Schezwan Sauce Recipe (Spicy Schezwan Chutney)
Schezwan Sauce is a terrifically spicy, tangy, and salty condiment made with dry red chilies, garlic, shallots and lots of bright spices. This fusion Indo Chinese recipe, also referred to as Schezwan Chutney is a hot chili sauce that compliments any number of recipes and snacks. It is one of the most popular sauces from the fusion Indo-Chinese cuisine. Follow my step-by-step instructions with photos and a video for making a batch of this versatile sauce to enjoy with all of your favorite dishes!
About Schezwan Sauce
Spicy, tangy schezwan sauce also known as schezwan chutney is a versatile condiment that goes great with many delicious snacks.
It features a wonderfully pungent combination of hot red chillies, garlic, flavorful sichuan peppers, and salty soy sauce. This recipe can easily be customized to your preferred level of heat for a great dip or bold sauce.
The sauce comes from the Indo Chinese cuisine that originated in Kolkata. This fusion cuisine is a creation of the Chinese community that had immigrated to India and combines the classic Chinese methods of cooking with the Indian spices, herbs and often includes veggies.
Schezwan sauce is a wonderful addition to your meals in a way they simply perk up any plain, bland or boring meal. Make it and refrigerate or freeze to bring more flavors and spice up your everyday meals.
Try dipping your savory snacks like Momos, Spring Rolls, Scallion Pancakes, French Fries or Potato Wedges in this spicy schezwan chutney, or bring plenty of bold flavors to your Fried Rice or Noodles with this sauce. Trust me, you will love this condiment if you like spicy food.
Use this basic schezwan sauce to make recipes like Schezwan Noodles, Schezwan Paneer and Schezwan Fried Rice.
How to make Schezwan Sauce
Prepare Peppers
1. Firstly, rinse and then soak the 20 dried red chilies in hot water for about 30 minutes. For a slightly less spicy taste it is recommended that you de-seed the chilies before soaking. You can also remove the stems if you prefer.
I added a mix of two Indian variety of dry red chillies – 15 Kashmiri red chillies and 5 Byadagi red chilies.
2. Next, drain all the water from the soaked red chilies and remove the stalks if not removed earlier. Break them into pieces and then add them to a chutney or spice grinder, food processor, or a blender.
3. Add a tablespoon of water at a time – up to 2.5 tablespoons total – and blend to make a smooth paste.
4. Use a mortar and pestle to crush 3 to 4 sichuan peppers coarsely. Set aside. You can choose to skip the sichuan if you like, for a less spicy schezwan sauce.
Make Schezwan Sauce
5. Next heat 4 tablespoons of toasted sesame oil, or any other vegetable oil, in a medium-sized pan over medium heat.
6. Lower the heat and add 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic and 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger.
Sauté for some seconds on low to medium-low heat until no longer raw. Be careful to not brown or burn, or you’ll wind up with a bitter taste.
7. Then add ¼ cup chopped shallots, and sauté until translucent stirring often on a low to medium-low heat.
8. Add the ground red chili paste to the pan.
9. Stir well to combine.
10. Then add the crushed sichuan pepper, if using. At this point you can add ½ tablespoon of finely chopped celery as shown in the video.
11. Saute the paste for 1 to 2 minutes on a low to medium-low heat, until the oil starts to seep from the chili paste. Add ½ cup of water and stir to loosen the paste into a sauce.
12. Simmer the sauce for about 2 minutes on a low to medium-low heat stirring often.
13. Now add all of the following ingredients. Stir and mix. Continue to cook the sauce for 5 to 6 minutes more on low to medium-low heat.
- 2 teaspoons of raw sugar
- salt as required
- ¼ to ½ a teaspoon of black pepper powder
- ½ a teaspoon of light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar (or white vinegar, or apple cider vinegar).
Tip: For a more sweeter sauce, opt to include 1 to 2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup at this step.
14. Turn the heat off. Once the schezwan sauce cools at room temperature, pour it into a small jar or bowl. Cover tightly with a lid and refrigerate.
