She peeling garlic, me shucking chili pepper seeds, all the while laughing about whether making homemade Chili Crisp Oil would be worth it in the end.

She had presented me with a jar of this fiery condiment several months ago and honestly I hadn’t used it much.

How to Use Chili Crisp Oil

But then I made sticky asian beef meatballs where the combination of sweet and heat was addicting.

Followed by chicken satay meatballs where I replaced sriracha with this crispy garlic oil.

Spooned over a simple bowl of ramen and it will be transformed into a flavor explosion.

And that was all in a matter of three days last week. Once I started using it I couldn’t stop thinking of the next dish that would incorporate Chili Crisp Oil. That’s when I decided we needed to start making our own.

I had arrived to her house with a recipe draft chicken scratched onto a post-it and the basic ingredients in tow. Lots of garlic and shallots, a big bottle of avocado oil, and dried chili peppers from the hispanic market, which by the way is always such a treat. There are so many wonderful ingredients begging for me to discover.

Quick funny story. For most of my life I have been a spicy food wimp. I’ve come around for sure, but even still I rarely use the really hot spices, including crushed red pepper flakes. I’m certain as I browsed through others recipes that somewhere I read to “remove the seeds from the dried pods.” Since we’re making what I know to be a spicy oil I’m thinking that we’re going to use the seeds from these gorgeous dried peppers. She sheepishly admits that she collected the seeds and discarded the outer chilies. Red chilies. The chilies that give Chili Crisp Oil its signature color and crispiness.

In the end, we had a deliciously infused oil, much milder in nature but not at all true Crispy Chili Oil.

Recipe note to self: read the entire recipe before you begin.

The Process

Back to the tried and tested recipe, where you remove the seeds from the pods and discard them.

What’s left are these beautiful red chilies that get ground up in your spice grinder. Then the chiles are rehydrated with hot garlic, shallot, cinnamon stick, and star anise infused oil that has been simmering for nearly an hour.

Not only is the oil infused but after cooling, the crispy garlic and shallot are returned to the oil at the end to bulk up the crunch factor (and flavor).

Chili Crisp Oil Ingredients

For our Chili Crisp Oil, to the ground chili pods we added smoked paprika, toasted sesame seeds, Szechuan peppercorns (another funny story…they’re not really peppers), anchovy paste, and salt.

This recipe allows you to get creative according to your taste and preference.

Oil – Starting with the oil, a nice neutral oil works well, like avocado, grape seed, vegetable, peanut.

Peppers – For the peppers, you can choose a dried variety from the hispanic market like we did (we used mostly Arbol Chili and Chile Japones, with a handful of Guajillo Chilies). Or you can use crushed red pepper flakes, fresh peppers like Serrano or a combination.

Spices – You can use smoked paprika or regular paprika or cumin or another favorite spice.

Nuts/Seeds – We chose toasted sesame seeds, but you could use peanuts or soy nuts to add additional crunch.

Szechuan Peppercorns – The Szechuan Peppercorns seemed to be included in most every recipe I read, however once I learned that they weren’t actually peppercorns we had no substitution in our first attempt. I did however locate them at Penzeys Spices – so I made the 30 minute drive this morning to pick some up. Another funny story, Penzeys is closed for in-store shopping, they only do curb-side and the website said it could take up to two days to process. So thankfully I was able to locate them at Cost Plus World Market which was nearby.

Umami – Our final ingredient is where this sauce gets its savory umami flavor, the anchovy paste. You can substitute or combine soy sauce, mushroom powder, MSG, ginger, sugar, chili powder.

The hot infused oil is poured through a mesh strainer over the chili flakes and remaining ingredients. The cinnamon sticks and star anise are discarded and the garlic and shallots are cooled, allowing them to crisp up, before returning to the oil.

The Results

I intentionally made this a big batch recipe. If you’re going to go to all this effort, make friends and share the love! I’ll be passing a jar over the fence to Ms. Pat and bringing Shelby a proper jar of red Chili Crisp Oil. You can certainly cut the recipe in half, yielding about 2 cups.

Back to the original question of whether it would be worth the work to make homemade Chili Crisp Oil. I’ve made it two days in a row. So yes, you need to make it too!

Don’t forget to follow us @LemonyThyme on Instagram and Facebook! And check out our latest TikTok videos and Pinterest boards too!

All my best,
xo Libby

Print

Chili Crisp Oil

Once I started using it I couldn’t stop thinking of the next dish that would incorporate Chili Crisp Oil. 

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 4 cups avocado oil
• 4 heads garlic about 40-50 cloves
• 4 large shallot
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 star anise
• 4 cups dried chili pods we used mostly arbol chilies and chile japones, with a handful of chile guajillo
• 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• 1 Tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 Tablespoon anchovy paste
• salt to taste

Instructions

• Peel and thinly slice the garlic and shallot. Add to a pot with the cinnamon sticks, star anise, and oil. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring ocassionally, until the ingredients become a nice deep golden brown. About 35-45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, wearing disposible plastic gloves, remove and discard the seeds and stems from the dried chilies, some remaining seeds are fine. Grind the chili pods in a spice grinder until they are similar in size to crushed red pepper flakes. It's okay if the pieces vary in size.
• Place the ground chilies in a heat proof or metal bowl along with remaining ingredients.
• Once garlic and shallot are browned, pour the oil through a mesh strainer (catching the garlic and shallot) into the bowl with the chilies, stir to combine. Discard the cinnamon sticks and star anise. Allow the garlic and shallot to cool before adding in to the oil mixture.
• Refrigerate in covered jars. Keeps up to three months.

