Peri-Peri Sauce is a blend of spicy African bird’s eye chili mostly grown in African countries. It’s sour, a little sweet, and slightly salty, making it a complex and versatile sauce you can use on almost anything.
My version of this hot sauce includes hot chili peppers from one of the Asian vendors at my local farmers’ market. They carry a lot of fresh produce (vegetables and fruits) that are hard to get in a regular grocery store. So check out your local farmers’ market for unexpected treats. You can find this chili pepper (or a close relative) in Asian, Latin, and some Indian markets, but you could also use jalapenos.
The traditional African sauce blends chilies with fresh garlic, red chili pepper, basil, onions, and oregano. Add smoked paprika, salt, lemon, and olive oil to the mix for pure spicy goodness.
This tangy and savory hot sauce is pleasantly intense. However, if you don’t care for a lot of acidity in your pepper sauce, try my African pepper sauce. Enjoy!
Content…What Is It? |
What Is Peri Peri?
The Portuguese brought this pepper to Africa from South America, and the name pilipili (pili-pili, piri-piri, and peri-peri) simply means pepper in Swahili. We also call it African bird’s eye chili. The classic piri-piri or peri-peri sauce recipe contains red chili peppers, garlic, oil, and acid (which could be from lemon or vinegar). This sauce delivers a spicy condiment or marinade as an essential part of our food preparation.
Recipe Ingredients
- Fresh Red Chili Peppers – Any hot red peppers that add flavor or heat to the sauce work fine: Piri piri, Thai bird’s eye peppers, cayenne, serrano, scotch bonnet, habanero, etc., whatever you can find. A red bell pepper doesn’t hurt, either.
- Jalapeños – The green has more flavor, while the red has more heat. Mexican cuisine is the most famous for this mildly spicy pepper, but it’s also widely used in other cuisines.
- Seasonings – Garlic, basil, oregano, onions, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper smooth everything out for a robust and savory flavor.
- Olive Oil provides a slightly fruity flavor. It’s my go-to oil for dressings and sauces like this one.
- Acidity – Lemon juice and dark vinegar balance the spice and oil for a perfect hot sauce. Apple cider vinegar adds a touch of fruitiness if that’s what you have on hand.
How to Make Peri-Peri Sauce
- Puree the red peppers, jalapeno pepper, chili peppers, garlic, basil, oregano, and onions in a food processor or blender.
- Blend. Add olive oil to facilitate blending. Then add smoked paprika, lemon juice, black pepper, and vinegar and mix well. Adjust for salt and seasonings. Refrigerate and use when ready.
Recipe Alternatives
- Ginger adds more zing and spice to piri-piri sauce, along with subtle sweetness and a peppery flavor.
- Make it mild. Use red bell peppers, fresh mild paprika, or any other sweet pepper for a heat-free version.
- Garlic peri peri sauce. Double or triple the garlic for an even more flavorful sauce.
- Lemon zest. Add the zest from your lemon for a little extra.
Recipe Tips
- Saute savory ingredients like onions and garlic to give the sauce a caramelized flavor.
- Roasting your fresh peppers adds an extra layer of flavor. Yum!
- If you only have dried chili peppers, soak them in hot water for 10-15 minutes, drain, and puree as you would fresh.
Make-Ahead, Serving, and Storage Instructions
This recipe is an ideal make-ahead because it lasts about 2 weeks in the fridge. I’ve heard it will last for six weeks because the vinegar acts as a preservative, but my jar is always empty before two weeks are up.
To freeze it for later, pour the sauce into ice cube trays. As soon as it freezes solid, pop the cubes into a freezer ziploc bag for tablespoon portions of hot sauce. You can freeze it for up to six months.
How to Use Peri Peri Sauce
The spicy goodness of this hot sauce pairs excellently with roasts, skewers, burgers, wraps, and fried foods. Peri-Peri marinated chicken skewers and peri-peri chicken are two classics. But you can replace the hot sauce in any recipe with peri peri sauce for a delicious twist. Nashville hot chicken and African meatballs in tomato sauce are excellent dishes to add a spoonful to.
