Easy Chili Sambal Recipe
Fresh Chili Sambal is one of the zesty additions in African cuisines that adds tons of flavor to dishes. It is also considered a dipping sauce and is a substitute for hot sauce.
Chili Sambal is a tomato-based sauce that is combined with fresh chiles, onion, and salt. This recipe, in particular, is relatively easy to make and is also the starter sauce for other Sambal Chile Sauces recipes.
This sauce is somewhat comparable to hot sauce. It cannot be used as a substitute for bruschetta as it is very peppery hot.

The ingredients you need to make Chili Sambal
You don’t need a lot to make this recipe. This recipe needs blanched tomatoes. Making this recipe with tomatoes that have not been peeled can be a bit distasteful. The skin of the tomatoes will not dissolve when blending in the blender. It is best to blanch the tomatoes so the condiment can be delicious and flavorful. Here are the ingredients needed:
- Fresh red chilies, minced
- yellow onion
- tomatoes, blanched, peeles and chopped
- salt
How to make the recipe
You can add all the ingredients in a bowl to be mashed or in a blender to process to a pulp – this method requires pulsing as you don’t want to end up with a liquid and not a chunky sauce mixture.
Notes and tips
- This recipe makes about 2 1/2 cups.
- Fresh chilies are usually sold in local markets. They are long and are green at first. You can add a combination of green and red chilies.
- You can substitute the yellow onion for white or red onion. Shallots are a good alternative. I would not suggest to add scallions instead of onion – totally difference flavor and not authentic African cuisine.
- Use Chili Sambal Sauce to season meat, poultry and seafood.
- Use Chicli Sambal Sauce as a dipping sauce, for sandwiches and more.
Easy Chile (Chili) Sambal
Ingredients
- 6 fresh red chiles minced
- 1 yellow onion minced
- 3 large tomatoes blanched, peeled, and chopped
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Combine the chiles, onion, and tomatoes in a bowl, and mash or process to a pulp. Season with salt and serve as a side dish or sauce
Notes
- This recipe makes about 2 1/2 cups.
- Fresh chilies are usually sold on local markets. They are long and are green at first. You can add a combination of green and red chilies.
- You can substitute the yellow onion for the white or red onion. Shallots are a good alternative. I would not suggest adding scallions instead of onion – a different flavor and not authentic African cuisine.
- Use Chili Sambal Sauce to season meat, poultry, and seafood.
- Use Chili Sambal Sauce as a dipping sauce for sandwiches and more.
- Follow these instructions on how to blanch tomatoes.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition info is automatically generated and provided as a courtesy and as an estimate only.