If the sauce looks very thick, add a few tablespoons of hot water to thin it a bit.
15. Serve schezwan sauce as a spicy dipping condiment with your favorite snacks. You can also add it to recipes that require schezwan sauce, such as the schezwan fried rice, noodles, stir fried veggies or tofu.
You can also make schezwan dosa, schezwan idli, paneer schezwan etc with the sauce.
FAQs
How can I make a spicier or more mild version of this schezwan sauce recipe?
I have used a mix of the mildly hot Indian variety of Kashmiri red chilies and byadagi chilies. They give a good color, flavor and taste good, too. Depending on your taste buds and spice tolerance, you can choose chilies with lower heat or medium heat, or add more chilies for greater spice.
How long will homemade schezwan sauce keep well?
Scratch-made schezwan sauce stays good in the refrigerator for about 2 to 3 weeks in an airtight container. For the best tasting and longest-lasting sauce, I recommend adding a bit of oil to the top of the sauce before sealing the jar.
You can also freeze this sauce to last longer.
How can you enjoy schezwan sauce as a dip?
A few snack suggestions to dip in spicy homemade schezwan sauce include potato wedges or veg cutlet, french fries, spring rolls, dumplings or momos. It also goes quite well with savory fried Indian snacks like cheese pakora or veggie pakora, or samosa.
Step by Step Photo Guide Above
Ingredients
For Soaking Chillies and Making Paste
- 20 dry red chilies – less hot or medium hot. I added a mix of 15 kashmiri and 5 byadagi dry red chilies
- hot water – as needed to cover the chillies
- 2 to 2.5 tablespoons water or as needed, for blending the red chilies
Other Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons toasted sesame oil or any vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic or 15 small to medium-sized garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger or 1 inch ginger
- ¼ cup finely chopped shallots or 1 small onion – finely chopped
- 3 to 4 sichuan peppers – crushed, optional (skip if you don' have)
- ½ tablespoon finely chopped celery – optional (skip if you don't have)
- ½ cup water – to be added later
- 2 teaspoons raw sugar or organic unrefined cane sugar or brown sugar – please add as required. For a more sweeter taste, you can even add up to 3 teaspoon sugar.
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon black pepper powder or as required
- ½ teaspoon light soy sauce or as required
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar or white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- salt as required
Instructions
Preparation
- Rinse and then soak the chilies in hot water for 30 minutes.
- You can also de-seed the chilies and remove their stems before you soak them.
- Drain all the water. Remove the stems and then break the chilies. Add them to a chutney grinder or blender. Add water and make a smooth paste of the red chilies.
- Crush the sichuan peppers coarsely in a mortar-pestle.
Making schezwan sauce
- Heat toasted sesame oil or any other vegetable oil in a frying pan.
- Lower the heat. Add the garlic and ginger first and sauté for some seconds till their raw aroma goes away. Don't brown them.
- Add the chopped shallots and then saute them stirring often till translucent on low to medium-low heat.
- Add the ground red chili paste and combine thoroughly.
- Then add the crushed sichuan pepper and finely chopped celery (if using). Sauté for 1 to 2 minutes more till you see oil releasing from the sides of the sauce.
- Add ½ cup of water and mix well. Simmer for 2 minutes stirring often on a low to medium-low heat.
- Add salt, sugar, pepper, soy sauce and vinegar.
- Stir and continue to cook further for 5 to 6 minutes more on low to medium-low heat.
- Switch off the heat and set the pan aside. Check the taste and add more salt, sugar or pepper as required.
- Once the sauce cools at room temperature, transfer it in a small jar or bowl. Cover tightly with a lid and refrigerate.
- Serve schezwan sauce as a condiment with snacks or you can also add in recipes like schezwan fried rice or noodles, vegetable schezwan or veg balls in hot garlic sauce or schezwan dosa.
- It stays good for about 2 to 3 weeks in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This schezwan sauce recipe from the archives was first published in June 2014. It has been updated on November 2024.
Nice.
