Peruvian Green Sauce
Spice up your meal with this zingy, zesty, and creamy Peruvian green sauce, and you’ll never eat a boring meal ever again. Garlic, cilantro, and jalapeños give you a perfect drizzling and dipping sauce that will enhance your favorite grilled chicken, pork, beef, and roasted veggies for a sassy finish.
I was so excited to finally be able to try authentic green sauce on my first trip to Peru. You can’t imagine my horror when nobody knew what I was talking about. But all the restaurants had aji amarillo, and they put it on almost everything.
Then I found out that Peruvians living in the States missed their aji de huacatay so much that they used what they had for an acceptable take on it. Let me tell you, cilantro and huacatay aren’t even related. But, hey, ingenuity rules in the food world.
The Peruvian Twist
While in Lima, I did have the opportunity to try aji amarillo (yellow hot pepper). It has a strong floral essence, a beautiful yellow, slightly orangy color, and is quite hot. Not Carolina Reaper hot, but it packs a punch.
The other iconic ingredient in the salsa is huacatay, sometimes called black mint. But it’s not related to mint, either. If you’ve got French marigolds growing in your garden, you have a better idea of what huacatay tastes like.
The simple yellow pepper sauce has two ingredients if you don’t count water, salt, and pepper. Hot yellow peppers and huacatay pureed in the blender create a spicy and interesting hot sauce. How that became green sauce with jalapeños, cilantro, cheese, and garlic is beyond me, but I’m glad someone invented it because it’s really good.
How to Make Peruvian Green Sauce (Aji Verde)
Coarsely chop everything and puree it in a blender. Done.
Recipe Notes
- Please wear gloves when handling hot peppers because they can irritate or burn your skin. You should also refrain from touching your face, especially your eyes, to avoid unnecessary pain.
- If you want to try huacatay, you can find the paste online. Amazon also has seeds if you prefer growing your own and enjoying it fresh. But honestly, pick a few leaves from a French marigold (NOT the flower shop marigolds), and you’ll have a good idea what it’s about.
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
We usually make this at least a day ahead so the flavors have time to party. Store it in a glass jar for up to a week, or freeze it in ice cube trays, then store the frozen cubes in a freezer bag for up to 6 months.
This sauce goes great with anything that pesto goes well with; pesto pasta, add a scoop to a creamy salad dressing, or mix it with a little mayo for a fantastic sandwich spread.
More Ways to Use Peruvian Green Sauce
The most popular way to use green sauce is on roasted chicken, shrimp, and lomo saltado. But you can also switch out the ketchup for potato wedges and sweet potato fries. Slather it on burgers, chicken sandwiches, and fried fish sandwiches for outstanding cookout dishes.
More Homemade Sauces to Try
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”0nMUodYm” upload-date=”2022-02-28T07:00:00.000Z” name=”Peruvian Green Sauce” description=”Spice up your meal with this spicy, creamy, and tangy Peruvian Green Sauce, and you’ll never eat another boring dish, ever. Cotija cheese, garlic, cilantro, and jalapenos blended in a food processor give you that perfect consistency. Drizzle it over your favorite grilled chicken, pork, beef, or roasted veggies for a sassy finish. ” player-type=”collapse” override-embed=”false”]
This blog post was originally published in February 2022 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Peruvian Green Sauce
Ingredients
- 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2-3 jalapeños, seeded and chopped
- 1½ cups (34g) cilantro (leaves and stems)
- ¼ cup (5g) basil, chopped
- ½ teaspoon (1g) ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon (32g) chili paste (optional)
- ⅓ cup (42g) cotija cheese, crumbled (or feta)
- 1½-2 tablespoons (22-30ml) lime juice, more to taste
- ½ cup (118ml) extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Puree the garlic, jalapeños, cilantro, basil, cumin, chili paste, cotija cheese, lime juice, and oil in a blender until almost smooth (a little chunky is fine). Add more oil as needed.
- Adjust seasonings to taste, store in a glass jar with a lid, and chill in the fridge until ready to use.
Tips & Notes:
- Save time and add more heat by leaving the seeds in the jalapeños.
- Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used in the recipe.
