Instantly spice up your favorite dishes with this FOOLPROOF homemade Garlic Chili Oil recipe. This red hot condiment has big BOLD flavor with a simple method that avoids risking burning your aromatics. Trust me, this beginner-friendly chili oil recipe is the last one you'll ever need!
This easy Chili Garlic Oil packs tons of umami and it goes well on EVERYTHING! It's cooked at a low temperature to maximize flavor while making it super beginner-friendly to make because you're not dealing with high heat that could burn the ingredients.
It's the must-have condiment to instantly add a burst of garlicky, smokey, & spicy goodness to any dish.
Spice up your breakfast eggs or avocado toast with a little drizzle to add a kick to your morning. Make the most epic 10-minute Chili Oil Noodles, 5-minute Spicy Garlic Edamame, or quick and creamy Peanut Sauce Noodles with a spicy kick! If you’re feeling really creative in the kitchen, you can even make your own Hand-Pulled Noodles!
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❤️ Recipe Highlights
- Fool-Proof Method - No Thermometer Required: This is the easiest homemade chili oil recipe that any beginner could make without burning aromatics or turning your chili oil bitter. Many chili garlic oil recipes require you to reach specific temperatures using a thermometer, however, this easy recipe is magic without one!
- Simple Ingredients for Deep Flavors: Create a bold chili oil using easy-to-find ingredients that infuse low & slow for a deeply flavorful sauce.
- Easily Adjust Spice Level: The best part about making homemade chili oil is that you can adjust the spiciness to your taste buds! Below are chili flake alternatives to help you make any adjustments.
Fool-Proof (Untraditional) Chili Oil
This simple homemade chili oil recipe is mind-blowingly good! It's exploding this spicy garlicky goodness, but I do have to preface: This is not your traditional chili oil.
Traditionalists typically steep aromatics in oil and use this as the primary way to infuse flavor. It's sometimes drained before pouring the hot oil onto chilies / chili flakes. It's pure, simple, and while this method is certainly delicious, I usually crave more morsels of umami in mine.
With that said, this recipe is closer to a Chiu Chow oil.
This chili oil is infused with additional seasonings such as, soy sauce, fresh chilies, and five-spice for such rich flavor with every spoonful you drizzle on top of your food!
🥘 Ingredients
- Sichuan Peppercorn: This unique peppercorn has a floral flavor and is known for its tingling and numbing effects! The numbing is said to help you eat more chilies! A little goes a long way and you can always add more if you'd like. You can find them at local Asian markets (I usually get mine from Ranch 99) or online.
- 5-Spice: This seasoning is a combination of spices (star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds, and peppercorns) for a subtle warmth in the chili oil. You can easily find it at local Asian markets or online.
- Light Soy Sauce: Adding this along the edges of the wok or pan creates a char and incredible umami!
See recipe card for quantities.
Best Type of Oil
Neutral oils are your best friends for this recipe, such as grape seed (my favorite!), canola, peanut, or vegetable oil. They don't have strong flavors that would change or alter the flavor of the red chili oil. Avoid strong-tasting oils such as avocado or olive oil.
Types of Chili Flakes
You'll need Sichuan chili flakes for this recipe, which you can get at various heat levels. These are the Sichuan chili flakes I've used to make chili oil: medium-spice Sichuan chili flakes or hot Sichuan chili flakes (perfect for spicy lovers because it's actually really spicy lol).
Chili flakes also come in various levels of coarseness, but I highly suggest using a coarse variety instead of a fine powder. This is less likely to burn and has bits of seeds that bring the heat!
Gochugaru are Korean coarse chili flakes that are very mild and give a vibrant red color. If you can’t find a mild version of Sichuan chili flakes, this untraditional ingredient works since you can easily find them in Asian markets or online.
I'd avoid using crushed red pepper flakes because it's much easier to turn dark or burn, so you risk making your garlic chili oil bitter with overcooked chili flakes.
📖 Variations & Substitutions
Keep in mind coarse Szechuan chili flakes are spicy! Luckily, you can easily adjust the spice level by using a mild version of Sichuan chili flakes or playing around with the ratio of spicy Sichuan chili flakes to mild chili flakes, like gochugaru, to cut the spiciness.