More Easy Sauces to Spice up Your Life
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was first published in June 2014 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video
How to Make Peri-Peri Sauce (Piri-Piri)
Ingredients
- ½ medium red pepper
- 2-3 fresh jalapeno peppers, coarsely chopped, seeds removed
- 6 fresh chili pepper, coarsely chopped
- 5-6 cloves garlic
- 4 large basil leaves
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh oregano
- ¼ cup (40g) onions, chopped
- 1 cup (240ml) olive oil
- 1 tablespoon (7g) smoked paprika
- lemon juice to taste
- 1½ teaspoons salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon (3g) freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup (60ml) dark vinegar (optional)
Instructions
- Puree the red peppers, jalapeno pepper, chili peppers, garlic, basil, oregano, and onions in a food processor or blender.
- Add olive oil to facilitate blending. Then add smoked paprika, lemon juice, black pepper, and vinegar and mix well. Adjust for salt and seasonings. Refrigerate and use when ready.
Tips & Notes:
- Saute savory ingredients like onions and garlic to give the sauce a caramelized flavor.
- Roasting your fresh peppers adds an extra layer of flavor. Yum!
- If you only have dried chili peppers, soak them in hot water for 10-15 minutes, drain, and puree as you would fresh.
- Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Whitney says
I’m trying out your recipe as we speak and my 2 year old daughter saw your picture while I was reading the recipe and she says “that’s moana”. She loves the movie moana and you must have reminded her of moana xoxo had to tell you that! Thanks so much for the recipe ! I loveee trying new dishes and so do my 2 year old twins and my man ❤️
ImmaculateBites says
Oh that’s so sweet ,I’ll take that ! Love watching Moana with my niece . Thanks for taking time out to share this with me . Hope your daughter enjoys this as much as she enjoys Moana. Happy Cooking!!!
Gina says
Hello,
I made this over the weekend and love it! Thank you for sharing a great recipe! I am unable to find bird’s eye chilies but I did find Thai red chilies at my local Asian market. I used parsley instead of basil, and omitted the red bell pepper. Only hot peppers in our house. We like it hot! Such a simple sauce yet SO versatile! I’ve already used it on chicken and shrimp and I have a hundred more ideas on what to use this on. One question, you mentioned in response to another commenter that you cook it when you are serving it with grilled chicken. Does that mean that you cook the sauce and serve it on the side with grilled chicken? Or are you cooking it, cooling it, then using it as a marinade for the grilled chicken? I noticed a piri piri chicken on your site as well, so I thought you would marinate the chicken in the sauce as it is.
Thank you. And thank you for answering my other questions as to a couple other of your recipes.
ImmaculateBites says
Hello! You can certainly use the peri peri sauce to marinate the chicken as is – if you are a heat seeker. For the peri peri chicken, I toned it down to accommodate those who love spicy food but not so much the heat . Yes, I cook the peri peri sauce and serve it with chicken . Really is great as a sauce on the side.
John says
I made your piri piri recipe and used it to make whole shrimp. I sautéed them after marinating them overnight and serviced them over basmati rice. Absolutely wonderful! It’s to bad I can’t post the lovely photo I took of it. 🙁
Thank you for the recipe and I am SO glad I found this site!
ImmaculateBites says
I am SO HAPPY to hear you enjoyed this John. Would have loved to see the lovely picture.. maybe next time. So glad to have you here.
Annabella Moon says
Hi Immaculate!
My pepper harvest is in full swing and I’m making your piri-piri today. I wanted to ask you which type dark vinegar do you use in your recipe?
Thank you,
Anna
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Anna, I use whatever I have on hand . Really doesn’t make much of a difference to me.
Houston Jr says
your ingredient list calls for bay leaves but you dont mention them in the instructions. When should they be added?
ImmaculateBites says
It’s basil not bay leaves.
