Smoky Roasted Red Pepper Sauce is a sweet, savory, creamy sauce that pairs well with almost anything. Roasted red peppers, tomatoes, and onions blend together with a hint of smoke from paprika, and take your dinner from weeknight to company-worthy. 
I’ve been a bit too busy over the past few weeks to post new recipes. However, all that ends today with a new recipe post! It’s a winner, too: Smoky Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, my favorite condiment. Yum!
Why is this Smoky Roasted Red Pepper Sauce so divine, you ask? For starters, it tastes like heaven. Roasted (or grilled) veggies–red peppers, tomatoes, and onions, to be precise–are blended together with smoked paprika. A touch of mayo adds creaminess, though it could be omitted. The result is a smoky, creamy, flavorful sauce that you’ll want to pour all over your plate.
I’ve been making versions of this sauce for the last five years or so, and serving it with everything from potatoes to pork. I recently used it as a dressing on a chickpea Buddha bowl (recipe forthcoming), which was fabulous. I’ve decided to serve this alongside our marinated and grilled leg of lamb this Easter to make the meal extra fancy, because everyone knows that sauce = fancy.
Smoky Roasted Red Pepper Sauce is easy to make, vegetarian (with a vegan option–just sub vegan mayo for regular), gluten-free, and dairy-free. For those that are oil-free, you could omit the mayo altogether and the sauce would still taste great (albeit a tad less creamy–though I bet some aquafaba could fix that problem). There are only 7 ingredients! And, I just discovered that this freezes well, at least in the short-term (a few weeks).
The best part about this sauce? It makes every meal feel special. Grilled chicken? Boring. Grilled chicken with sauce? Amazing! Roasted potatoes? Blah. Roasted potatoes with sauce? Elegant! I’ve been eating a lot of plant-based meals, and this sauce helps boost flavor without putting too much thought into it (i.e. it helps when I’m being lazy in the kitchen). Weekday food that was thrown together last minute suddenly becomes company-worthy, and you’ll feel like a rock star chef.
If you make this sauce, have ideas for what to put it on, or just want to say hi, drop me a line! Comment, email, or tag me in a post on Insta (my social sharing buttons are on the bottom or side of the page)!
Smoky Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
A smoky, creamy, flavorful sauce that can be served with meat, poultry potatoes, vegetables, or anything else you can think of.
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper (can substitute a jarred roasted red pepper. See notes)
- 1 medium sized tomato
- 1 medium sized onion, peeled
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (this ingredient is crucial! You really cannot substitute with anything else, including regular or hot paprika)
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar (you can also use sherry vinegar)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise (use vegan mayo if you want to keep this vegan)
- salt to taste
Instructions
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Set the oven broiler to high, and place the oven shelf to the highest or second-highest position (make sure that the whole veggies will fit underneath the broiler without touching it).
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Place the red pepper, whole tomato, and whole onion on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and use your hands to coat the veggies on all sides with the oil. Broil, turning occasionally, until the veggies develop some charred spots all around (about 7 minutes, but varies by oven). Remove from the oven. Place the red pepper in a heat safe bowl, and cover with plastic wrap to steam for about 5 minutes.
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Peel the skin off of the red pepper. If slippery, I recommend using a paper towel to help get the skin off. Open the pepper and remove the seeds and stem with your hands and discard them.
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Add the pepper, the whole tomato, and onion (cut in half) into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the S blade. Pulse until the sauce is almost pureed and contains no large chunks.
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Add the paprika, vinegar, and mayonnaise, and pulse until well combined. Add salt to taste, and pulse again to combine.
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Serve alongside meat, vegetables, starches, or whatever you'd like!
Recipe Notes
To make this recipe even easier, you can substitute a jarred, roasted red pepper for the red bell pepper in the recipe. No need to roast it again--just add it directly into the food processor bowl, along with the roasted onion and tomato.
If you're making this recipe during the summer, you can grill the vegetables instead of roasting them. Just make sure to check them frequently, since the tomato can open up and become quite messy.
Soooo good!
Thank you!