🔪 Instructions
Make the most flavorful chili oil you can bottle up to instantly spice up your favorite dishes! Here's how to make chili garlic oil in a few simple steps.
Step 1: Heat ½ cup of neutral oil & shallots in a medium pan on medium heat. Cook until they're lightly golden - they'll continue to cook with the rest of the ingredients so don't let them get too dark.
Step 2: Reduce heat to low & add garlic to infuse for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 3: Meanwhile, add Thai chilies & salt to a mortar & pestle, then grind them into a rough chili paste. OR salt the chilies on a cutting board & finely chop until you get a rough paste. Make sure to wash your hands with soap afterwards.
Step 4: Add light soy sauce to the garlic infused oil, then the salted Thai chilies. Allow to cook for another 10 minutes, keeping an eye out so it doesn't burn.
Step 5: Increase the heat to medium, add spices (ground Sichuan peppercorn, Sichuan chili flakes, sugar, & 5-spice). Toast spices for a few seconds.
Step 6: Add remaining oil. Cook for another 10 seconds, then turn off the heat & allow it to cool for at least 30 minutes. Store in a sterile mason jar or airtight container for a long shelf life.
👩🏽🍳 Key Tips
- Maximizing Flavor from the Aromatics: Cooking the oil low and slow allows it to absorb as much flavor as possible from the aromatics. It also gives you much more room for forgiveness since you're not dealing with hot oil that could quickly burn your ingredients. With that said, don't be tempted to turn up the heat too high to speed up the process. You may risk burning the ingredients and needing to start from scratch - Epic sadness 🙁
- Pro-Tip to Avoid Burnt Chili Flakes: Your oil should be warm enough to heat the chili flakes so it releases its natural oils. You don't want the oil to be too hot though, otherwise, you'll burn the chili flakes and make the garlic chili oil turn bitter. You can test if the oil is warm enough by sprinkling in a few chili flakes. If it immediately sizzles and turns into a dark color, the oil is too hot. Reduce the heat, wait a couple of minutes, then retest. The chili flakes should retain their red color.
- Warning Signs of Overheating: Since this recipe cooks at a low temperature, you shouldn’t need to worry about overheating, but as a general rule of thumb, color and smell are your key indicators for overheating.
- Shallots should be lightly golden before adding garlic. Keep in mind they'll continue to deepen in color while cooking the rest of the ingredients and you don't want it burnt by the end.
- Garlic should remain a pale color while you infuse the warm oil with its flavor. If the edges begin to turn golden, turn down the heat because you don't want it to turn bitter while you finish cooking.
- Create Deep Smokey Flavor with ONE Ingredient: Steeping soy sauce in the warm garlic oil is a complete game changer! By allowing it to steep for a few minutes, you can easily create a robust smoky umami flavor - do not skip this step!
- Don't Be Afraid to Adjust & Experiment: This is the BEST part about making it at home! Adjust the flavors to how you like it - more garlicky, less spicy, etc.
💭 Recipe FAQs
I HIGHLY recommend using sterile glass containers to store your garlic infused chili oil so bacteria doesn't spoil it quickly. My favorite storage containers are mason jars because they're inexpensive yet durable, easy to sanitize, and reusable as cups or containers for other food or sauces!
Store any leftover oil in a sterilized airtight container at room temperature for a month or up to 6 months in the fridge.
You can tell if your garlic infused chili oil is turning bad if you see changes in color, scent, clarity, or any mildew growing. If any signs show, it’s time to toss it.
Ideally, you want to use a neutral oil so its flavor doesn't overpower or alter the flavor of the red chili oil. For example, grape seed oil is a great option, but you can also use canola or vegetable oil. You'll want to avoid oils such as olive or avocado oil because of their strong flavor.
It's extremely versatile! You can use it as a hot sauce to add spice to a dish or ]more garlicky umami flavor.
It's SO good over dumplings, soups, noodles, eggs, or even avocado toast! Your imagination is your limit. McDonald's even started serving chili oil on top of their soft serve ice cream!
