Romesco Sauce is packed with flavor and easy to make with simple ingredients & your blender or food processor. We’ll cover all the best romesco sauce uses in this post too!
Sometimes a condiment becomes the star of the dinner table. That has long been the case with my green Mojo Sauce. It’s amazing served over a sous vide ribeye steak, as a dip with air fryer shrimp or with a simple instant pot chicken breast. But now there’s a new kid in town, and it may be my new favorite – Romesco Sauce.
I wanted to come up with a romesco sauce recipe to go with some sous vide octopus that I was making. So I picked up some basic ingredients (times three) and got to recipe testing. All variations had the basic backbone – roasted red peppers, nuts, garlic, vinegar, but there was one clear winner.
The first batch I made omitted the bread. This one was good, but it lacked body. It was a bit thin, and not what I was looking for. I wanted this sauce to be sturdy enough to slather on grilled meats, without slipping off.
The second batch was a bit short on flavor. So, I amped it up with a good bit of garlic, parsley, vinegar and salt.
The winning batch:
I ended up with a romesco sauce recipe that really turned out not to be a sauce at all since I was basically eating it like a bowl of soup – it was that good.
Luckily, this recipe makes a big batch of sauce. So even if you do go a bit overboard with your taste testing, you’ll still have plenty. Bonus – it keeps well in the fridge for up to a week or the freezer for 3 months.
Ingredients needed
- Roasted Red Peppers
- Bread
- Tomatoes
- Almonds
- Parsley
- Sherry Vinegar (or Red Wine Vinegar)
- Smoked Paprika
- Cayenne Pepper
- Garlic
- Olive Oil
- Salt
How to make it
- Romesco spanish sauce is super quick & easy to make with the help of your blender or food processor. Simply process all ingredients except the olive oil until finely chopped, then stream in the olive oil with the motor running until well combined.
Recipe FAQs
Romesco sauce is traditionally made with almonds or hazelnuts. However, if you have a nut allergy, you can leave them out and add in an extra slice of toasted bread. Or you can try substituting pine nuts.
Romesco sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to one week, though the garlic will become stronger the longer it sits.
Yes! Romesco keeps very well in the freezer for up to three months. I like to freeze the romesco into individual portions using a silicone ice cube mold. Then I package the cubes into a large ziploc bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature for about 1 hour.
Romesco sauce uses
Wondering what to serve with romesco sauce? Here are some tasty options:
- Serve it with meats like chicken, lamb chops, pork or steak.
- With seafood like shrimp, tuna steaks, or octopus.
- Spooned over buddha bowls.
- As a topping for baked potatoes or crispy smashed potatoes.
- As a dip with vegetable sticks and bread.
- On top of eggs.
- On roasted vegetables.
- Tossed with pasta.
More sauce recipes
- Mojo Sauce
- Red Wine Jus
- Magic Artichoke Dipping Sauce
- Chimichurri Sauce
- Buffalo Wing Sauce {Mild, Medium or Hot}
- Tahini Yogurt Sauce
- Lemon Butter Sauce
Did you try this romesco sauce recipe?
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What will you be eating your Romesco sauce with? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
Romesco Sauce Recipe (+ How to Use It!)
Ingredients
- 1 16-ounce jar roasted red peppers (drained)
- 2 thick slices baguette or country-style bread, lightly toasted (about 2 ounces )
- 3 Roma tomatoes (about 3/4 pound, quartered)
- 1/2 cup almonds (raw or roasted)
- 2 Tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 Tablespoons Sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3 cloves garlic (smashed)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (as needed)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Pulse first 8 ingredients in a food processor or blender until finely chopped.
- With motor running, stream in olive oil; process until smooth.
- Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.
Notes
Equipment
Nutrition
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This post was originally published in 2020. It was updated in 2023 to add new content. The romesco recipe remains the same. Enjoy!
I was thinking of making romesco sauce recently, and I’m definitely going to have to try your recipe. It looks so delicious. Thanks for sharing, Erin!
You’re welcome Waz – Enjoy!
This is great! I have been using another recipe for ages and decided to try this one for a change. Great flavor! I added a tablespoon of harissa paste instead of the cayenne and it’s got a good kick. Thanks!