In this paper, a novel approach to fuzzy sampled-data control of chaotic systems is presented by using a time-dependent Lyapunov functional. The advantage of the new method is that the Lyapunov functional is continuous at sampling times but not necessarily positive definite inside the sampling intervals. Compared with the existing works, the constructed Lyapunov functional makes full use of the information on the piecewise constant input and the actual sampling pattern. In terms of a new parameterized linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique, a less conservative stabilization condition is derived to guarantee the exponential stability for the closed-loop fuzzy sampled-data system. By solving a set of LMIs, the fuzzy sampled-data controller can be easily obtained. Finally, the chaotic Lorenz system and Rössler's system are employed to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.