A short story here. For the last several years I had been using an absolutely fabulous Bagel Chili Crunch made by a local Portland, Oregon company going by the name Flavor Society. All was well until…all of a sudden, they closed up shop out of the clear blue. I
had been ordering 2 jars every 3-4 weeks or so, ended up trying more than several others to replace it. I had settled on the Bagel flavor because I didn’t want everything to taste like Pizza (which one did). I then set about trying to find a (good) replacement, which I could not do. Soooo, I decided to order everything I thought I might need after finding Brian Lagerstrom’s recipe on YouTube & made it the base of what you see here as well as translating his measurements to cups & ounces which should help my audience.
If you are asking yourself how this can be a Keto Chili Crunch with honey in it, which is a totally natural product, then I would ask and say; if you are that strict in your carb intake for the day at less than 1g per serving, then by all means use your favorite low carb sweetener.
For a list of products you may not be familiar with and used on this site, please read Low Carb Pantry Essentials. I am NOT sponsor-compensated for recommending a product that I use*** And here, in one tidy package, are over 550 Keto~Paleo~Low Carb~Diabetic Chef’s Recipes
As I am a Type II diabetic, all recipes on this website are keto or low carb and diabetic friendly.
Chili Crunch
2026-03-20 00:34:24
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Ingredients
- 1 Large Bottle of Avocado Oil 300° (About 3¼ C) in a medium sauce pan. I have a small Wok I use.
- 20 Cloves ¹⁄₁₆” Sliced Garlic-Agitate 2-2½ Minutes Very Light Golden Brown. They will continue to brown as they sit. Set Aside.
- 2-3 ¹⁄₁₆” Sliced Shallots-Agitate 5-6 Minutes Light Golden Blond. They will also continue to brown as they sit. Set Aside.
- Increase Oil to 325°.
- Add 1 Large Nub ¼” Sliced Ginger-3-5 Minutes, no need to peel.
- Add 5 Whole Star Anise, 2 Cinnamon Sticks 2-4 Minutes. Now Strain oil & discard bulky stuff, by pouring over a medium bowl of ⅔ C Coarsely Ground Korean Chili Flakes, stir, infusing oil with the chilis. Strain & discard chili flakes, you have now totally infused your oil.
- To a clean bowl: Add ⅓ C (more) KCF + ⅓ C Red Pepper Flakes, 1 t Sesame Seeds 1 t Finely Crushed Szechuan Peppercorns, & 4 T Sunflower Seeds, Pipitas, or roughly cut Peanuts.
- Meanwhile reheat oil to 325° & pour over ingredients in bowl, stirring to cool.
- Continue stirring and add 1½ T Salt, 1 t MSG, 1 t Fish Sauce, 2 t Tamari Sauce, 3 T Honey.
- Add Crush Crispy Garlic & Shallots into bowl & continuing to stir until just warm.
- Distribute evenly into glass jars and refrigerate 24 – 48 Hrs. Will thicken and the flavors will mellow.
Notes
- If you do not have a mandoline, please do not attempt this recipe. It would be very difficult to do the slicing of the shallots & garlic by hand. It is important they all be of relatively equal width. You could end up becoming a blithering fool & we don’t need that.
- Make sure you are getting COARSELY Ground Korean Chili Flakes as anything else may burn.
- I used raw unsalted sunflower seeds.
- If you are afraid of MSG (you shouldn’t be) then don’t use it, but it totally helps the recipe.
- If you don’t want to use real honey, then don’t use it but it does round-out & mitigate some of the heat, not many carbs per serving, and honey is real food. If I were to characterize the heat level, I would say about medium.
- Make sure you have all ingredients ready, sliced, and in bowls as once you get going this will all come together rather quickly.
- My opinion: You could cut this recipe in half but…why would you want to?
- Lastly, you can tweak this any way you want. I have tweaked my recipe from Brian’s only slightly.
Diabetic Chef's Recipes https://diabeticchefsrecipes.com/
