If chili and garlic paste has turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use it with confidence and how to choose it, cook it, store it, what to substitute, and 9 recipes to try it in.

What is chili and garlic paste?

Chili and garlic paste is a thick, coarse condiment of ground red chiles and garlic, held together with vinegar and salt. It is the bright red, chunky jar that sits next to the sriracha in most kitchens, often labeled chili garlic sauce or sambal oelek with garlic.

The flavor is sharp and raw rather than smoky. You get the punch of fresh chile, a strong hit of garlic, and a sour edge from the vinegar, with the seeds left in so it carries real heat.

It is a staple across Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese kitchens. It adds both heat and a savory garlic backbone to a dish at once.

How to Use It

Treat it as a flavor base, not just a heat source. A teaspoon fried in oil at the start of a stir fry blooms the chile and garlic and perfumes the whole pan, which is the move behind a good Chinese Mapo Tofu.

Stir it into sauces off the heat for a brighter, sharper burn. It loosens into the dressing for Peanut Noodles and into the tamarind sauce of a Chicken, Tofu & Shrimp Pad Thai, where it brings heat without watering things down.

It also works straight from the jar as a table condiment. Spoon it over dumplings or noodle soup the way the heat lifts a plate of Stir-Fried Szechuan Lobster with Chili Sauce.

Because it is already salted and soured, taste before you add more salt or vinegar to the dish, or it tips over fast.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Chili garlic paste sits well with soy, fish sauce, lime, ginger, peanut, and sesame, the backbone flavors of Southeast and East Asian cooking. It also cuts through fatty proteins like pork and duck, which is why a spoonful makes the glaze on a dish of Gourmet Pork Chops taste lighter.

The most common mistake is scorching the garlic. Drop the paste into smoking-hot oil and the garlic burns bitter in seconds, so add it to warm oil over medium heat and stir constantly.

The other slip is treating it like sriracha, which is a different animal. That sauce is smoother and sweeter, with far less raw garlic bite.

Substitutes

The closest single swap is sambal oelek with a clove of minced garlic stirred in, since plain sambal is the same chile paste without the garlic.

Sriracha is smoother and sweeter and thinner, so swapping it spoon for spoon leaves a dish less garlicky and noticeably sweeter than you intended.

It still works in a pinch. Cut the sugar elsewhere in the dish and add fresh garlic to make up the difference. For a rougher, oilier profile, Chinese chili crisp brings heat and crunch, though it leans toward fried garlic and numbing spice.

In a real bind, mince a fresh red chile with garlic and a splash of rice vinegar and a pinch of salt. It lacks the depth of an aged jarred paste but covers the same role.

Buying and Storing

Look for a short ingredient list: chile, garlic, vinegar, salt, and maybe a little sugar. The best jars are a deep brick red and smell sharply of fresh garlic, not flat or dull.

Unopened, it keeps in the pantry for a year or more thanks to the salt and vinegar. Once opened, store it in the refrigerator, where it stays good for several months.

Always use a clean, dry spoon. A wet or oily spoon introduces water and food, which is what eventually grows mold on the surface.

A little darkening at the top of the jar is normal oxidation and harmless. Stir it back in, but toss the jar if you see fuzzy mold or smell anything fermented and off.

Quick facts

In Chinese

辣椒和大蒜糊

British (UK) term

Chili and garlic paste

en français

piment et l'ail pâte

en español

pasta de chile y ajo

Recipes using chili and garlic paste

There are 9 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 9 recipes