Peri-Peri Sauce is a blend of African bird’s eye chili that is mostly grown in African countries. It is sour, a little sweet, and slightly salty- making it a really complex and versatile sauce that you can use on almost anything.
This is my version of this hot sauce, which is made with hot chili pepper that I got from one of the Asian vendors at my local farmers’ market. They carry so much fresh produce (vegetables, fruits that are hard to get) – check out your vendors at the farmers market. You can purchase this pepper in North America, at Asian, Hispanic, and some Indian markets, or just use Jalapeno peppers.
Here, the chilies are blended together with fresh garlic, jalapeno pepper, red pepper, basil, onions, and oregano. It is then mixed with smoked paprika, salt, lemon, and olive oil.
It’s a tangy and savory kind of hot sauce, however, if you are one of those people (lots of them in my family) that do not like acidity in your pepper sauce then you can try this African Pepper Sauce. Enjoy!
What is Peri Peri?
Is a Portuguese name for Pilipili which in Swahili word means “Pepper-Pepper” and is also referred to as the African Bird’s Eye Chili. The classic piri-piri or peri peri sauce recipe ingredients contain chili, garlic, oil, and acid (could be from lemon or vinegar) only. Basically, the sauce is used as a spicy condiment or marinade as a part of food preparation.
During the Portuguese Colonialism of Africa, the Portuguese settlers in South Africa made a sauce out of it and brought it with them as they went home to Europe. Although it’s still debated as to where it really originated until this day. It has since become more popular because of the variety of dishes derived from using Piri-Piri.
Recipe Ingredients
- Red Pepper – it can be any pepper that can add flavor or heat to the sauce. Other chili peppers like bell peppers and ancho chiles would be fine too.
- Jalapeño Peppers – this has both the green and red colored variety which is mildly hot. You can usually find these in Mexican Cuisines, but it’s also widely used in different cuisines.
- Chili Peppers – could be any pepper from the nightshade family that can include but is not limited to Cayenne, Serrano peppers, and Guajillo.
- Garlic – it adds a savory and strong flavor which gives the body the taste of the spicy Piri-Piri sauce. Check out my How to Mince Garlic guide for more info about this savory ingredient.
- Basil – a savory and aromatic herb which tastes good with hot and spicy foods. It also adds a subtle sweetness to the Piri-Piri Sauce.
- Oregano – is also a nice addition to savory recipes like this as it gives a peppery and astringent taste that combines well with the flavors of ingredients in this recipe.
- Onions – adds a pungent taste to the sauce. The pungent taste also intensifies as you cut the onions. If you want to know more then check out my guide on How To Cut Onions for more info.
- Olive Oil – gives a slightly nutty and neutral flavor. It’s my go-to oil for making dressing and sauces like this one.
- Paprika – I used smoked paprika for an additional rustic detail to the sauce.
- Lemon – the citrus juice helps get rid of the bitterness that comes from the chili seeds. It also gives a refreshing taste and scent to the sauce.
- Salt – always been a flavor enhancer to anything that it’s added to. Piri-Piri would taste bland and plain spicy if there’s no salt in it.
- Peppercorn – whichever you like, white or black peppercorn will do, but make sure that it’s freshly ground to get that strong but nice peppery taste.
- Dark Vinegar – is made from rice that is fermented and gives a smoky taste too. You can add it in or just leave it out if you want.
Alternative Ingredients
- Serrano Chili – the heat level is mid-range but is close to the heat intensity given by the African bird’s eye.
- Ginger – adds more zing and spice to the Piri-Piri sauce, it will also give an extra subtle sweet and peppery flavor.
- Roasted Red Bell Peppers – What if you don’t have smoked paprika? Don’t worry! Simply use roasted bell peppers and you’re good to go.
- Apple Cider Vinegar– use it to sub for dark vinegar. It will also give a sweet fruity acidity to the Piri-Piri Sauce. Of course, you can also use other kinds like white vinegar.
- Lemon Zest – make the most out of the lemon and use the rind as additional ingredient to give a citrus fragrant and slightly bitter taste to the sauce.
