African Pepper Sauce
Homemade African Pepper Sauce enjoys the flavors of habanero, garlic, onion, basil, and other spices. This versatile sauce makes a great condiment, dip, and appetizer component.
In West Africa, pepper sauce is an essential partner for puff-puff, grilled meat, fish, and eggs. Actually, it’s splendid with any food. Something about pepper sauce takes a dish from bland to flavorful and enjoyable. As you might have guessed, pepper sauce is delightfully hot because of the spicy blend of hot peppers.
Although ingredients vary from one cook to another, one thing is constant—hot peppers. You can use so many kinds of pepper in this sauce: habanero, scotch bonnet, serrano, jalapenos, and more.
My preferred chili pepper is my beloved scotch bonnet. However, habanero peppers are a good replacement if that’s what you have available. Fresh hot peppers are the biggest difference between hot sauce and African-style pepper sauce.
Content…How Hot to Make It |
How Hot to Make African Red Pepper Sauce
The most authentic West African pepper sauce I’ve had the pleasure of trying contains a negligible amount of vinegar if any at all. The basic ingredients are peppers, salt, vegetable oil, and Maggi, ranging from mild to ferociously hot with a thick texture.
In this sauce, I added extra tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, and parsley to create a versatile sauce that makes a fantastic condiment or dip. Adjust the tomatoes to suit your taste buds and spice tolerance, or omit them.
Ingredient List
- Hot peppers are a given. While I love scotch bonnet peppers, you can use habaneros, Thai chili, red jalapenos, or any other hot pepper you love. Feel free to replace it with a sweet red pepper (aji dulce or red bell pepper) for a milder sauce while keeping the red color.
- Seasonings – Onion, garlic, bouillon powder (either chicken or beef Maggi is my go-to), basil, and parsley add intense flavor. You can leave out the bouillon powder for a vegan version.
- Roma tomatoes bulk up your sauce without adding extra heat.
- Vegetable oil brings it all together and provides a smooth texture. Olive oil or sunflower oil also works well.
How to Make African Pepper Sauce
- Puree Veggies – Coarsely chop the tomatoes and onions, and discard the pepper stems. Then, puree the tomatoes, onions, garlic, pepper, parsley, basil, and bouillon powder in a food processor with as much oil as needed to make a thickish puree. (Photo 1)
- Simmer – Pour the pepper mixture into a small saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and slowly simmer for about 15 minutes—stirring frequently to prevent burning. Adjust seasonings for salt. (Photo 2)
- Serve – Let it cool, pour it into a mason jar or a container with a lid, and store it in a fridge for up to a week. For your pepper sauce to last longer, fully cover it with oil.
Recipe Notes and Variations
- Lacto-fermented. With fermenting your own veggies becoming the rage, why not try it with pepper sauce? Replace the oil with brine from previously fermented veggies and store the puree in a glass jar on the countertop for 6-8 hours. Keep it in the fridge, and it should last 2-3 months.
- Make it milder by replacing some hot peppers with milder ones like red bell or sweet banana peppers.
- Another way to make pepper sauce is to simmer the ingredients in a little water for about 15 minutes, then puree with oil and serve.
How to Use African Pepper Sauce
Ramp up your favorite stews and soups (or other spicy dishes) with a spoonful of this goodness. Jamaican stew peas, African chicken stew, Instant Pot beef stew, Ethiopian lentils, and fish stew all enjoy having this sauce in them.
More Amazing Sauce Recipes to Try
By Imma
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was originally published in October 2013 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video
African Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
- 10 hot peppers (habaneros, scotch bonnet peppers, Thai chili, etc.)
- 1 medium onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons (20g) bouillon powder or Maggi
- 2 basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons (7-8g) parsley
- 1-3 Roma tomatoes, adjust the amount to taste
- ½-1 cup (118-236ml) vegetable oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Coarsely chop the tomatoes and onions, and discard the pepper stems. Then, puree the tomatoes, onions, garlic, pepper, parsley, basil, and bouillon powder in a food processor with as much oil as needed to make a thickish puree.
- Pour the pepper mixture into a small saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and slowly simmer for about 15 minutes—stirring frequently to prevent burning. Adjust seasonings for salt.
