Dipping sauces can take the same basic meal template and jazz things up to keep you from suffering from FBS (Food Boredom Syndrome). Plain chicken and broccoli again? Drizzle on some Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce.
Need an accompaniment for some beautiful cooked, chilled shrimp? This one does the trick, too.
It does have honey (so don’t go overboard and eat gallons of it) but if you’re looking for something to stave off FBS, feel good that it doesn’t contain weird chemicals or high-fructose corn syrup like most of the prepared sauces in the market.
No arrowroot powder? You could use tapioca flour as a thickener. Wish to avoid those completely? You can gently reduce the sauce until it thickens a bit, though it won’t have the same texture as arrowroot or tapioca.
Paleo Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce
Paleo Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce is the perfect topping for chicken and broccoli or any simple meal. Made with honey. See the recipe now!
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp chopped red chilis or 1 small mild red chili minced finely
- 1 tsp arrowroot powder
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper optional
Instructions
- Mince the garlic finely and use a microplane grater to grate down the ginger (or mince very finely).
- In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients: the vinegar, garlic, honey, red chilis, arrowroot, ginger, salt and cayenne pepper (if desired). Stir so the arrowroot is dissolved.
- Bring the ingredients to a boil and cook briefly (~1 min or less) until the sauce thickens.
- Cool and serve alongside your favorite meats for dipping. It’s be super tasty with chicken, as a sauce on top of salmon or drizzled on top of stir-fried veggies.
Pin this Paleo Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce for later.
45 Responses
LOVE! I cheat with bottles of Mae Ploy, so it’s nice to have a Paleo version 🙂
I hope you like it Sharon! 🙂
Can I store this in a jar in the fridge for a while? I’d love to make this in bulk and can it. Thanks!!
Hi Lauren…I think that with the acid from the vinegar it’d store pretty well for 3-5 days or so but since it contains no chemical preservatives, I’m not sure about longer than that even with canning. Maybe another reader with some experience in this area can chime in. I think you could make a big batch and freeze it into cubes though for longer term storage if that’s an option.
I just got a large quantity of sweet chili peppers (about 10 qts). I want to make them into a nice chili sauce with no tomato. I was hoping to find a good recipe but so far no luck. Anyone have any ideas?
Can’t wait to try this. I absolutely love sweet and hot put together. That being said, to comment on the top of the page…a Paleo version of a mango habanero sauce would be awesome.
Mango habanero… <3
OMG, I love you so much right now. This is one of my favorite foods on the planet and I’ve been stuck using the kind with the Asian writing on the front…I think it might be the May Ploy that someone mentioned earlier…I can’t wait to make my own now. 😀
Woohoo!! I’m stoked to hear that Tara!
i so need to make this 😀 i love a good honey mustard!
I hope you like it!
Why does your “print” button always take me to Pinterest? Love your recipes but I would be happier if I could print them off. I never cook from a computer. Thanks much!
Hi Susan….we’ve tried to disable that annoying floating Pinterest button but it tags all images. If you hover slightly to the left of the Print button and click, it’ll take you to the recipe print page.
I’m currently doing a Whole30 and one of the things I’m missing the most are dipping sauces! I would love to try this sauce but honey(and all sweeteners) are off-limits. Do you have any suggestions on what we could substitute? My husband suggested a little apple juice, maybe, but my fear is that would change the consistency too much. I’d love your ideas! 🙂 Thanks in advance!
Hi Sarah,
Pat on the back to the hubs. Apple juice isn’t a bad idea, however I agree on the consistency. My suggestion would be to reduce the juice to thicken it. However, be mindful of how much you use as to not miss the ideas of Whole 30 and slaying those sugar dragons. I wish you all the best on your Whole 30. 🙂
I don’t think apple juice would be a good idea, even if you make it yourself. It’s nutritionally just fruit sugar, which isn’t really in the spirit of Whole 30.
I may be wrong but that was my initial thought
Hi Cody,
The fruit thing is a grey area for some people. As a sweetener in a recipe, Whole30 gives fruit juices a green light. Sitting down for a big glass of OJ, for example, not so much.
Fruit juices have the OK for the Whole30, but we decided to play it safe and wait to make this until after our Whole30 was over. We finished Monday (two days ago!) so we’re a go! I think I know what will be on an upcoming meal plan!
Awesome to hear, Sarah!
Put some dates through a food processor and then add in.
I’m going to make this and can it for later. the vinegar and sugar from the honey is preservative enough. Just make sure your bottles/jars are sterilised (heat them in oven at 180c for 10 minutes) and bottle up the sauce while everything is still hot so it seals the lid when you put it on.
Quick question, if white wine vinegar isn’t available to me.. any other types of vinegar you’d recommend?
You could try it with apple cider vinegar!
I used rice wine vinegar and I am very satisfied with the end result
I paired this with a coconut shrimp recipe from Pinterest and a noodle recipe from paleo cupboard. It was amazing!!!! I absolutely love this recipe.
I’m so glad you love it, Emily! 🙂
made this tonight for coconut shrimp – it was GREAT! can’t wait to use it on kabobs or salmon.
Jud,
I used it for the same thing today. It was wonderful! Thanks for this great recipe 🙂
For the chopped red chiles – I don’t really need that much of it (the amazon link is for 6 bottles!) — and that particular product is apparently British. Are there alternative brands of this from Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s that you’d recommend? Any particular kind of fresh red chile you’d recommend as a sub? Thanks. 🙂
Hi Nikki…I put that link there so folks could see what to use. You can use fresh birds eye chills from an Asian market but be careful as they are very spicy.
I don’t see a link for the chilis, and I have no idea what to buy. I can’t find red chilis in my store. Are these the dried chilis used in Mexican cooking? That’s the closest I could find. Would you re-post the link?
Hi Janine…what you’re looking for is fresh mild red chilis in your grocery store.
I like Sharon also cheat little with Mae Ploy, but thanks to you I now a recipe to give a try. Thanks.
If I could ask you to develop a paleo version of dipping sauces it would definitely be a version of Chik-Fil-A sauce & a version of Popeyes Mardi Gras mustard.
I’ll have to work on that. 😉
Great recipe! Flavor and consistency are very authentic.
Thanks Donna!
Oh my!!! I haven’t had this in over a year! The carb count in the traditional sauce is crazy high and I can’t have sugar. It was always my go to dipping and well, slathering sauce 😉 THANK YOU for this recipe!!! ::cries:: I can have my favorite Asian condiment again!
Sweet!! Super glad to hear that, Michell!
Can you use apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar?
Sure!
I know this might sound weird, but I LOVE your website! I know I’ve been here before, a while ago, but it looks like you changed it and it’s awesome, so fresh, creative, clean and easy to navigate! Your recipes are amazing too!
Thank you Sherri…yes we just launched a completely new site and brand a few days ago. Super glad that you’re loving it!
is this spicy even if they cayenne is left out or minimized? I don’t do hot well but I’m okay with the sweet chili sauces that come in the frozen egg roll packages, they arent hot.
If you leave out the cayenne it’s not spicy.