Tips and Tricks
- Saute the savory ingredients like onions, garlic, and other ingredients. Sauteing them will give a caramelized flavor to the sauce.
- Use other chilis. Piri-Piri sauce can get its flavor and heat level from the kind of chilis used in making it. So, if you are not so much of a heat-tolerant then you can adjust the amount and kind of chilis to make it. Scotch Bonnets, for example, will give an intense hot taste to the sauce.
- Add other herbs and spices from your spice rack – this is especially common for homemade dishes, as long as you get the hot, savory, and sour taste of peri-peri sauce then you’ve successfully made it! Do it your way is the idea.😉
- Use bottled smoked peppers – for ease of preparation, you can use bottled chilis. Simply add them with the mixture and pulse in the food processor and that’s it!
Serving and Storage Instructions
- Refrigerator: Transfer the sauce to an airtight container or jar and keep refrigerated for 2 weeks.
- Freezer: Transfer the sauce to ice cube trays and keep it frozen for 2 months.
FAQs
It really depends on the chiles used to make the sauce, but the African Birds’ Eye Chile used in the classic sauce recipe has 75,000 – 175000 SCU. Let’s just say that its heat level can range from mild to fiery hot sauce.
Yes. In fact, it contains loads of vitamins A, B, C, and Niacin. That helps promote good eyesight, strengthen the immune system, lessen the risk of cognitive disorder, and many more.
Yes, you may use dried chili peppers to make into a hot sauce, but you have to rehydrate it first. Simply soak it in hot water for 25 minutes or until it’s rehydrated enough.
What To Eat Peri-Peri Sauce With?
The spicy goodness of this hot sauce pairs really well with roasts, skewers, burgers, wraps, and fried foods such as the recipes below:
- Fried Fish Sandwich
- Peri-Peri Marinated Chicken Skewers
- Japanese Baked Sweet Potato
- Cajun Whole Roast Chicken
- Fried Chicken Sandwich
More Delicious Sauces
How To Make Piri-Piri Sauce
- Grind the chilis and herbs. Blend red pepper, jalapeno pepper, chili pepper, garlic, basil, oregano, and onions in a food processor or blender.
- Emulsify the sauce. Add olive oil to facilitate blending. Then mix in smoked paprika, lemon juice black or white pepper, and vinegar. Adjust for salt and seasoning. Refrigerate and use when ready.
Watch How To Make It
This blog post was first published in June 2014 and has been updated with new photos and a video.
How to Make Piri- Piri Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ red pepper medium
- 2-3 jalapeno peppers fresh, coarsely chopped, seeds removed
- 6 chili pepper fresh, more coarsely chopped
- 5-6 cloves garlic
- 4 basil leaves large
- 1-2 tablespoon oregano fresh
- ¼ cup onions chopped
- 1- cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- lemon juice adjust to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper freshly ground
- ¼ cup dark vinegar optional
Instructions
- Blend red pepper, jalapeno pepper, chilli pepper, garlic, basil , oregano, and onions in a food processor or blender. Add olive oil to facilitate blending. Then mix in smoked paprika, lemon juice black or white pepper and vinegar. Adjust for salt and seasoning. Refrigerate and use when ready
Tips & Notes:
- Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Nutrition Information:
Jackie says
Hi
You recommend sauteing the vegetables for the peri-peri sauce, how do you go about that.
Sadie Mitchell says
I love all of your recipes and look forward to my emails every day. So proud of you.
Immaculate Bites says
Thanks so much, Sadie! Let me know when you get to try them 🙂
Flora Ben says
LOVE LOVE LOVE! Can’t use too much pepper because of my kids but we ALL love this. Our favorite way to make chicken.
ImmaculateBites says
Fantastic!! I am so glad it was a hit with your family, Flora :).
Stuart Dickson says
I’m from Africa, made peri peri many times and used to own a peri peri chicken take away. I appreciate that everyone will have their own version but I can assure you that basil and oregano are not traditional ingredients.
Carol Avery says
Thank You Stuart, I appreciate that information.
Ev says
Exactly because black people don’t traditionally use those two in Africa and the Caribbean. So you are absolutely right.