Notes

Yields 4 cups of Chili Crisp Oil.

The post Chili Crisp Oil appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

I hope you’ve been enjoying my mini-series on Lunch Bowls.  I’m a bit obsessed with portion controlled meals.  Mostly though, I’m quite fond of a theme.

It helps my brain get organized.

We recently celebrated National Crabmeat Day.  When Bowl Week meets Crabmeat a California Roll Lunch Bowl is born.

Lunch Bowls are a fantastic way to incorporate leftovers into a meal.  Cooked chicken has found a new sexy purpose.  Who among us??

Yet, for our California Roll Lunch Bowl, crabmeat was a key ingredient.  Not so good leftover.  We are fortunate to have competing grocery stores all about town.  One snow-crab cluster will set you back about $4.00 and 2 WW Pts+.  That’s winning.  Add a couple more points for rice, avocado, a drizzle of sesame soy srirachi dressing and this bowl weighs in at about 7 WW Pts+.

Print

California Roll Lunch Bowl

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

For each California Roll Lunch Bowl…

• 1 snow crab cluster
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 2 radish sliced
• 1 baby cucumber thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup cooked rice
• 1 tsp. sesame seeds
• 1/2 avocado sliced

For sesame soy sriracha dressing…

• 1 Tbl. soy sauce
• 1 Tbl. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. sriracha sauce

Instructions

• Whisk together soy sauce, sesame oil and sriracha sauce. Reserve.
• Place crab cluster on a steamer basket over boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
• Layer bowl with spinach, rice, avocado, cucumber, radish and crab. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle with dressing.

The post California Roll Lunch Bowl appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Sweet & Sticky Sesame Walnuts make a great bar snack, game-day nibble, or holiday cookie tin addition.  That was reason enough to make them.

Only four ingredients and steps so simple that very little words are required was reason enough to share them with you.

After the walnuts are boiled and tossed in sugar, they need to sit overnight (or for at least 8 hours) before being flash fried in hot oil and sprinkled with sesame seeds.  Once cooled these Sweet & Sticky Sesame Walnuts are ready to be enjoyed.

The post Sweet & Sticky Sesame Walnuts appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Sesame Chicken.  This recipe recreation was too good not to share.  We recently made a fabulous dipping sauce for some sweet potato steak fries and the key ingredients were agave nectar and soy sauce.  One taste of it and my love for sesame chicken came rushing back.

I say that as if sesame chicken is a staple meal for me.  Quite the contrary actually.  We rarely never go out for Chinese Food.  It’s been years.  But every bite of sesame chicken I’ve ever eaten was like dessert.

I set out to recreate this dish sans the sodium bomb, and I think we’ve got a keeper.  Served with white rice and steamed snow peas, this Sesame Chicken was a fabulous restaurant quality meal, enjoyed in the comfort of home.

Print

Sesame Chicken

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

For the chicken…

• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 egg whites
• 1/5 cup cornstarch
• 2 tsp. black pepper
• 2 Tbl. coconut or canola oil

For the sauce…

• 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
• 1 1/2 Tbl. low sodium soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 Tbl. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. fresh ginger minced
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

For serving…

• 1 Tbl. sesame seeds toasted
• 1 scallion thinly sliced
• Serve with rice and steamed veggies

Instructions

For the chicken…

• Dip chicken in egg whites.
• Combine the cornstarch and black pepper in a covered bowl. Add chicken chunks in batches and shake to coat.
• Heat oil in a deep skillet (or wok) over medium heat. Add coated chicken pieces in batches, browning on all sides until cooked through, about 6-8 minutes. Repeat with additional batches until all chicken has been cooked. Meanwhile prepare the sauce.

For the sauce…

• Combine all sauce ingredients. Return all cooked chicken to the skillet, add the sauce and gently stir over medium low heat until chicken is well coated, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat toss in toasted sesame seeds and sliced scallions.
• Serve with rice and steamed vegetables.

The post Sesame Chicken {Lower Sodium} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Sesame Brussels Sprout Slaw

We love slaw at our house and change up our recipe often.  But this version was very different.  The sesame oil & seeds added that yummy nutty flavor which worked so well with the balsamic.  We’ll surely have this one again.

Print

Sesame Brussels Sprout Slaw

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

For the slaw…

• 12 Brussels sprouts – ends & loose leaves removed rough chopped in food processor
• 1/2 cup shredded zucchini squash
• 1 sliced scallion
• 1 Tbl. fine diced jalapeno
• a hand-full of cilantro leaves
• 2 Tbl. sesame seeds

For the dressing…

• a light tsp. of white balsamic easy to add more, can’t take away
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 2 Tbl. mayo
• sea salt & a generous grinding of fresh cracked pepper

Instructions

• Combine slaw ingredients in a serving bowl and set aside.
• Combine dressing ingredients then stir into slaw, mixing until well combined.

The post Sesame Brussels Sprout Slaw appeared first on Lemony Thyme.