using simpler ingredients. I’d recommend trying both versions at some point to decide whether the aromatic version is worth a little bit more time or effort.
Grab your ingredients plus a small pot, and get ready to make the best thai chili oil recipe you’ve ever had!
Why You Need To Try Making Your Own Chili Oil
We all love thai chili oil, right? If that was a “no”, I’m not sure what you’re doing here. But I used to only have chili oil when I was eating out at a thai or chinese restaurant (mainly to top my pho soup with).
I loved the stuff, but rarely ate it because I didn’t know how. Then I realized it can’t be all that hard if it’s mostly an infused cooking oil with chili flakes!
So if you also love thai chili oil as much as I do, and you want it in your kitchen to use when the craving strikes, you need to make your own. This easy recipe will show you how to make your own spicy chili oil within 10 minutes!
What You’ll Need For This Thai Chili Oil
Kitchen Tools
- Small saucepan
- Mason jar or airtight container or any glass jar
Ingredients
- Dried Thai Chili Flakes - or red pepper flakes for a milder version.
- Garlic Cloves
- Black Pepper
- Salt
- Avocado oil or Olive oil
If including aromatics:
- Fresh Ginger
- Yellow Onion or Red Onion
- Bay Leaves
- Ground Cloves or Whole Cloves
- Ground Cinnamon or Cinnamon Stick
How To Make Thai Chili Oil
Here are the simple steps to making your own thai chilli oil:
Add the red chili flakes, minced garlic, coriander, black pepper, and salt to a heat-proof bowl.
In a small pot set over low-medium heat, add the oil.
Heat the oil for just 2-3 minutes, making sure it doesn’t boil.
Carefully pour this hot oil into the bowl with your red chili flakes. Stir well while the chili flakes sizzle so as to prevent them from overcooking.
Allow this to cool to room temperature, then transfer into a mason jar or similar airtight container.
Keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 6 months and enjoy with any dish!
How To Make Thai Chili Oil
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Mason jar or airtight container or any glass jar
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried chili flakes
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 cups avocado oil or olive oil
Instructions
- Add the red chili flakes, minced garlic, salt, and black pepper to a heat-proof bowl.
- In a small pot set over low-medium heat, add the oil.
- Heat the oil for just 2-3 minutes, making sure it doesn’t boil.
- Carefully pour this hot oil into the bowl with your red chili flakes. Stir well while the chili flakes sizzle so as to prevent them from overcooking.
- Allow this to cool to room temperature, then transfer into a mason jar or similar airtight container.
- Keep in the fridge for up to 6 months and enjoy with any dish!
Video
Notes
Other ingredients you can add: star anise, brown sugar, soy sauce, shallots or green onions, sesame seeds, etc.
How To Make This Thai Chili Oil Recipe With Aromatics
Here are the additional steps to making your own chili oil WITH aromatic oil.
Ingredients to include to make aromatic oil:
- 1 thumb ginger, sliced
- 1 small yellow onion, sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp ground cloves or 4 whole cloves
- 1 tsp cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
Thai Chili Oil With Aromatics Recipe
- Add the red chili flakes, minced garlic, coriander, black pepper, and salt to a heat-proof bowl.
- In a small pot set over medium to low heat, add the oil.
- When the oil is hot, add in the sliced ginger, onion, bay leaves, cinnamon and cloves.
- Allow this to simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes to infuse the oil with a strong aroma. If you want a more fragrant oil, simmer for 30-35 minutes.
- Carefully pour this hot oil over a strainer into the bowl with your red chili flakes. Stir well to prevent the red chili flakes from overcooking.
- Allow this to cool to room temperature, then transfer into a mason jar or similar airtight container.
- Keep in the fridge for up to 6 months and enjoy with any dish!
How To Use Thai Chili Oil
- In stir fries or on top of rice
- To top tacos with
- On pizza
- As a dipping sauce for veggie or egg rolls
- Paired with baked sweet potatoes
- Poured on noodles or pasta
- Tossed along with cucumbers
- In soups like pho
- With fried eggs
- Over roasted or blanched vegetables
Need some more ideas on how to use this delicious chili oil? Click here.
Different Ways To Make Thai Chili Oil
- With Sichuan peppercorns or sichuan pepper. Check this site for szechuan peppercorns substitute options.
Sichuan pepper can be hard to find, unless you frequent asian supermarkets. It can also be quite expensive. I chose to use coriander and black pepper for a similar tongue-tingling effect with ingredients you probably already have on hand.
- Add star anise to the fragrant oil.
I decided not to include this in the recipe, as it isn’t an ingredient most people have on hand. If you do have star anise on hand, please include it in the first step of infusing your oil. It adds a great essence to the oil!
- Add 1-2 Tablespoons soy sauce to the finished product, but lower the salt.
- Make it a sweet chili oil by adding 1-2 Tablespoons brown sugar or turbinado to the finished product (before oil cools).
You can decrease the spice level by adding sugar as well, if you’re unable to handle that much heat.
- Add 2-4 more garlic cloves for more of a chili garlic oil recipe.
Bring out even more garlic flavor (hey, it’s never a bad idea unless you gotta kiss someone).
Can I Use Red Chili Powder Instead Of Chili Flakes?
I don’t recommend this, as you’re left with a grainy, albeit delicious, plain oil. The pivotal ingredient in this chili oil is the whole red chilies.
Can I Use Fresh Cloves and Peppercorns Instead Of Dry Spices?
Of course, I always feel fresh is best but wanted to keep this recipe extra simple. If you’re wanting to use fresh cloves and fresh whole peppercorns, I would suggest following the aromatic version of this recipe and including them in the first steps of infusing the oil with flavors. This is so you don’t get large peppercorns or cloves in a bit of chili oil when the recipe is ready to be used.
What Other Oil Can I Use?
A neutral oil is your best option for this recipe. Try sesame oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, light olive oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil (although I wouldn’t use seed oils personally).
You don’t want the oil to overtake the tastes and aromas of the chili oil. I don’t recommend coconut oil or any other highly flavored oil.
Even though avocado oil is not as neutral of a cooking oil, I like the additional taste and aroma it gives to the recipe (plus the high smoke point).
My Chili Oil Became Murky, Is It Bad?
Yes, if your chili oil becomes murky over time, it could be contaminated. Always use clean utensils when getting the chili out or else contamination could occur. No worries, just make the homemade chinese chili oil again.
How Long Will This Thai Chili Oil Last?
When stored properly (airtight in the fridge), your thai chili oil should last up to 6 months. If stored on the counter, it will most likely last 5-6 weeks.