Liz Solan says
This sauce is amazing. Use half the batch to marinade shrimp. Then grill the shrimp on skewers with shishito peppers. My all time favorite dinner! Use the second half to marinate cubed chicken breast. Then make a sheet pan dinner with the cubed piri piri chicken, cubed sweet potatoes, sliced red onion, sliced red pepper, and califlower baked at 350 fr about 30 minutes. Best dinners!
Gabriela Carranza says
What are the traditional ingredients?
Lisa says
I was recently in Mozambique. I absolutely fell in love with the food. In addition to piri piri chicken was potatoes, matapa, and the most delicious bread I have ever eaten. It was so light, not bloating. I have been searching the internet for this bread. Do you know this bread or have a recipe. I think it is called Pao or Portuguese bread. It’s hard to find a reliable recipe online with English measurements. Please help! I’ve been jonesing this bread since I’ve been home
Patrice says
well the only pourtuguese very light fluffy bread I know are paposeco. They are amazing
Joth says
Goan Portuguese bread ‘Poi’ made from wheat and bran
Ntombi says
its called pao bread, just flour, salt, yeast and water. rise twice. made in a fire over and coated with flour
Gayle says
Top notch recipe. Love it. I did not have red pepper, so I used red and green jalapenos (no seeds) for substitution.
It still came out great. Thank you for sharing.
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome, thanks for the feedback.
FERNANDO SEMIAO says
My family is from Portugal and Brasil. My mother gave me seeds from Peri Peri plants that she brought back from Brasil 30 years ago. I’ve been growing them yearly and use them to make sauce. All my friends beg us for bottles. I use white vinegar to preserve the peppers and blend them as I open up new jars. They last for years in the fridge this way.
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks for sharing!!!!
Lee says
Pass me your recipe plz…
Whitney says
I’m trying out your recipe as we speak and my 2 year old daughter saw your picture while I was reading the recipe and she says “that’s moana”. She loves the movie moana and you must have reminded her of moana xoxo had to tell you that! Thanks so much for the recipe ! I loveee trying new dishes and so do my 2 year old twins and my man ❤️
ImmaculateBites says
Oh that’s so sweet ,I’ll take that ! Love watching Moana with my niece . Thanks for taking time out to share this with me . Hope your daughter enjoys this as much as she enjoys Moana. Happy Cooking!!!
Gina says
Hello,
I made this over the weekend and love it! Thank you for sharing a great recipe! I am unable to find bird’s eye chilies but I did find Thai red chilies at my local Asian market. I used parsley instead of basil, and omitted the red bell pepper. Only hot peppers in our house. We like it hot! Such a simple sauce yet SO versatile! I’ve already used it on chicken and shrimp and I have a hundred more ideas on what to use this on. One question, you mentioned in response to another commenter that you cook it when you are serving it with grilled chicken. Does that mean that you cook the sauce and serve it on the side with grilled chicken? Or are you cooking it, cooling it, then using it as a marinade for the grilled chicken? I noticed a piri piri chicken on your site as well, so I thought you would marinate the chicken in the sauce as it is.
Thank you. And thank you for answering my other questions as to a couple other of your recipes.
ImmaculateBites says
Hello! You can certainly use the peri peri sauce to marinate the chicken as is – if you are a heat seeker. For the peri peri chicken, I toned it down to accommodate those who love spicy food but not so much the heat . Yes, I cook the peri peri sauce and serve it with chicken . Really is great as a sauce on the side.
John says
I made your piri piri recipe and used it to make whole shrimp. I sautéed them after marinating them overnight and serviced them over basmati rice. Absolutely wonderful! It’s to bad I can’t post the lovely photo I took of it. 🙁
Thank you for the recipe and I am SO glad I found this site!
ImmaculateBites says
I am SO HAPPY to hear you enjoyed this John. Would have loved to see the lovely picture.. maybe next time. So glad to have you here.
Annabella Moon says
Hi Immaculate!
My pepper harvest is in full swing and I’m making your piri-piri today. I wanted to ask you which type dark vinegar do you use in your recipe?
Thank you,
Anna
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Anna, I use whatever I have on hand . Really doesn’t make much of a difference to me.
