Spicy Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce

This is a delicious creamy 5-ingredient sauce you can drizzle on just about anything! From tacos, to pasta, to using it as a dip!

Course Condiment, Sauce

Cuisine Gluten-Free, Italian, Mexican, Vegan

Keyword creamy sauce recipe, easy sauce recipe, red bell pepper recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Servings servings

Calories 75kcal

Author Anjali Lalani

Ingredients

2 large red bell peppers
1-2 fresh green jalapenos , see notes below
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup raw cashews , pre-soaked for ~2 hours, see notes below
1/4 + 1/8 teasp salt , divided
2.5 teasp lemon juice , freshly squeezed
1/4 teasp apple cider vinegar , or more lemon juice
1/4 cup water
freshly ground black pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to Broil on HI.
Cut the bell peppers and jalapenos in half lengthwise. Discard the seeds and membranes
Place pepper and jalapeno halves, skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Flatted the pepper halves with your hand.
Tuck the whole peeled garlic cloves under one of the red bell peppers to keep them from burning.
Broil for 10-12 minutes or until the red bell peppers are charred and blackened.
Remove from oven and instantly place only the red bell peppers in a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel to seal. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Once cool, remove and peel the outer skin off.
Add the roasted red bell peppers, garlic cloves, jalapenos to a blender (I used my Vitamix) along with the remaining ingredients and puree until completely smooth. The exact amount of lemon juice depends on it's acidity, so season to taste with additional salt and/or lemon juice if needed.
Store the sauce in an air-tight container in the fridge for a few days or freeze in freezable deli containers and use when needed (see notes below).
Use the sauce as a dip, as pizza sauce, spread it on sandwiches, drizzle it over tacos and veggie bowls, or pour it over pasta!

Notes

Each serving is about 1/2 cup of sauce.

Jalapenos - add more or less jalapenos depending on your level of spice. This sauce will still taste great even if you omit the jalapenos completely. Alternatively you can simply take some of the sauce out before blending in the jalapenos if you want both versions of the sauce.

Cashews - If you are using a powerful blender such as a Vitamix, you do not need to pre-soak the cashews. Just be sure to completely puree into a smooth sauce.

I like adding in the Apple Cider Vinegar but in case you don't have any, additional fresh lemon juice will work just fine.

If you're planning on freezing this sauce, you may need to quickly re-blend after defrosting prior to using to smooth out the sauce again.

Nutrition