A recipe for sweet chilli sauce using dates & honey instead of refined sugar
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
I simply adore sweet chilli sauce. I add it to so many things! I am very aware of how much refined sugar it contains and set about creating my own version using the natural sweetness of honey and local Forest Feast dates.
Why use natural Sweeteners For Sweet Chilli Sauce?
I am increasing concerned by the amount of refined sugar in the food we eat. While I have no plans to cut it out completely, I am looking for ways to reduce it, using natural sweeteners.
Can You really make Sweet Chilli Sauce Without Sugar?
Before anyone gets all shouty on me, I know that this isn’t technically sugar free as the dates and honey both count as sugar but please indulge me as my normal recipe has 225g sugar in it so to cut that out is quite an achievement
Using homegrown & Local Ingredients in my Sweet Chilli Sauce Recipe.
This year, I grew loads of chillies in my greenhouse. I couldn’t possible get through them all, so I dried some and froze some. The frozen ones were perfect for making sweet chilli sauce. I tend to try eating a bit more healthily in January, so this was an ideal time for to experiment and try to create a sugar-free version of one of my favourites.
Forest Feast: A Great Local Brand From Northern Ireland
I decided to use honey and dates from local company, Forest Feast. I was really pleased with the resulting sauce. It’s not as sweet as the sugary version but you can add more honey if you want it sweeter. I served mine in adorable little mini Kilner jars … they’re perfect for gifts. I gifted these jars to various family members and the feedback was extremely positive.
Dates | Forest Feast
Dates on Forest Feast | Dried Dates
Click on the tabs above for the ingredients and instructions. Scroll down for the video
If you would prefer to try my more mainstream home-made version using sugar, you can find it here- recipe for sweet chilli sauce
Ingredients
- 100g red chillies, deseeded
- 2 large tomatoes, skinned and deseeded
- 3 red peppers, deseeded, roasted and skins removed
- 100g dates (I used Forest Feast)
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
- 150mls rice wine vinegar
- 3 tbsps honey
- 75 ml water
Instructions
- Array
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I love this. I’m trying to cut down on sugar so will give this a try
thanks for the comment Miriam. Give it a try and let me know how you get on!
I’ve been trying to go sugar-free since January and feel much better for it@
well done Lynn- I would love to but so far have just managed to cut down. Still feeling chuffed though!
Hi Lynne- love this! is it sweet enough?
Thanks Elena- its not as sweet as the shop bought stuff but to me thats no bad thing. You can always add more honey to taste!
Can’t find the link for the quantities anywhere! Really want to make this.
Lindy- I’m so sorry. My site crashed and I lost a lot of my old recipes. I plan to recreate this soon, along with lots of others that have disappeared. I’m gutted!