Houston Jr says
your ingredient list calls for bay leaves but you dont mention them in the instructions. When should they be added?
ImmaculateBites says
It’s basil not bay leaves.
Arlene says
If it’s Portuguese, it should be bay leaves, not basil.
Milena says
Amazing flavor, but it’s SO HOT!!! I didn’t really expect anything different really, after all, this is almost nothing but hot peppers, onion and garlic 🙂 My hands stung for a while after, and I couldn’t wash the spicy taste off of them even after four or five washings with soap. I hope my husband and father-in-law will like it, but when I make it again for myself (and I definitely will), I will make it with mostly paprika and maybe a hint of chili pepper 🙂 I’m a wuss, I know 🙂
Milena says
A lot of other recipes for peri-peri say to cook the sauce after blending. Have you tried that? I wonder if it would taste very different…
ImmaculateBites says
Yes, it does taste different. I usually cook it when serving with grill chicken.
ImmaculateBites says
I am a wuss too! So I do the same thing. When am making it for my self . Just a hint of chili pepper. But when am stressed the hotter the better. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
Lauren says
Hello! A friend gave me a Portugal Hot Pepper plant this spring and it has lots of peppers that are just starting to turn red now! I’ve read that this variety has medium heat and a touch of sweetness. I think it would be good in a piri piri sauce. I’m also growing jalapeño peppers and later this summer will have Trinidad Perfume peppers (sweet and citrusy but no heat). Would adding something sweet ruin the flavor of this recipe? I like a more mild hot sauce, but am trying to slowly raise my heat tolerance. 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
The purist will say No. But I say Why Not. I have before. Annd loved it! But it wasn’t well received by others(Heat Seekers). If you do let me know how it works out for you.Thanks
Annabella Moon says
I absolutely love peppers and grow so many varieties that I can’t count them all. ***helpful hint*** Stop by the market and purchase a giant bottle of cheap/plain mustard. In the U.S.A. we call it hot dog mustard. Be sure to set the mustard in the fridge so it will be very cold. When your hands begin that all too familiar burn submerge each hand into a bowl of the mustard. It feels so wonderful.
I start out wearing gloves, but they never last long because the peppers always seem to melt them. ha!
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks for sharing Annabella!
Arlene says
Try lemon juice on your hands to take the spiciness away.
Reg says
absolutely sensational, used Ghost chilli and only needed 2 as mine are extremely HOT
ImmaculateBites says
AWESOME!!!!!
Rai says
Hey There!
All the recipes I have read didn’t have this many pepper additions. Is there any tasteful rhyme or reason to this? Also will or is there a big taste difference if you use garlic powder over real garlic?
Thanks
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Rai! When making pepper sauce , you add according to your heat tolerance. Some more, some less- adjust to taste. There will be a subtle difference not overwhelmingly.
Guillermo says
Hi Immaculate,
I am a huge fan of african cuisine and came across your blog searching the web.
I have to say that it made my day. This sauce is by far the best I have ever tried. Really.
Can’t wait to try your other recipes! Greetings from Spain! 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Guillermo.
You made my day too! Thanks for taking the time to comment – SUPER EXCITED you dig African food and you are here. Can’t wait to see what other recipes you try!
laurie says
I’m sooooo psyched to find this recipe! I had a Cameroon friend who made this for me for years, then she moved out of state about 3 years ago, I have been looking for it ever since. Now I can make my own! Thanks!
Louis Pezzani says
Thanks for this!
How long will this last in the refrigerator?
ImmaculateBites says
The longest I have kept it is 2 weeks so cannot say for sure.
kelsey says
One teaspoon fresh ground pepper. Is it black pepper or which kind of pepper
ImmaculateBites says
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper.
niki says
This comment belongs to your later post about mangoes. If you can find them, try champagne mangoes – much the sweetest I’ve found but not often available.
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks Niki, I will be on the look out .
ImmaculateBites says
Westindya, I am so glad you here and taking the time to comment . Let me know how it works for you,
westindya says
just discovered your blog! oh, what i’ve been missing! absolutely making the piri-piri this weekend. we call them “bird peppers” where I’m from and I am happy to find this awesome hot sauce recipe!
cheers!