A mouthwatering sauce flavored with garlic, lemon and a bit of heat. Brush this peri peri sauce on on roasted veggies, spread it in your favorite sandwich, or use it as a flavorful glaze on your protein of choice. You can customize it to be as mild or spicy as you'd like.
Blend mixture: To a blender, add white vinegar, onion, garlic, roasted red pepper, grapeseed oil, lemon zest, salt, paprika, and chili pepper to a blender. Blend on high speed until smooth.
Simmer: Transfer mixture to a small saucepan over low heat. Simmer until reduced to approximately ¾ cup, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in 2 teaspoons lemon juice. Taste and add more lemon juice, if needed.
Notes
Chili peppers: This recipe makes a moderately spicy sauce (we were aiming for crowd-pleasing, not blow-your-head-off spicy). That said, everyone's spice preferences differ, so adjust to suit your tastes. Peri peri sauce is traditionally made with peri peri peppers. Unfortunately we can't haven't been able to find them where we live (in Canada). Instead, we use what our grocery stores label as "Thai red chili". There are actually many different varieties of Thai red chilies, but the ones often sold in North American grocery stores are a small red chili (about 2-inches / 5 cm long) with a curved tip at the end. While usually generically (or inaccurately) labelled, they are often Jinda chili peppers (Prik Sod). Peri peri / Bird's Eye chilies tend to be shorter peppers with less curved tips. Jinda chili peppers are quite spicy (75k on Scoville scale), but less spicy than Peri peri peppers (175k on Scoville scale). In short, these peppers are all quite spicy, so if in doubt, start with less and add more.
Storage tips: Transfer extra sauce to a jar, bottle, or airtight container. Refrigerate for 4 to 5 days.
Yield: One batch of this recipe (1x) makes about ¾ cup sauce.