What is the best chili oil?

From our side-by-side taste tests: Holy Duck (duck fat richness, S tier) is the best premium chili oil; Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow is the best widely-available classic and the best value; Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp is the best chili crisp benchmark. The best jar for you depends on heat tolerance and texture preference.

What is the best chili oil brand for beginners?

Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Chili Oil (about $6 at Asian groceries) or Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch (about $4, mild). Both are inexpensive, easy to find, and teach you what the category is about before you graduate to small-batch jars.

What is the best chili crisp?

Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp is our benchmark — fermented black bean umami with a friendly málà tingle. For maximum crunch, KariKari. For a crowd-pleaser gift, Momofuku Chili Crunch.

What is the spiciest chili oil you've reviewed?

The Zindrew X Batch and CMK's Heaven's Scorch (made with Carolina Reaper) are the two most punishing jars we've tested. Both are for experienced heat-seekers only.

Is there a good chili oil without seed oils?

Yes: Chelas Chile (pure olive oil, S tier), Holy Duck (duck fat), MommyLas (annatto oil), and Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch (olive oil, budget) all avoid common seed oils like canola, soybean, and sunflower.

The Best Chili Oils & Chili Crisps (Taste-Tested & Ranked)

“Best chili oil” is the wrong question — best for what? We’ve taste-tested 30+ jars side by side, and the honest answer is a short list of winners by use case. (The full ranked list lives on the live tier list.)

Best overall: Holy Duck 🏆

Duck fat changes everything. Rich, garlicky, deeply savory — the jar we reach for when nobody’s filming. S tier. → Full review

Best value / best classic: Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow

Six dollars. Any Asian grocery. Still beats jars four times the price. If you own one chili oil, own this one. S tier. → Full review

Best chili crisp: Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp

The benchmark. Fermented black bean umami, slow burn, polite málà tingle. Every new jar we review has to beat it. A+ tier. → Full review

Best crunch: KariKari

The name means “crunchy” in Japanese and they weren’t kidding — big garlic chips, minimum oil, maximum texture. A+ tier. → Full review

Best for beginners & gifting: Momofuku Chili Crunch

In every grocery store, scary to no one, still genuinely good. The gateway jar. A tier. → Full review

Best budget: Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch

$4, olive oil base, mild, addictive on eggs and avocado toast. A tier for accessibility. → Full review

Best no-seed-oil: Chelas Chile

Pure olive oil, Mexican chiles, made by one woman in Riverside, CA in her mother’s memory. Also simply one of the best things we’ve ever put on a taco. S tier. → Full review

Best for heat-seekers: Zindrew X Batch & CMK Heaven’s Scorch

The Zindrew X Batch left scars; CMK puts Carolina Reaper in a lemongrass oil. Order of operations: water first, then regret.

Best umami: Boon Sauce

Batch-numbered LA legend. The vegan version with fermented turnip gives up nothing. S tier. → Full review

Best salsa macha: Chelas Chile & Chingonas

Mexico’s chilies-fried-in-oil tradition predates the chili crisp boom — Chelas Chile (S) and cumin-scented Chingonas (A+) are the proof.

Best mild-but-interesting: Barnacle Foods Kelp Chili Crisp

Alaskan kelp = oceanic umami, smoky and gentle. Absurdly good on eggs. A tier. → Full review

Can’t decide? The finder quiz matches you to three jars in 60 seconds — heat tolerance, crunch preference, dietary needs, seed oils and all.