Peri Peri Sauce: the easy recipe for an incredible-tasting spicy sauce

Spicy, tangy, and packed with flavor, peri peri sauce will take your grilling to the next level. This delicious, simple-to-make sauce is from Africa and is made from peri peri chilis, also known as African bird's eye chilis. These spicy chilis help give the sauce its incredible, unique flavor.

Peri peri is also called piri piri or pili pili, and it's often used to marinate or flavor grilled chicken, fish, and shrimp. However, it's so tasty, you'll want to put your homemade peri peri sauce on everything!

What is Peri Peri?

Peri peri sauce is a traditional African sauce made from bird's eye chilis, roasted onions and peppers, lemon juice, garlic, and various seasonings. It's hotter and more aromatic than the likes of Sriracha, which has a stronger garlic and vinegar flavor. Peri peri is great for marinating meat, brushing over chicken as it's grilling, or served as a dipping sauce.

Homemade Peri Peri Sauce Ingredients

The star ingredient of peri peri sauce is the African bird's eye chili. It's also made from a variety of delicious, aromatic ingredients, many of which you'll already have in your pantry. Paprika, oregano, and bay leaves add subtle flavor, while lemon juice and zest and a dash of vinegar bring the sauce's characteristic tanginess.

You can use either red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar – either taste great! Roasting the peppers and onions is also key to achieving that classic peri peri taste – make sure you don't skip that step! Red bell peppers taste best, so save your other bell peppers for other recipes.

How to Make Peri Peri Sauce

Making peri peri sauce is a cinch. Start by roasting the peppers and onions in your broiler and cooking them until they're deeply charred. Pop them in the blender and puree until smooth. Add in the lemon juice and zest, garlic, vinegar, peri peri chilies, and spices and herbs, and blend them until well incorporated.

Pour the sauce into a saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 to 30 minutes, then take it off the heat and leave it to cool down slightly. Once cooled, pour the sauce back into the food processor and add in the extra lemon juice and zest, and vinegar. Keep blending and slowly add in the olive oil. That's it!

What to Serve with Peri Peri Sauce

Peri peri sauce makes just about anything taste even better. It's incredibly popular with chicken, but you can serve it with pork, fish, shrimp, tofu, and more. It's the ideal sauce for when you're grilling. Just brush it over the chicken, meat, or fish, then grill until everything's crispy and a little charred. Brush a little extra over the meat and serve – and don't forget to keep some peri peri sauce on the table! It's great as a dipping sauce for fries, potatoes, roasted vegetables, or even homemade nachos.

Tips for the Best Peri Peri Sauce

Since chilies can have different levels of heat, you may want to start with fewer chilies then taste your sauce and adjust as necessary.

If you can't find African bird's eye chilis, use small red Thai chilies.

One easy shortcut to streamline this recipe is to use jarred roasted peppers instead of roasting them at home.

How to Store Peri Peri Sauce

Transfer your peri peri sauce to a bottle or jar with a tightly sealed lid and place it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. For long-term storage, you can freeze it for up to 2 months.

More Recipes You'll Like

Chimichurri sauce

Barbecue sauce

Mexican sauce

White BBQ sauce

Sweet and sour sauce

Instructions

Roast the peppers and onions under your broiler until chargrilled.

Roughly chop the peppers and onions, then blend them until pureed.

Mix in the garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, lemon zest, chilis, paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper, and puree until smooth.

Pour the sauce into a saucepan. Add the bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and let the sauce cool down slightly. Take out the bay leaves, then pour the sauce back into the food processor.

Pour in lemon juice, lemon zest, and red wine vinegar. Blend until completely smooth. Gradually add in the olive oil while the sauce is blending. Use immediately or store for later use.

Notes

If you like spicy food, add extra chilis to your peri peri sauce.