Sambal Oelek Chili Paste

Sharing is caring!

Last Updated on February 22, 2023 by Toya

If you’re looking for a super basic Sambal Oelek chili paste recipe or a substitute for sambal oelek in a jar, you’re in luck! This one is great and so good and only uses 3 ingredients! Plus, I have some really great tips to share so you get the best results! 

Sambal Oelek

Sambal Oelek is a spicy Indonesian chili paste typically made with red chile peppers, salt, and vinegar. Some recipes also include ingredients like sugar, garlic, onion, or lemon. 

Most people use store-bought Sambal Oelek, but if you don’t have any I’ll show you how to make it in a few simple steps. 

Generally, Sambal Oelek is chunky and has a bright, fresh, mildly spicy flavor that works so well in recipes like noodles, stir-fries, and for marinating grilled meat, etc. 

Types of chiles for sambal oelek

You can use any type of red chile pepper for this recipe. Whatever you have on hand will work, although certain chile peppers are either spicier or sweeter than others. For example, using ripe jalapenos will result in a milder-tasting sambal oelek recipe compared to a recipe that uses Thai peppers or cayenne peppers which are a lot hotter. These are the best ripe chile peppers that work for sambal oelek recipes:

• Thai Chili peppers – The most popular red chiles used in authentic sambal oelek recipes. This is a spicy pepper that will make a hot sambal recipe.
• Cayenne peppers – These chiles pack about half of the heat of Thai chile peppers.
• Fresno peppers – These chiles have a heat level similar to jalapenos and will result in a mild sambel oelek chili paste as well.
• Red jalapeño peppers – These are really mild and will make a sweet sambal oelek with very little spice.
• Red serrano peppers – Seranno peppers have about 1/4 of the heat of Thai chile peppers. Serrano peppers have a fiery and sharp flavor and will make a nice sambal oelek recipe for people who don’t really like the heat of Thai peppers.
• Aleppo peppers – A milder chile pepper with a similar heat level to serrano peppers.

Ingredints for sambal oelek chili paste

• ½ pound of red chile peppers
• 1 tablespoon of distilled vinegar (or rice wine vinegar)
• ¾ tablespoon of salt

How to make sambal Oelek chili paste

Wash your chili peppers then gather all of the ingredients in one place. 

Next, chop the stems off all the chili peppers and cut each into ½ inch pieces.

Place the chili peppers, salt, and vinegar into your food processor or blender and pulse briefly until you get a chunky condiment. 

Important Note: When handling chile peppers that are above a Scoville level of 8000 – these include peppers like jalapenos, cayenne, Thai, Fresno, habañeros, etc – I recommend using nitrile gloves to protect yourself. Some people choose to play around with those chiles without gloves. But, my best recommendation to make your life a LOT easier and avoid pepper hands is to pick up these Disposable Nitrile Gloves at Amazon. 

How to use sambal Oelek chili paste

This condiment is very versatile and can be used on just about anything. Here are some ways to use it in your cooking:

• Can be used as a condiment and in sauces, rice, noodles, eggs, soups, and stews.
• Can be used to marinate meats and fish.

Storing

The vinegar in this recipe keeps the sambal fresh for up to several months. Therefore you can store the chili paste in your fridge in a tightly sealed jar for a while.