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Sweet, garlicky, smoky and lightly spicy, Romesco Sauce makes the perfect pairing for seafood, vegetables, steak, and chicken! Anything you serve romesco with is sure to get everyone's attention at the table. I guarantee you'll want to jar it to have on hand all the time!
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What is romesco sauce?
Romesco (or salsa romesco) is a tomato and red pepper-based sauce from the Catalan region of Spain. Traditionally, it's served as a sauce for seafood, but the beauty of romesco sauce is how versatile it is.
Thanks to its deep mix of flavors, romesco sauce pairs well with everything from vegetables to chicken, steak, and fish. You can serve it as a sauce to drizzle or dip, or simply spread it over garlic toast for a tasty treat.
Romesco Sauce Recipe
A versatile sauce is a total cooking game-changer; a good sauce can completely transform a meal from average into a restaurant-quality dish everyone at the table will crave!
That's exactly what this romesco sauce recipe is: an amazing sauce that complements any meal. This sauce is the perfect match for seafood - I love it with fish! - but it's also amazing as a sauce for roast chicken or pan-seared steak. Not to mention much, much more!
I've been enjoying romesco all my life, so it's easy for me to say this recipe has you could possibly want out of the sauce. I guarantee you will love it and want to try it with everything!
Romesco Sauce Ingredients
- Red bell pepper
- Plum tomatoes
- Garlic
- Yellow onion
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Almonds, blanched
- Baguette bread, thinly sliced
- Salt
- Sherry vinegar
- Spanish sweet paprika (pimentón)
- Ground red chili (ñora or ancho, if possible)
How to Make Romesco Sauce
If you're short on time, see my Quick Romesco Sauce instructions below to make this sauce quickly and easily. Otherwise, follow the instructions below.
Roasting the Vegetables
- Preheat the oven to 350ËšF and lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet.
- Cut an "x" into the top of each tomato. Place them on the baking sheet with the red bell pepper.
- Remove the peel, then slice the head of garlic in half through the cloves. Place the halves cut side-up on the baking sheet.
- Remove the outer layer of skin from the onion and cut it into wedges from the top. Don't cut all of the way through - keep it intact. Place cut side-up onto the baking sheet.
- Brush the vegetables with olive oil and place in the oven. Roast until soft and beginning to char, 25-30 minutes.
Toasting Almonds and Bread
- While the vegetables roast, place a small pan over medium-low heat with a drizzle of olive oil.
- Add almonds once hot then cook, stirring often, until they are golden. Remove to a plate.
- Add bread slices to the pan and toast until golden on each side. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Pureeing Romesco Sauce
- Once roasted, add the bell pepper to a bowl and cover for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, peel the skin from the bell pepper. Discard the stem and seeds.
- Peel the skin and remove the seeds from the tomatoes.
- Remove the skin from the onion and garlic.
- Place all prepared vegetables in the blender or food processor. Add almonds, bread, salt, vinegar, paprika, ground red chili, and remaining olive oil.
- Puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and taste for seasoning, adjusting as needed. Serve immediately, or refrigerate! Enjoy!
Quick Romesco Sauce (5 minutes)
If you're short on time and want to make your romesco sauce quickly, you can replace some of the ingredients to save time:
- Use fire-roasted canned tomatoes.
- Use jarred roasted red peppers.
- Don't roast the garlic or onions.
- Add everything to a blender except for the olive oil and blend until the sauce begins to smooth. Mix the olive oil in gradually as you finish blending. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
How to Store Romesco Sauce
Romesco sauce should be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator and keeps well for up to 1 week. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months. I recommend portioning it out into an ice cube tray for easy portions of sauce, freezing for 1 hour, then transferring to a freezer-safe container and labeling with the date.
Romesco Recipe Tips
- Make sure to use a Spanish sweet paprika for the sauce.
- Fire-roasted tomatoes can be used in place of regular plum tomatoes.
- Any type of ground red chili will work just fine if you can't find ñora or ancho.
- The secret to romesco sauce is the inclusion of baguette bread. It thickens the sauce in an amazing way! However, you can make this sauce gluten-free by using gluten-free bread or leaving it out entirely.
- You can make this sauce nut-free by leaving out the almonds or using pine nuts (which are technically seeds).
Sauce Romesco FAQs
Romesco sauce is typically served with seafood, and was developed by fishermen in the Catalan region for this purpose. However, it's a versatile sauce you can serve with any meal from roast chicken to steak, pork, fish, shellfish, vegetables, and even pasta. Serve it as a sauce or as a dip or spread.
You can freeze romesco sauce in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. I recommend first freezing it in an ice cube tray, then transferring the cubes to a freezer-safe container. If freezing it all in one container, leave half an inch of space at the top, as liquid expands when frozen.
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📖 Recipe
Romesco Sauce
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
- Skillet
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper
- 6 plum tomatoes
- 1 head garlic
- 1 medium yellow onion
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup almonds blanched
- 2 slices baguette thin slices
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Spanish sweet paprika pimentón
- ¼ teaspoon ground red chili up to ½ teaspoon for spice, use ground ñora or ancho chili if possible
5-minute romesco sauce ingredient substitutes (see notes)
- 16 ounce roasted red peppers jarred, drained
- ¼ cup fire-roasted tomatoes drained
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced (don't use a whole head if you're using raw garlic!)
- keep remaining non-substituted ingredients the same!
Instructions
Roasting the Vegetables
- Preheat the oven to 350ËšF and lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet.
- Cut an "x" into the top of each tomato. Place them on the baking sheet with the red bell pepper.
- Remove the peel, then slice the head of garlic in half through the cloves. Place the halves cut side-up on the baking sheet.
- Remove the outer layer of skin from the onion and cut it into wedges from the top. Don't cut all of the way through - keep it intact. Place cut side-up onto the baking sheet.
- Brush the vegetables with olive oil and place in the oven. Roast until soft and beginning to char, 25-30 minutes.
Toasting Almonds and Bread
- While the vegetables roast, place a small pan over medium-low heat with a drizzle of olive oil.
- Add almonds once hot then cook, stirring often, until they are golden. Remove to a plate.
- Add bread slices to the pan and toast until golden on each side. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Pureeing Romesco Sauce
- Once roasted, add the bell pepper to a bowl and cover for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, peel the skin from the bell pepper. Discard the stem and seeds.
- Peel the skin and remove the seeds from the tomatoes.
- Remove the skin from the onion and garlic.
- Place all prepared vegetables in the blender or food processor. Add almonds, bread, salt, vinegar, paprika, ground red chili, and remaining olive oil.
- Puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and taste for seasoning, adjusting as needed. Serve immediately, or refrigerate! Enjoy!
Notes
- Use fire-roasted canned tomatoes.
- Use jarred roasted red peppers.
- Don't roast the garlic or onions.
- Add everything to a blender except for the olive oil and blend until the sauce begins to smooth. Mix the olive oil in gradually as you finish blending. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
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