10 Brands Like Fly By Jing to Try in 2026

If you love Fly By Jing, the best next jar depends on what you love about it. Chasing the numbing Sichuan tingle? Try Boon Sauce or Milu. Want the garlic-and-shallot crunch? Momofuku and Mr Bing. After a specific regional recipe? Homiah's Malaysian sambal or Mama Teav's Cambodian garlic crisp. Here are 10 chili crisp brands worth the swap.

Fly By Jing put premium Sichuan chili crisp on a lot of pantry shelves, but it is one jar in a crowded, genuinely good category. Some alternatives out-crunch it, some go hotter, and some tell a completely different regional story. The trick is matching the jar to the thing you actually reach for it to do.

Most big food-media rankings lean on the same mass-retail names (Lao Gan Ma, S&B, Trader Joe's) and skip the founder-led brands a Fly By Jing fan would actually cross-shop. This list does the opposite. It sorts real, mostly direct-to-consumer chili crisp brands by craving, so you can find your next jar in about a minute.

How we picked these brands

• A real brand with its own store. Every pick sells its chili crisp directly, not just as a private-label jar on a marketplace.
• A clear point of difference from Fly By Jing. Different heat, crunch, oil base, or regional recipe. No near-identical clones.
• Transparent ingredients. You can see what is in the jar and where the recipe comes from.
• Founder-led and DTC where possible. These are the brands you discover, not the ones stacked on a big-box endcap. Many belong to the same wave of independent DTC food brands rewriting the condiment aisle.
• A clear who-it's-for. Each jar is matched to a specific shopper, so the list actually helps you choose.

At a glance

1. Momofuku

Momofuku makes the chili crisp most likely to convert a Fly By Jing fan who secretly wanted more crunch. Its Chili Crunch leans hard on fried garlic and crispy shallots, so the texture is roasty and craggy rather than oily and numbing.

That also makes it the most Western-friendly jar on this list. It plays nicely on eggs, pizza, and grain bowls without the strong Sichuan-peppercorn tingle some people find polarizing.

Best for crunch-forward cooks who found Fly By Jing a little too málà. Reviewers routinely rank it as the crunchiest widely available option.

2. Homiah

Homiah is the pick if you want a real regional story in the jar. Founder Michelle Tew built the brand around her Nyonya heritage, and its Sambal Chili Crunch traces back to a family recipe from her Granny Nonie in Penang, Malaysia.

The result is a Southeast Asian sambal angle rather than a Sichuan one, so it reads sweeter, funkier, and shrimp-savory next to Fly By Jing.

Best for heritage-recipe seekers who want a Malaysian point of view. It became widely known during the 2024 chili-crunch trademark debate, when Homiah was one of the small brands caught up in it.

3. MìLà

MìLà started as the soup-dumpling brand a lot of people keep in the freezer, and its Chili Crunch dipping sauce is a natural next buy. Each batch is simmered for hours and made in Monterey Park, California and Auburn, Washington.

It is built to be dunked, spooned, and stirred, so it sits somewhere between a crisp and a sauce.

Best for shoppers who want a crunchy, dip-friendly jar from a Chinese-American brand they already trust. It is an easy add-on if MìLà dumplings are already in your cart.

4. Mama Teav's

Mama Teav's brings a Cambodian and broader Southeast Asian angle with its Hot Garlic Chili Crisp, made with simple, natural ingredients and a heavy hand of garlic.

Where Fly By Jing is Sichuan-forward, this one is garlic-forward, which makes it a great everyday finisher for noodles, rice, and dumplings.

Best for garlic lovers who want a family-recipe pantry staple with a different regional accent.

5. Chile Crunch

Chile Crunch is the original. The Denver-based brand (Chile Colonial) is the one Momofuku licensed the "chile crunch" name from, and its toasted, nutty, garlicky crunch predates a lot of the newer arrivals.

It skews savory and crunchy rather than fiery, so it is friendly to people who want texture more than heat.

Best for shoppers who specifically want the original chile crunch recipe, not an interpretation of it.

6. Mr Bing

Mr Bing grew out of bing street-food stalls in Hong Kong and New York, and its chili crisp comes in both mild and spicy. It is made in the USA and flagged gluten-free, vegan, no-MSG, and non-GMO.

Those dietary credentials are the headline. If Lao Gan Ma's MSG or a brand's fish sauce rules it out for your table, this is an easy swap that keeps the crunch.

Best for vegan, gluten-free, or no-MSG shoppers who still want a genuinely crunchy jar. The mild version is also a good gateway for spice-averse eaters.

7. The Spicy Mamas

The Spicy Mamas is a family of female chefs who started up in 2020, and their Garlic Chili Oil is the one to reach for when you actually want it to hurt (in a good way). It pushes real heat while keeping flavor complexity, so it is not just empty burn.