Made this recipe many times and loved it. So simple to make.
Madam, you have not mentioned when to add cane sugar
sugar is added when salt, soy sauce, pepper is added.
thanks. i have updated in the post.
I love all your recipes. Tips given buy you are really very helpful. Whenever I want to make something, I always follow your recipes. Thank you so much for sharing ????
thanks rashmi for this lovely comment. glad to read it. thanks again and happy cooking.
Hello,
How may garlic should one use if they’re the bigger ones ? Where is live at the garlic pods are really big. Should I still be using 15 pieces of garlic then ?
take about 6 to 7 garlic pods then.
Thank you ????
Really easy and wonderful dear dassana…thanks for th schezwan sauce recipe….tastes exactly like the store bought one didnt know it is quite simple….tnx a ton 4 ur dishes
Welcome Aishu. Glad to know that you liked schezwan sauce recipe
Very good recipe thanks
welcome suheil
Thank you very much.
Making style is very nice
welcome sk rahaman
Came out really well. Too good. Thanks for sharing.
Welcome Rithika
wow !! yummy Schezwan Chutney recipe ..thanks for the recipe. i will definately try today.
Welcome Asha
thanks DA for yummy recipes.For schezwan sauce can i substitute vinegar with 1tbsp lemon juice
you can use lemon juice. i would suggest to add half tablespoon first. if the tang is less, then you can add half tablespoon later.
Can i use it to eat mc donald chicken nugget
you can.
How long does this last in the fridge?
its stays good for a few weeks. if you want to keep it longer then just cover the sauce with a layer of sesame oil.
i forgot to add sugar is it ok?or can i add now its already as become cold.?
you can powder the sugar and then add. or just warm it up and then add sugar, so that the sugar dissolves. or mix the sugar in a bit of warm water very well. then add this sugar solution to the schezwan sauce.
This recipe is so much like the traditional Rajasthani chilly and garlic chutney.
Thanks a lot for the receipe. I tried this and it tasted just like restaurant food.
thanks kamal.
Thank you so much for all the wonderful sauces recipes. They are great and comes handy. Your site is just awesome. So many yummy recipes. Thank you ?
welcome rhea. glad to know that you liked the recipes and the website.
i have tryed today but it becum to much very much spice cant tell so much spice it was wanna try it again…
schezwan sauce is spicy. add a puree of 1 large tomato and cook it with the sauce. add some sugar also just to make the sauce lightly sweet and it will balance the tang of the tomatoes also.
I made this sauce today. Turned out very good. My food processor did not do a good job of grinding the red chilies. Next time I’ll use my vitamix because I’m definitely going to make it again.
Thanks Madhav for sharing positive feedback on Schezwan sauce recipe.
I have made this sauce three times till date and everytime i made it, my wife loved it. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe. I skipped celery since my wife doesn’t like it but still this is so yumm… Thanks once again and GOD bless!!
Welcome Kunal. Glad to know that you both like the schezwan sauce recipe. Thanks for your positive feedback and best wishes.
What can we use instead of vineager?
just skip it.
Super tasty.. loved by everyone at home 🙂 Thanx a lot
welcome and thankyou zehra 🙂
This is really helpfull for me first of all check than i will do how to make
Can I use fresh red chilies instead? If so, how many?
you can use fresh red chilies. add about 10 to 12, depending on the heat intensity. if less hot, then add about 12. if medium then add 10.
How long is the shelf life?
nick if you place them in the freezer it could last for up yo 2-3 months also. hope this help’s you.
Your recipe is very easy &delicious . I love it.
thankyou so much alka 🙂
Your all recipes are just wonderfull u r just amazing. I wanna make one request please DASSANA please i want pav bhaji masala recipe please make it available as soon as possible please i waiting eagerly
thankyou aisha 🙂 surely have taken your request for pav bhaji masala recipe on our file 🙂 will try posting soon.
Tried your sauce recipe and must say real easy and delicious.
thanks rekha for the positive feedback.