- Let it cool, pour it into a mason jar or a container with a lid, and store it in a fridge for up to a week. For your pepper sauce to last longer, fully cover it with oil.
Tips & Notes:
- Make it milder by replacing some hot peppers with milder ones like red bell or sweet banana peppers.
- Another way to make pepper sauce is to boil the ingredients with a little water for about 15 minutes, then blend with oil and serve.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Hi I love this sauce please Im looking for a hot green sauce with njangsang in ther please can you give me the recipe sorry for me English my English is Not so Good ☺
Vanessa, just reduce the amount of pepper and increase the garlic,herbs and add Njangsa.
Kushe-oh! Can you please elaborate as to how much oil to cover or immerse the pepper sauce in to keep in the fridge? I can’t wait to make this for my sweet cakes.
Enough to cover the sauce . So oil is floating above the sauce
Hi.
I just wanted to thank you for taking the time and effort to post this awesome pepper sauce recipe.
I haven’t tasted it yet, but I could tell from the piercing aroma that it will taste great.
Thanks again.
Would anyone be willing to make a jar of this for me and ship it to my home in Texas? I work in Cameroon and absolutely love this stuff, but am not much of a cook. I will pay handsomely and make it worth your time and effort.
I will chris.
I recently had this sauce with baked tilapia at a friend’s house. I had to find the recipe for this and finally I have… I have made it TWICE since finding it here… EXCELLENT Recipe!! Thank you for sharing.
I glad you liked it Rayven. It really goes well with tilapia. Thanks for the feedback!
Just wondering, can I also use dried basil leaves; if so, how much? Sometimes I don’t have fresh at home. We have fallen in love with this pepper. Have it all the time at home. Thanks
Kelsey, 1 tablespoon would be fine. However, you can omit basil leaves-I make it often without it.
The only hot sauce I’ve ever known was from my sister in law, origin, Trinidad and, she lives close by me.
My daughters brother in law origin, Cameroon Africa, lives here as well and says his mom was sending hot sauce for him from Cameroon, so I gave him some trini hot sauce. He ate it but prefers one from mom. My mission, to find a hot sauce from Cameroon with the best reviews. I made this one and even my trini girl thought it was great. No vinegar!…..so now I’ve made enough for the cameroon boy and will send it to him via my daughter cause he lives about 2 hours from us. He’s going to be surprised what a Québec Canada girl can do with hot peppers. Thanks for the recipe.
My fiance loved this so much, I doubled the batch. Is this something I can freeze? If so, how do you recommend packaging it for the freezer? Thank you
My fiance loved this so much I doubled the batch. Is this something I can freeze? If so, how do you recommend packaging for the freezer? Thank you
Jacquetta, put it in a freezer safe container and freeze. When ready to use defrost overnight, in the fridge . Bring to a boil in a sauce pan with additional oil or just microwave. Sometimes, I add some sliced onions and adjust taste with maggie. It usually last a long time in the fridge- about a month , immersed in oil.
Thank you! I froze some this weekend. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Additionally, thank you for sharing these wonderful recipes! Keep them coming!
Thanks for the feedback, Jacquetta.
Immaculate Heart !.
Happy Friday.
Thank you for the recipe.
Ben
Ben, glad you enjoyed it
I just made this and it was easy and delicious! And by some miracle it didn’t choke me to the point that I had to evacuate the house! I’ll be eating this with my puff puff and beans tonight! Thanks for the recipe
Iris, puff-puff and beans and pepper sauce- Delicious!!!!
this is the best pepper source I ever made.The recipes are just great
Thanks
Well thank you! Do appreciate the feedback . Thanks for stopping by Rennata
I had some wonderful Nigerian friends while living in France. I LOVED their cooking and am so happy to have found your blog! Do you know, would this recipe be “pimente” in French?
Yes Tiffiny, this is pimente sauce. Thanks for stopping by hope you take some time to browse through the recipes.
Thank you so much for this recipe because is what i have been looking for a long time. I did boil mine as you suggested and loved it. I will try it without the tomatoes and see if it makes a big difference. I used less pepper because i don’t like it very hot. Thanks again for bringing to us only the best.
Thanks so much for this recipe. I have been waiting for this patiently for quite sometime. Will try it and let you know
Kelsey , I know how bad you really wanted this recipe , let me know how it worked for you!