It is online-only, which is part of why the bigger rankings tend to overlook it.

Best for max-heat chasers who still want depth. If pure fire is the whole point, it is also worth browsing our best hot sauce brands alongside it.

8. Milu

Milu comes from the NYC fast-casual restaurant of the same name, and its chili crisp is unusually spiced. It uses Sichuan and cobanero chilies plus cumin, coriander, and cardamom, and it gets its crunch from toasted soy nuts instead of peanuts.

That peanut-free crunch is a real selling point, and the extra spices give it a warmer, more complex profile than a straight Sichuan crisp.

Best for peanut-free eaters and anyone who wants a chili crisp with more going on aromatically.

9. Boon Sauce

Boon Sauce is the chef-driven splurge. Made in small batches in Los Angeles by chef Max Boonthanakit, it loads a canola-oil base with chilies, shallots, garlic, anchovies, fennel, and Sichuan peppercorn.

The anchovy is what sets it apart. It gives the jar a deep, umami savoriness on top of the numbing Sichuan tingle a Fly By Jing fan already loves.

Best for umami and mala seekers who do not mind paying premium for a chef's recipe. It leans richer and more savory than almost everything else here.

10. KariKari

KariKari is a Seattle-made Garlic Chili Crisp built for everyday use, with subscription options if it becomes the jar you go through fastest. It is garlicky and crunchy without being punishing on heat.

That makes it a comfortable daily driver rather than a special-occasion condiment.

Best for crunch-forward shoppers who want a reliable refill and a lighter hand on the spice.

How to choose a chili crisp like Fly By Jing

Start with the thing you love about Fly By Jing, then match it.

If you want the numbing Sichuan tingle, go with Boon Sauce or Milu. If you are chasing crunch and fried-garlic texture, Momofuku, Mr Bing, or KariKari deliver it. If a specific regional recipe is the draw, Homiah gives you Malaysian sambal, Mama Teav's gives you Cambodian garlic, and Chile Crunch gives you the original Denver recipe.

If maximum heat is the goal, The Spicy Mamas is the one. If you need peanut-free, Milu is the safe bet, and if you need vegan, gluten-free, or no-MSG, Mr Bing checks all three. On a strict budget, the classic Lao Gan Ma jar is still the value benchmark, though it lacks a real direct-to-consumer store.

Chili crisp also rarely travels alone in a good pantry. Many of these founders came up alongside the wave of independent olive oil brands rethinking the same shelf, so if you are upgrading your everyday cooking oil too, our best olive oil brands pairs naturally with any jar here. And if you are rebuilding the whole cupboard, our guide to brands like Graza covers the same founder-led, design-forward energy in the oil aisle.

Frequently asked questions

What is chili crisp, and how is it different from chili oil?

Chili crisp is a chili oil with crunchy solid bits, usually fried chilies, garlic, shallots, or nuts suspended in the oil. Plain chili oil is mostly smooth and infused, while chili crisp is prized for that crackly texture you can spoon over food.

What makes Fly By Jing different from Lao Gan Ma?

Fly By Jing is a premium Sichuan-style crisp built around the numbing tingle of Sichuan peppercorns, with a cleaner ingredient list and a higher price. Lao Gan Ma is the affordable original, peanut-heavy and MSG-forward, and it is the value benchmark most other brands get compared against.

Which of these chili crisps is the spiciest?

The Spicy Mamas Garlic Chili Oil is the heat pick on this list, built to bring real fire while keeping flavor. Boon Sauce and Milu also carry a strong Sichuan tingle, though they lead more with savory depth than raw heat.

Are these chili crisps vegan or gluten-free?

Some are and some are not, so always read the label. Mr Bing is flagged vegan, gluten-free, no-MSG, and non-GMO, which makes it the easiest safe pick. Jars that use fish sauce or anchovies, like Boon Sauce, are not vegan.

What do you eat chili crisp with?

Almost anything savory. It is great on eggs, rice, noodles, dumplings, avocado toast, pizza, grilled cheese, roasted vegetables, and grain bowls. A spoonful stirred into soup or dolloped on burrata is a fast way to wake up a dish.

How long does chili crisp last once opened?

Most store-bought jars keep well for several months to a year thanks to the oil, and many do not require refrigeration. Check each brand's label for its specific guidance, since ingredients like fresh aromatics or fish sauce can shorten shelf life.

Do I need to refrigerate chili crisp after opening?

Many shelf-stable jars are fine in a cool, dark cupboard, but refrigerating extends freshness and is a good idea for crisps with perishable ingredients. When in doubt, keep it in the fridge and use a clean, dry spoon each time.