Milena says
Amazing flavor, but it’s SO HOT!!! I didn’t really expect anything different really, after all, this is almost nothing but hot peppers, onion and garlic 🙂 My hands stung for a while after, and I couldn’t wash the spicy taste off of them even after four or five washings with soap. I hope my husband and father-in-law will like it, but when I make it again for myself (and I definitely will), I will make it with mostly paprika and maybe a hint of chili pepper 🙂 I’m a wuss, I know 🙂
Milena says
A lot of other recipes for peri-peri say to cook the sauce after blending. Have you tried that? I wonder if it would taste very different…
ImmaculateBites says
Yes, it does taste different. I usually cook it when serving with grill chicken.
ImmaculateBites says
I am a wuss too! So I do the same thing. When am making it for my self . Just a hint of chili pepper. But when am stressed the hotter the better. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
Lauren says
Hello! A friend gave me a Portugal Hot Pepper plant this spring and it has lots of peppers that are just starting to turn red now! I’ve read that this variety has medium heat and a touch of sweetness. I think it would be good in a piri piri sauce. I’m also growing jalapeño peppers and later this summer will have Trinidad Perfume peppers (sweet and citrusy but no heat). Would adding something sweet ruin the flavor of this recipe? I like a more mild hot sauce, but am trying to slowly raise my heat tolerance. 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
The purist will say No. But I say Why Not. I have before. Annd loved it! But it wasn’t well received by others(Heat Seekers). If you do let me know how it works out for you.Thanks
Annabella Moon says
I absolutely love peppers and grow so many varieties that I can’t count them all. ***helpful hint*** Stop by the market and purchase a giant bottle of cheap/plain mustard. In the U.S.A. we call it hot dog mustard. Be sure to set the mustard in the fridge so it will be very cold. When your hands begin that all too familiar burn submerge each hand into a bowl of the mustard. It feels so wonderful.
I start out wearing gloves, but they never last long because the peppers always seem to melt them. ha!
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks for sharing Annabella!
Arlene says
Try lemon juice on your hands to take the spiciness away.
Reg says
absolutely sensational, used Ghost chilli and only needed 2 as mine are extremely HOT
ImmaculateBites says
AWESOME!!!!!
Rai says
Hey There!
All the recipes I have read didn’t have this many pepper additions. Is there any tasteful rhyme or reason to this? Also will or is there a big taste difference if you use garlic powder over real garlic?
Thanks
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Rai! When making pepper sauce , you add according to your heat tolerance. Some more, some less- adjust to taste. There will be a subtle difference not overwhelmingly.
Guillermo says
Hi Immaculate,
I am a huge fan of african cuisine and came across your blog searching the web.
I have to say that it made my day. This sauce is by far the best I have ever tried. Really.
Can’t wait to try your other recipes! Greetings from Spain! 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Guillermo.
You made my day too! Thanks for taking the time to comment – SUPER EXCITED you dig African food and you are here. Can’t wait to see what other recipes you try!
laurie says
I’m sooooo psyched to find this recipe! I had a Cameroon friend who made this for me for years, then she moved out of state about 3 years ago, I have been looking for it ever since. Now I can make my own! Thanks!
Louis Pezzani says
Thanks for this!
How long will this last in the refrigerator?
ImmaculateBites says
The longest I have kept it is 2 weeks so cannot say for sure.
kelsey says
One teaspoon fresh ground pepper. Is it black pepper or which kind of pepper
ImmaculateBites says
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper.
niki says
This comment belongs to your later post about mangoes. If you can find them, try champagne mangoes – much the sweetest I’ve found but not often available.
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks Niki, I will be on the look out .
ImmaculateBites says
Westindya, I am so glad you here and taking the time to comment . Let me know how it works for you,
westindya says
just discovered your blog! oh, what i’ve been missing! absolutely making the piri-piri this weekend. we call them “bird peppers” where I’m from and I am happy to find this awesome hot sauce recipe!
cheers!