Homemade Szechuan Sauce is an extremely flavorful sauce prepared with 10 basic ingredients. This spicy and fiery sauce is very popular in Indo-Chinese cuisine and is used to flavor many recipes. Plus the whole recipe takes just 20 minutes from start to finish and is vegan and gluten-free!
Homemade Szechuan or Schezwan Sauce recipe is one of the versatile sauce that I always have on hand. Whether it be plain noodles or rice, this quick and easy sauce can convert an ordinary meal into a restaurant-style dinner. So, if you enjoy Chinese food, then make this super duper easy sauce a staple in your home.
Why make a Szechuan Sauce recipe at home when you can easily get the ready-made ones from the store?
- Well, to start with, nothing beats homemade.
- Homemade is incredibly healthy and preservative -free. The best part, no un-pronounced ingredients are added and you can control what goes into the sauce.
- Besides that, it freezes beautifully.
So what makes up this Szechuan Sauce recipe?
Hot and spicy dried red chilies. These red chilies are so hot and fiery that its seeds need to be removed before use. All the work goes in de-seeding whole red chilies and after that the recipe is straightforward.
Do not underestimate the spiciness of this sauce. Even after removing the seeds, this sauce is still very spicy. So to balance the spicy flavor, adjust the sweetness to your preferred taste.
If you have sensitive skin then these chilies may irritate your skin, make sure you wear gloves throughout the de-seeding process.
Traditionally, motor and pestle are used to pound these chilies but I have used a blender here as I can’t handle the heat from these chilies. Then cook the blended puree along with spices as shown below.
Szechuan Sauce a perfect sauce for any meal!
This versatile sauce can be used to jazz up any boring meal. It serves as a perfect base for –
- stir fry veggies, tofu, and even meat.
- add a teaspoon to your soups and curries and take them to a whole new level.
- Spice up your noodles, and rice bowls with this fiery sauce.
- taste best even on pizzas, burgers, and sandwiches.
- One sauce and the possibilities are endless.
The best part – It freezes beautifully!
I make a huge batch of this sauce and freeze it in batches. The frozen sauce comes in really handy on one of those busy weeknights. So what you waiting for- hop on and let’s get started to make our very own homemade Szechuan Sauce recipe.
If you happen to make these then either drop me a line below or share your yum pictures with me on Facebook. Would love to see your creation!
Cheers!
Homemade Szechuan Sauce recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups Dried Whole Chilies (40-50 pieces)
- 1 medium Chopped Onion
- 3 tablespoons Chopped Garlic
- 2 teaspoons Ginger paste
- 3 tablespoons Tomato Ketchup (vegan)
- 3 tablespoons Soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons Sesame Oil or Olive oil
- 1/4 cup Water
INSTRUCTIONS
- Let's begin with de-seeding the chilies.
- Cut chili in half...
- Open and remove all the seeds.
- Remove seeds in a bowl...
- Remove the dried membrane and discard.
- All we need is the skin of red chilies. If you have a sensitive skin then these chilies may irritate your skin, make sure you wear gloves before removing seeds from these chilies.
- All the red chilies are de-seeded and ready. Discard the seeds.
- Transfer cleaned chilies to a mixer...
- Add 1/4 cup water and grind it to a smooth paste.
- Heat sesame oil in a pan, add chopped garlic, ginger and saute for 1 minute.
- Mix in chopped onions and saute for for another 1-2 minutes until onions are translucent.
- Pour in szechuan paste..
- Add tomato ketchup...
- Add soy sauce...
- Add salt..
- Pour in vinegar and bring it to a boil. Add sugar and mix until well blended.
- Adjust sweetness and salt. Sezchuan sauce is ready.
- When completely cooled store it in an airtight container and its good for 3-4 weeks in your refrigerator and for 6 months in your freezer.
I was lucky, my local Asian market has precut seeded dried chilis. This tastes great. I love the spice.
Thanks Momo!
Great post! Nice pics! I added dried mango powder for a sour touch, smoked paprika and smoked salt for a hint of smokiness. Used with pan fried chicken thigh – divine!!!
Thanks for the update Malou!
You made some great additions – Smoked paprika and mango powder sounds yum!
Glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
I saw sugar in the ingredient list but I didn’t see you add it to your receipe. Can we leave the sugar out and it still taste good?
It doesn’t shows in the pics but is mentioned in step 18. Sugar balance out the spiciness in this recipe.
Thanks for the recipe!
What kind of vinegar is better to use? apple cider, rice ?
In step 14, you mention szechuan paste, are you referring to the dry chili paste you made earlier?
-Thanks
Pleasure is all mine. Thanks!
What kind of vinegar is better to use? apple cider, rice ?
Rice vinegar is good.
In step 14, you mention szechuan paste, are you referring to the dry chili paste you made earlier?
Yes, the paste that was prepared earlier in pic 10.
I like a little spice but not so much it numbs my mouth or makes my eyes water, etc. what can I do so that this recipe is not so spicy?
Joan, you can add brown sugar or honey to the sauce to adjust the spice level.
First of all, i just love your recepies, they are quite simple, further the photography is on another level,
I have a Question, Adding the kasmiri chillies will give even rich colour to the the sauce, Wouldnt it?????
Thank you, Sohail for your kind words.
Sure Kashmiri Chilies will add a great color but it will increase the spice level too.
Please keep that in consideration.
Which type of chillies did you use?
Traditionally, Szechuan sauce is made with Szechuan peppercorns.
I couldn’t find these peppercorns in my area, therefore I have subbed peppercorns with Chinese whole red dried chilies.
Overall very good! Better if you reduce brown sugar to 1 Tbsp and do not seed the peppers. Those simple changes make this perfect (for me)!
I hear you, Esteban!
I would have loved to use the peppers as is with the seeds in, as it was too much work to de-seed every pepper. But trust me; they were very spicy. And that’s the reason I have added 1/4 cup of sugar because that did balance out the spice level.
I love the taste of Szechuan sauce and this is a fine recipe. My only suggestion is to name the type of red chili type you use. I used dried chili de arbol and halved the amount you said to use. Man, it was still spicy! I deseeded them and the Scoville rating was kicking. I like very spicy foods, too.