BEST Schezwan Sauce recipe (authentic, so versatile!)

Spicy Indo-Chinese Schezwan sauce is a red chilli sauce made with dried red chillies, Sichuan pepper and soy sauce. It is used as a flavouring in a variety of fusion recipes due to its sharp, lemony and peppery taste. Sichuan pepper is commonly used in Chinese cuisine of China’s southwestern Sichuan Province.

Although it is labelled as “spicy”, the recipe can definitely be adjusted to be less spicy! Read on for an authentic recipe, following more traditional Chinese flavours, with step by step instructions.

Use it in this Schezwan Fried Rice recipe

Authentic Sichuan Sauce/Chutney

Schezwan Sauce (pronounced shay-zwahn) is a famous sauce from Chinese cuisine made from Sichuan peppercorns, red chillies, ginger and garlic, flavorful Sichuan peppercorns, and salty soy sauce flavors.

Schezwan sauce is a versatile condiment for many different types of dishes.

The sauce comes from Indian Chinese cuisine which originated in Kolkata (Calcutta). This fusion cuisine is created by the Chinese community that has immigrated to India and blends the traditional Chinese cooking methods with the Indian spices, flavors and often includes vegetables.

Just imagine an Indo-Chinese meal without some dish made with schezwan sauce!

You will not believe how easy this recipe is to make! You can make this delicious Chinese sauce in minutes after some quick prep. Make it and keep it in the fridge or freezer for more flavor and spice up your everyday meal.

This particular version follows a more authentic Chinese recipe rather than standard Indian schezwan sauce recipes as it contains other Chinese spices.

Szechuan Sauce was a condiment for Chicken McNuggets that was originally released in 1998. To coincide with the release of the Disney film Mulan, McDonalds released a limited Szechuan teriyaki dipping sauce to mimic the traditional Chinese Szechuan Sauce.

McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce became prominent again in 2017 when it was referenced in the comedy series Rick and Morty. This drove many fans of the show wanting to try out Schezwan sauce for themselves.

How to pronounce Schezwan or Sichuan

To pronounce in English, say “seh-chwahn” or “shay-zwahn”

What does Schezwan Sauce taste like?

It’s spicy, umami (savoury), and tangy – with a good slow burn thanks to red heat from the chillies. That’s the short answer.

A good Szechuan sauce has a wide range of flavors. It has a fair amount of heat, but it’s balanced by sweetness and has an underlying tangy flavor.

It has some similarity to Indian red chilli sauce but the addition of soy sauce and sesame oil definitely differentiates it from regular chilli sauce.

I have used star anise powder for more authentic Chinese flavours.

Difference between Szechuan Chutney and Szechuan Sauce

Schezwan chutney and sauce both have similar ingredients and so the names are often used interchangeably in Indian cooking. Schezwan sauce is added into recipes as a condiment and schezwan “chutney” is used as a dip.

Love spicy sauces/Dip or chutney?

Have a look at my Rose Harissa Paste Recipe , Asian Zing Sauce

Homemade Schezwan Sauce vs Shop bought

I probably do not need to tell you the benefits of homemade vs shop bought sauce, but in case you need reminding, here is why I think taking the time and effort is so worth it.

• You can adjust the level of spice to your liking as shop bought is either mild or often too spicy!
• Homemade contains no artificial flavours or colours or preservatives
• Lower in sugar than shop bought
• It is cheaper to buy ingredients in bulk and make your own sauce

Why you should make this authentic szechuan sauce recipe

• nut-free
• celery-free
• suitable for vegans and vegetarians
• adjust spice level
• free from additives and preservatives
• fresh taste unlike shop bought
• without ajinomoto or msg
• so versatile – can be used as a marinade, condiment or dip

What can Schezwan Sauce be used for?

This bold and spicy sauce is super versatile and it can be used for a variety of purposes.

Add it to your favourite restairant or take-out style meals such as schezwan noodles, in restaurant style vegetable fried rice dishes, on pizza, in Chinese bhel, momos, Chinese schezwan dosa and schezwan maggi noodles.

I love this sauce best in some of our Indo-Chinese recipes like Schezwan Baby Potatoes. The sauce is used as a stir-fry sauce for crispy baby potatoes and crunchy stir-fry vegetables.

One of my all-time favourite East-African foods is Mogo and this fusion twist of Chilli Mogo is just incredible.

For day trips, I pack my Schezwan Paneer Wraps which are delicious wraps filled with bright peppers, salad and szechwan paneer.

Using schezwan sauce just doesn’t stop at Indo-Chinese recipes, it’s a versatile condiment that has uses in this Indian street style Tawa Burger (vegan) too!

You can use it at a dipping sauce for spring rolls, chips, potato wedges, french fries veggie nuggets or spring onion/scallion pancakes. Stir through some yogurt for a cooling dip.

Why not try schezwan macaroni, schezwan coated chips or potato fries, schezwan tofu or schezwan vegetables.

Schezwan Sauce Ingredients

full measurements in recipe card below

Let’s see what goes in Schezwan sauce:

The heat

Dried Whole Red Chilli:  I’ve used normal dried red chilies (not Kashmiri). You can also use kashmiri dried chillies because they have a bright red color and are not too spicy. You can also use a mix of regular dried red chilies and Kashmiri red chilies to have some spice but not too much.

I soaked the chillies in hot water for minimum 1 hour. For best results, soak for 2-3 hours. 

Dried chillies keep for a very long time, so you’ll always have an exciting ingredient to hand. Dried chillies are an easy way to add heat, smokiness and even fruity flavours to your cooking.