This is like mother’s kitchen for me
thank you very much ramya 🙂
What do u called sichun pepper in Hindi or Marathi?
ekta sichuan pepper is known as teppal or triphal spice here.
you have created a treasure trove of recipes… have tried umpteen of them and each turned out as per your photographs… great work!!
Thanks for sharing…
quite pleased to know this kunal thankyou for your kind and positive words 🙂
I have tried many of your recipes at home and it turned out to be awesome….i love ur work, keep adding more recipes. Thank you for it.
thankyou amit for your positive words 🙂 surely we would keep sharing more recipes.
I only just found your page. Your recipes are really great. Do you have recipes for diabetics.
Thank you.
thanks jennifer. there are some diabetic recipes but i have not grouped them in one category. i plan to do so in some time.
Hi,
I always refer to ur recipes whenever I need them n my family loves the result.
Just a suggestion when u mention any spices add their Indian names ….so that while cooking v don’t have to search for a dictionary.
Thanks.
pleased to know this ekta thankyou so much for your honest opinion 🙂
Hi dassana,ur recepies are very nice.I want perfect french fries recepy like hotel .please post the recepy.
thankyou priya have taken your request on our file 🙂
This is really helpful for me…… Thanks a lot…..
welcome mamta 🙂
don’t put tomato..
……………..in this sauce
if you want you can add 1 to 2 tbsp of tomato sauce. fresh tomatoes are not added.
Hi mam, love each and every recipe u post and also the detailed explanation about the recipes 🙂 , I have a doubt that what variety of red chillies have to be used…are they dry red chillies?
thanks sushma. yes these are dry red chilies used in the recipe.
I dont have the sichuan pepper. Can i add the regular black pepper in making the sauce ?
skip the sichuan pepper. no need to add black pepper as we are already adding black pepper in the recipe.
If we don’t add say souce we can cook this dish
you need to add soy sauce.
Nicccc ilike Chinese food
hii..:) can schezwan sauce be used in making dry veg manchurian gravy? as i don’t hv red chilly sauce..pls suggest .
ashi, yes you can use.
Hi dassana, can we use round red chillis?
maitry, i think they will not give you the color and spiciness in the recipe.
Nice & tasty racipe I‘ll try to make it
Do we need to add any preservatives for a longer life??
no need. just cover the schezwan sauce with a layer of oil. its stays good for a long time.
Hey!! I tried this recipe and the sauce has turned out extremely well… thanks alot 🙂 🙂
welcome aarti. glad to know this.
Hi this receipe was really well explained n thanks for that…
I need a receipe of veg spring rolls or veg Chinese rolls…
If u can help me with the receipe pls
welcome pooja. i will try to add veg spring rolls recipe soon.
Very well written, and those photos help a lot. I am going to try is today. Thanks for sharing it. God bless you
welcome reshma. thanks for sharing your encouraging feedback and for your prayers.
thnx fr giving these wonderfull n yummiieeee recipes….plz conti with new ideas…God bless u…
thanks swati for your positive feedback and prayer.
It is very clear steps to understand and prepare sauce. I have learnt many dishes from your website. Thanks for sharing
welcome geetha. glad to know this.
Nice recipes wld like to get updated vth good ones n even more as im a foodie by heart n i love the flavours n food trial…thnks fr lovely recipe.
thanks and welcome mandakini.
Oh..thanks a ton!! I have tried it almost 10times till now.. But finally got it right today! Thanks to you. Amazing recipes very simplified and very well written. The photos help a lot too..thank you amit dasaana for sharing.
i got each and every reciepe on this web its so amazing for my child to have his favourite dishes.
thanks swati.
very very easy and simple recipe. goin to try
thanks kamal
Hello there! I am so delighted with ur blog recipes.. Well, written as per instruction wise..absolutely simple for us mom’s to understand..
well detailed too! U just made szechuan sauce easy to make..