Also known as Red Oil in China, Sichuan chili oil is made of neutral oil infused with chili flakes, Sichuan peppercorns, and aromatics to create a super flavorful condiment.
The best part about making it at home is that you can adjust the spice level and flavors to your tastebuds!
Homemade Garlic Chili Oil Recipe
Watch How to Make It!
Ingredients
- 2 shallots minced
- 1 head of garlic minced
- 10 - 15 Thai chilies thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup + ¾ cup neutral oil divided
- ½ tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns toasted & ground
- ¼ cup Sichuan chili flakes*
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- pinch of 5 spice
- 2 ¼ tablespoon light soy sauce
Instructions
- Heat a medium size pan on medium low heat and add ½ cup oil. Add in shallots and cook until they're lightly golden along the edges. They will continue to become golden as it cooks, but we don’t want them to burn later in the process.
- Reduce heat to lowest setting and wait until there are no oil bubbles forming before adding in garlic. Allow garlic to slowly infuse in the oil, about 20 minutes. Watch carefully to make sure garlic doesn’t turn brown or turn crispy. They should turn very soft and still pale.
- Meanwhile, in a mortar and pestle, add Thai chilies and salt. Grind until chilies break down, but just before becoming a paste. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, you can salt Thai chilies on a cutting board and run your knife through the salted chilies multiple times until it's very finely minced. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine Szechuan peppers, chili flakes, sugar, and 5 spice. Set aside.
- In the pan, add soy sauce and mix well with the garlic and shallots. Add in the salted Thai chilies and cook for another 10 minutes, watching carefully so it doesn't burn.
- Bring heat to medium, then add spices and remaining ¾ cup oil. Stir fry for another 10 seconds or so, watching carefully that the chili flakes aren’t turning too dark. Turn off heat, let chili oil cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes. Transfer to a sanitized airtight container and enjoy up to 3 months!
Notes
- Sichuan Chili Flakes: You can get them in a variety of coarseness, however, my favorite is coarse instead of a fine powder because it included the seeds for more heat. Alternatively, you can use gochugaru (Korean chili flakes), however, keep in mind it'll be much milder in flavor in heat. Avoid using Italian crushed red pepper flakes because they're much easier to turn dark, burn, and/or make your chili oil bitter.
- Serving Size: This recipe yields about 1 ½ cups of chili oil and you can multiply the recipe using the slider above. The nutrition facts account for 1 tablespoon of chili oil per serving.
- Maximizing Flavor from the Aromatics: Cook the oil low and slow to maximize flavor and avoid burning the ingredients.
- Pro-Tip to Avoid Burnt Chili Flakes: Warm the oil enough to release the natural oils in the chili flakes, but not too hot to avoid burning them.
- Warning Signs of Overheating: Since this recipe cooks at a low temperature, you shouldn’t need to worry about overheating, but as a general rule of thumb, color and smell are your key indicators for overheating.
-
- Shallots should be lightly golden before adding garlic. Keep in mind they'll continue to deepen in color while cooking the rest of the ingredients and you don't want it burnt by the end.
- Garlic should remain a pale color while you infuse the warm oil with its flavor. If the edges begin to turn golden, turn down the heat because you don't want it to turn bitter while you finish cooking.
- Create Deep Smoky Flavor with ONE Ingredient: Steep soy sauce in the warm garlic oil for a smoky umami flavor.
- Don't Be Afraid to Adjust & Experiment: This is the BEST part about making it at home! Adjust the flavors to how you like it - more garlicky, less spicy, etc.
Nutrition
Exact calculations may vary. For the most accurate nutritional information, use your preferred nutrition calculator, actual ingredients, and quantities used for the recipe. Please consult with your physician or registered dietitian if more precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
HEY, I'M MIKHA!
...A fellow food lover who believes anyone can whip up a delicious meal - no matter your skill level! These quick & easy Asian recipes will help you transform simple ingredients into a drool-worthy meal for you & the people you love most - without spending all day in the kitchen.
Now come on - Grab a seat & let's eat!
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