Alternatively, use red pepper flakes or chili paste

Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder: Kashmiri chilli powder is a blend of milder Kashmiri chillies ground to a vibrant red powder, that adds milder heat and great colour to dishes. Mix the powder with a tbsp of water to make a paste. 

If you don’t have it, use sweet smoked paprika with a little cayenne

Sichuan Peppercorns – it is also known as Szechuan peppercorns, Szechwan pepper, Chinese prickly ash, Chinese pepper, Timut pepper and mala pepper.

Sichuan pepper has a citrus-esque flavor and induces a tingling numbness (similar to capsaicin) due to the presence of hydroxy-alpha sanshool.

You can find these peppercorns in grocery stores, Asian supermarkets and online. 

I ground these peppercorns with the soaked dried red chillies.

As an alternative, you can use white pepper powder. 

The flavours:

Sesame Oil: Sesame oil is a popular ingredient in Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine. I love to use toasted sesame oil which gives an incredible nutty flavour.

Toasted sesame oil has a deep brown color and delicate flavor that makes it best suited for dressings and marinades.

Unrefined sesame is light in color, offers a nutty flavor, and is best used when cooking at a low to medium heat. Refined sesame oil is more processed and has a neutral flavor making it better for deep- or stir-frying.

You could also use regular vegetable oil or sunflower oil as well. 

Garlic and ginger paste: The garlic and ginger-y flavours of this sauce are what make it so unique in flavour. Use fresh ginger and garlic especially if you want the sauce to retain its freshness for longer. 

Star anise powder – Star anise has a distinct licorice flavor similar to that of anise or fennel, though it is unrelated to either of these spices. It provides a warm boost of flavour to this sauce. 

If you have whole star anise then grind the star anise in a coffee grinder to make powder. 

As an alternative, you can use Chinese 5 spice powder

Light soy sauce – made from fermented soybeans and wheat, it is salty with a rich umami aroma. You can use dark also, but add a bit less. 

Brown sugar – brown sugar adds a little sweetness to balance out the spicy, salty flavours. You can leave out the sugar to keep it sugar-free. 

Alternatively, use white sugar. 

White vinegar – helps to give an extra tang and also aids in preserving the sauce. 

Jain Schezwan Sauce

Jain Szechuan sauce or chutney is made without garlic and ginger. No celery, onion or garlic is added to the schezwan sauce. In this recipe, simply leave out the garlic and ginger paste.

Szechuan Sauce without onion and garlic

You can prepare schezwan sauce without onion and garlic so that it can be used on fasting days or served to those who do not eat onion and garlic.

In this recipe, simply omit the garlic, no substitutions are needed.

Gluten-free Szechwan Sauce

Make gluten-free schezwan sauce by using tamari instead of soy sauce which contains gluten.

How to make homemade Szechuan Sauce from scratch

Tips:

If you have sensitive or easily irritated skin, be careful when handling the dried chillies or wear gloves.

Traditionally, a motor and pestle would be used to pound the dried chillies to a paste but a blender will perform the same task. For tips for using a pestle and mortar, see our Gujarati Lasan ni Chutney

First step – prepare chillies

First preparation you need to do is to prepare the chillies to make this spicy sauce. Remove stem of the dry red chillies (if they are not removed already) and soak in boiling water.

Cover the bowl with a plate and leave it to soak for a minimum one hour, longer the better.

Whilst the chillies are soaking, make ginger-garlic paste using a blender or grinder.

Second step – grind the chillies

Once chillies are soaked properly and softened or almost doubled in size, you are ready to make them into a paste. Remove the water (do not discard, use in other recipe!) and place the soaked chillies in a grinder jar.

Add Sichuan peppercorns and little water, grind until you get smooth paste. Sometimes seeds don’t grind fully and that’s okay.

In a separate bowl combine kashmiri red chilli powder and little water, keep it aside.

Third step – cook the sauce

Final step of this recipe is to cook the sauce in a pan to perfection. If the sauce is not cooked properly, it can go bad just in a few days, so do not hurry but take your time. (I like to play music whilst I cook but my Mum is completely against this as she says it is distracting!!!)

Heat the sesame oil in a wide mouth pan, add ginger-garlic. Cook until very light pink then add ground red chilli and Sichuan paste.

Keep stirring and cook the sauce on low heat until oil separates from the paste and is visible on the surface or sides of the pan. This step indicates that you have cooked the sauce perfectly and no moisture is left in the sauce.

Tip in salt and sugar, mix well then add star anise powder and soy sauce. Continue cooking the sauce on very low heat.

Now add Kashmiri red chilli powder paste. Cook another 3-4 minutes or until you see oil separating from the sauce.

Turn off the heat, add white vinegar and mix well. Use in a recipe straight away or let it cool completely before storing.

The sauce will only be thoroughly cooked when oil appears to float to the surface (see last image in this collage)

Storage Instructions for Szechuan Sauce

Fridge – This stores so well. Store schezwan sauce once it reaches room temperature in an airtight container or sterile jar with a good lid. Keep in the refrigerator and use it within a month.

Freezer – To freeze, place sauce in individual small portions in an ice cube tray (or any other container) and freeze. You can just take the amount needed, and use it in your recipe.

FAQs

Other Indo-Chinese recipes

Dry Chilli Paneer Restaurant Style

Low Fat Soya Veg Manchurian

Baked Tofu Manchurian

Mixed Vegetable Noodles

As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

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Note – This recipe has been updated from our recipe archives with new images and content, but the recipe remains the same. First time published in January 2013.