Your hardwork and ur kindness for sharing what uve learnt cooking wise is worth a…. 5 star!
thanks juliette for this positive and kind feedback. feels good to read such sweet words.
it is one of the best website for indian recipes …….. very helpful for me thnks dassana amit….. : )
thanks jagruti for your kind words.
nice one…..thanks
welcome sumit
Hi i got it nice dear
thanks
Asha
welcome asha
recipe is very very well explained at this site, without watching any vedio and waiting for net to buffer its easy to watch it here. loved it and going to try for my first recipe from net. happy
thanks pallavi for sharing your feedback.
good recipe
I always make chinese food like rice, noodles, finger chips, spring roll. but can’t make schezwan sauce but now after read this recipes I make sauce perfect. thanks for this kind of help to us
welcome varsha. thanks for sharing positive feedback.
Thank You for sharing these wonderful recipes. I am looking forward to cooking them soon.
welcome rali
nice
Hi Dassana,
Thanks a ton for this recipe. It turned out excellent. You have to promise never to stop posting recipes for the better good of the Culinary world 🙂
I made the sauce and made the schezwan fried rice (also from your blog). Absolutely delicious.
Thanks again.
Keerthi
hi keerthi, thanks for the feedback. i won’t promise as once a person like me gives me a promise, then i have to keep it. but i will keep on updating the blog with new recipes.
Awesome 🙂
thanks 🙂
Thank you so much dear for the schezwan sauce it’s great recipe very helpful in cooking thanks a lot Dassana
welcome komal
Great and thank you so much for tha recipe schezwan sauce
Dear Amit
I love cooking and whenever I am stressed I cook. Your recipes are easy and in very organised. I have been following your blog for quiet sometime and really wanted to put a word of appreciation for your efforts.. god bless and tons of thanks..
Neha
thanks a lot neha.
Yes very good opportunity to learn about recipes.
given recipes are perfectly shown.
Hello…very detailed recipe.thanks for putting it.also till how long we can keep the sauce.
if you add lots of oil, the stays good for a couple of weeks in the fridge.
Thanks. You are just awesome!!!!
welcome anamika.
Very very clearly way of explanations for mentioned recipes.Thanks for guidance.
welcome.
Thanks a lot for your advice dassana. I will definitely remember that though I already know that in cooking you should always use the ingredients as your gut feeling says but still I will rather like to take your or my mother’s advice as I am a new learner. 🙂
I will definitely let you know how my efforts would come out. 🙂
and once again thanks for giving the ideas on the quantities of ingredients of mentioned recipes. 🙂
welcome rajashri. yes, do share your feedback.
Hi dassana, what are byadagi chillies???
Can I use 20 Kashmiri red chilies instead???
I have one big big request to you. Do you remember I told you that I may need your help with the ingredients of some more recipes of yours for my birthday party as I am a new learner and not so good with measuring the quantity of ingredients???? So can you please please please tell me the quantity of ingredients of the recipes- babycorn jalfrezy, khaman dhokla and Punjabi kadhi for 12 people.
hope this would not cause much trouble for you.
Thanks a lot in advance. 🙂
byadagi chilies are from the state of karnataka and give a bright color and mildly hot. you can use kashmiri red chilies. no issues. khaman dhokla might be a problem for 12 people. but you can just double up for baby corn jalfrezi and punjabi kadhi. it would be difficult for me to write down for both the recipes. just double up the recipes.
Okay I will double up the recipes just wanted to know your suggestions. 🙂
thanks a lot for the suggestions. 🙂
I will give you the feed back.
In case of khaman dhokla I am thinking that I will make 3 or 4 batches of dhoklas and then they will be sufficient for 12 people. What is your opinion about that??
am glad rajashri. one suggestion and advice in cooking is to eyeball the ingredients and use the method of andaaz (estimation). when i cook at home, i don’t measure the ingredients. only when i have to cook for the blog, i measure the ingredients. also rely on your intuition or gut feeling while cooking. it helps. you will become a masterchef if you get the knack of this 🙂
do give the feedback. indian cooking can always be rectified if something goes wrong. like for eg if the kadhi becomes thick, you can add water and thin it slightly. yes 4 batches will be sufficent. the recipe serves 3 to 4 people. so for 12 servings, 4 batches will be fine. i think even dhokla can be doubled or tripled. you can increase the eno amount in the recipe. for four servings you can add 6 tsp of eno fruit salt. kadhi and jalfrazie are pretty easy to prepare. kadhi you need to double. it will serve 12 people. as the recipe serves about 5 to 6 people. babycorn jalfrezi, you will have to tripe or quadruple. in baby corn jalfrezi, you can add the sauces and spices as per your taste. for schezwan sauce, you can even add tomato sauce to get a slight sweet taste.
