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 and boring 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, habaneros 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. In this sauce, I added extra tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, and parsley to create a versatile sauce that makes a fantastic condiment, dip, or appetizer component. Adjust the tomatoes to suit your taste buds and spice tolerance, or just omit them.
Ingredient List
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. 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. 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
How to Use African Pepper Sauce
Ramp up your favorite stews and soups 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
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”iPEX1hQJ” upload-date=”2019-05-07T07:45:52.000Z” name=”African Pepper Sauce” description=”Homemade African Pepper Sauce that is primarily made with habanero, garlic, onion, basil and other spices. A versatile sauce that can be used as a condiment, dip, or appetizer component.a”]
