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I’m a believer in the idea that homemade food is always better than store-bought. However, I understand that there are plenty of items where it is more efficient to just purchase them. Until I tried this recipe for Keto-friendly, Low-Carb Sweet Chili Sauce, I thought that Sweet Chili Sauce (or Sweet Thai Chili Sauce) was one of those things. I figured that it would be too time-consuming and too difficult to make on my own. Consequently, since starting keto and cutting carbs, I just stopped having one of my favorite dishes: Bang Bang Shrimp. Bang Bang Shrimp includes Sweet Chili Sauce, which has sugar as the first ingredient. I love this dish with a lot of sauce so I thought that it would be best to avoid it. Little did I know, making Sweet Chili Sauce is super simple, requiring only a whisk and 15 minutes as you wait for the sauce to thicken. It also tastes just as great (if not better) than the stuff you’d buy in the market.
This Sweet Chili Sauce includes Bone Broth Collagen
One of the central ingredients in many Asian sauces (besides sugar) is cornstarch. This ingredient serves to thicken the sauce so that it’s sticky and awesome.
One way that I thicken my sauces is with Bone Broth Collagen. For me, this serves two purposes: it allows me to avoid the carbs that are present in some cornstarch alternatives like Tapioca Starch and it helps me “sneak in” supplements that have benefits for my hair, skin, and nails.
I’m including a Beef Flavored Bone Broth Collagen, but you can feel free to use an Unflavored Collagen Peptides if you have it.
Each scoop of Collagen Peptides or Bone Broth Collagen is about 1 tbsp.
What’s a good substitute for Bone Broth Collagen?
You can swap Bone Broth Collagen for Xanthan Gum. When I do this, I use about 1/4 tsp in place of Collagen.
I add the Xanthan Gum at the end of the cooking process. After stirring it in the sauce, the Xanthan Gum will thicken it while the sauce cools.
What happens if my Low Carb Sweet Chili Sauce gets too thick?
This sauce will thicken the longer that it cooks. So, if your sauce gets too thick (I’ll admit I forgot about my sauce on the stove once), you can thin it out with water. Just add a tablespoon of water at a time until it returns to a consistency that you enjoy!
What can you use this Sweet Chili Sauce in?
I enjoy using Sweet Chili sauce as a dipping sauce, chicken wing sauce or as part of other sauces. Two recipes that I love having this with is my Low Carb Bang Bang Shrimp & Keto Sweet Chili Sticky Asian Chicken Wings.
Low Carb Bang Bang Shrimp
Keto Sweet Chili Sticky Asian Chicken Wings
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 scoops Vital Proteins Beef Bone Broth Collagen or 1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum
- 1/4 cup Powdered Monk Fruit Erythritol
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl
- Whisk until the Bone Broth Collagen is fully incorporated. It will be lumpy at first but just keep whisking. If you are using Xanthan Gum, you can use it in Step 5.
- Heat a sauce pan to medium heat
- Cook the sauce uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool. If you are using Xanthan Gum, stir it into the sauce during this step. As the sauce cools, it will thicken the sauce.
Video
Recipe Nutrition Facts
Recipe Notes
Is the Beef Bone Broth Collagen necessary bc of the beef flavoring? Or can I use my Multi Collagen?
Hi Susan,
I used the Beef Bone Broth to thicken the sauce. I don’t think it adds much to the flavor so feel free to use your multi-collagen. I used mine today in a compote and it worked wonderfully!
Is there something else you can sub for the bone broth collagen if you trying to make this today?
Hey! Do you have regular collagen? If not, the flavor will be there, but it’ll be loose. I’m using collagen as a keto-friendly thickener.
Hi Davinah! Just curious on your thoughts of using Xanthan Gum as a sub for the Beef Bone Broth Collagen? How much would you recommend?
Hi Dani!
I haven’t tried that but it should definitely work! I’ve swapped them before in baking and it worked perfectly.
Thanks,
Davinah
This was super easy to make. I did sub with Xanthan Gum and it came out too thick. Next time I’ll know to reduce the amount to have a better consistency. Otherwise, everything else was ok and it still came out good. Just very thick. Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe.
Thanks for sharing that feedback! I’ll make a quick note about that substitute. I also want you to know that if it reduces too much (and gets too thick) you can simply add some water. It’ll thin the sauce out.
How much xanthan gum did you use??
Hi Catherine,
I actually just made this and really enjoy it with about 1/4 tsp of Xanthan Gum. I’m going to update this post soon with a how-to for Xanthan Gum only since most people tend to use this ingredient!
Best,
Davinah
Hi,
I was wondering if coconut aminos could be used instead of soy sauce? Would you need to adjust amounts or anything like that? Thank you! 🙂
Hi Dana!
Yes – coconut aminos will work! When I’m substituting, I usually just swap it 1:1 with soy sauce.
Thanks,
Davinah
Hi there. This recipe and the Bang Bang Shrimp look great. If using another sweetener, like Swerve, would it be a 1:1 swap? Quality sweetener is expensive where I live, so I prefer to avoid waste whenever possible.
Hi Sherry!
Yes – the sweetener that I use and Swerve are comparable. You can absolutely swap it 1:1. Thanks for asking.
Best,
Davinah
First time using Xanthan gum in a sauce. I didn’t wait for it to cool down because I was in a rush, so the xanthan gum clumped up in small chunks-oops! Lesson learned! I also added fish sauce and it turned out to be pretty close to Thai chili sauce. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Ha! So happy that you enjoyed this! It’s one of my favorite sauces to make. Yes – Xanthan Gum is so powerful! Happy that it still worked out for you! 🙂
I noticed the recipe for the sauce for sticky wings and this sweet chili sauce are different…I’m making Thai lettuce wraps and the wings…which recipe do you recommend since I noticed you said you make double sweet chili sauce so you have extra for the wings and bang bang shrimp. Thanks in advance! Bye…your cheesecake was AMAZINGGGG!!! A staple for sure!
Hey Sakina!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it. The recipes are virtually the same. I’m realizing the order is a bit all over the place :). The only difference is how to thicken the sauce. When I first shared this recipe, I was using collagen (unflavored or beef flavored) as a thickener. A lot of people asked me if there was a substitute. So, when I made the wings, I used Xanthan Gum to give an option for those that didn’t have the ingredient.
Hope that helps!
Davinah