Hi,
Very nice and tempting recipes,
Can u plz give me irani hotel type Bun Maska Recipe
Thank you
welcome wilson. i have to try making buns at home. otherwise you can buy buns from market and apply butter on them. the buns are slightly sweet.
Hello ur recepies r awesome want more recepies on ur web
thanks reshmadosani
Awesome n tempting recipes.lukng forward for Chinese starters.
Hi Dasanna
Enjoyed trying out your recipes. The family loves it. If possible, please may I have Burmese Atho food recipes-.Atho veg noodles to be specific. Thanks. Ramya
thanks ramya. i have not heard of atho noodles. so i will have to explore and try the recipe.
Hi dassana i love your recipes …. delicious n tempting… I just love the way you present them with detailed explanation n instructions…. I just love you n your hard work….
I read this momo recipe… I like it so much.I’m going to make it tomorrow morning … You’ve written 20 red chillies but haven’t told how much kashmiri and how much byadagi chillies should we take so can u please tell me the proportion…..
thanks snehal. glad to know that you like the way recipes are presented. i have updated the recipe details. 15 kashmiri and 4-5 byadagi chillies.
thanks for your reply dassana… can u pls share fruit salad with melted ice cream recipe and egg or eggless chocolate cake in microwave oven….
welcome snehal. i have noted down your recipe requests. so probably will try to add in some months.
Nice Recipes Thanks
welcome kalpana
Hi
I do not use vinegar,can I skip it?
vasanti, yes you can skip vinegar.
Made this for some friends tonight, was a success! Delicious 🙂
thanks isabella for sharing the positive feedback.
Nice and tempting. 🙂
thanks poulami
Is Sichuan pepper colloquially called Triphal in Maharashtra/Konkan?
the variety of sichuan pepper in goa and maharashtra is a bit different, but having the same essential characteristics more or less. and these are called as tirphal or teppal.
Nice recipe….better than store bought ones which are dunked in additives…meanwhile I tried ur onion rava dosa…Punjabi mango pickle….tomato ketchup…gajar ka halva….tava paneer…paneer makhani….and all came out superb
thanks anitha for this positive feedback on the recipes you tried. yes, home made sauces, jams, pickles, juices, breads etc are always better and healthier than store bought one.
Made this today came out tasty…only problm was d colour..i took red chillies..after i soaked them..they left some colour…wen i grinded them..the paste was pale red…n after putting in oil n simmering it turned dark yellow nt at all appealing to look…i put red chilli powder too so that it looks bright but nothing helped….
Wat do u think i did wrong…wat should i do to make it bright…how did u achieve such a bright colour…pls help
masu, which chillies you added. the color depends upon the quality and type of red chillies. both kashmiri red chillies and byadagi give a good red color. normally, it should not happen like that. i make schezwan sauce often and i never had such an issue. in your case, you can also add 1-2 tbsp of tomato sauce and that will also deepen the color.
What is Sichuan pepper? Any idea where I can find it in Mumbai?
hi richa, try some super stores and check the section of garam masala or whole spices. the super store i have here, does keep as a stock of sichuan pepper.
Pretty looks very tempting
nice recipes i try at home 😀
Does Sichuan pepper corns looks like black pepper corns or are you talking fresh sichuan peppers like chillies.I am little confuse.Please clarify my doubt.
sichuan peppers are bigger than black peppercorns. i am not using them like chilies. hope i have managed to clear your doubt.