Spicy Basil-Cream Sauce
You can make this no-cook basil cream sauce recipe in 5 minutes or less with fresh basil, thyme, serrano peppers, yogurt, honey and vinegar. It’s an ideal summer sauce, but use it as a salad dressing, veggie dipper, or an all-around condiment.
Every spring we plant basil leaves in a couple clay pots that Patty painted and decorated at a local art studio. Cute, isn’t it?
That’s a lot of basil! We LOVE basil, and the plants grow like crazy in our sun room that overlooks a gorgeous pond.
It is super nice to have fresh basil throughout the year, as well as thyme, rosemary, and whatever other herbs we decide to grow. Fresh herbs can transform an average meal into something legendary.
So can this sauce. Truly.
This is a practically ANYTHING sauce, meaning you can use it on just about anything. I am so lucky that I was able to snatch up herbs fresh from our herb pots and fresh peppers straight from the garden to make this one.
The Sauce Base
The sauce base is yogurt. Yogurt is perfect for making quick and easy sauces because it is creamy, thick, and highlights the flavors you add to it.
We like to have yogurt on hand for super quick breakfasts. You can toss in fresh fruit and maybe a bit of stevia if you’re looking for a touch of sweet and off you go. It’s a big time saver for when you’re having weeks like we’ve been having, just crazy busy with so much going on.
And yep, same thing with this sauce.
It’s super fast to make. All it takes is a bit of processing. Just toss your ingredients in the food processor and BOOM! Done. Off you go to highlight your meal. Let’s break it down.
What You’ll Need
Your ingredients are as follows: Greek yogurt, basil leaves, fresh thyme, 1 serrano pepper (or more, hey!), honey, rice wine vinegar and a pinch of salt.
A few notes about the ingredients
First, don’t overdo the thyme. Fresh thyme is pretty darned potent. You can easily add too much and it might overtake the sauce, so only use a little at the start. You can always add more.
Second, if serrano peppers are too spicy for you, feel free to sub in a milder pepper, like a jalapeno.
Third, if you don’t have rice wine vinegar on hand, you can use white wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, or even plain white vinegar, though a higher quality vinegar is ideal.
How to Make Spicy Basil Cream Sauce – the Recipe Method
Add the following ingredients to a food processor:
- 1 handful basil leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 serrano pepper chopped
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
- Pinch of salt
BOOM! There you go!
Very easy, right?
Serving Suggestions for Basil Cream Sauce
I made this for a super quick salmon dinner. I just drizzled it over the salmon fillets and served it with a side of asparagus.
I almost made this post about the salmon recipe, but I figure you guys are getting tired of me posting about salmon. I really do enjoy other fish! I swear! I just LOVE salmon so much. It’s definitely my favorite fish.
I’m posting this as a SAUCE RECIPE, but this can be easily served as a dressing.
Toss it with salad greens and veggies and you have an instant salad. Or, serve it with freshly chopped carrots and zucchini as a veggie dip. It will also work on sandwiches, particularly roast beef.
Give it a try. Let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy it.
Try Some of My Other Popular Sauce Recipes
- Jacked Up Fry Sauce
- Chipotle Sauce
- Homemade Buffalo Sauce
- Spicy Mustard Aioli
- How to Make Fresh Chili Paste
- Aji Amarillo Sauce
You can make this no-cook basil cream sauce recipe in 5 minutes or less with fresh basil, thyme, serrano peppers, yogurt, honey and vinegar. It's an ideal summer sauce, but use it as a salad dressing, veggie dipper, or an all-around condiment.
- 1 handful basil leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 serrano pepper chopped
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
- Pinch of salt
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth.
- Adjust salt to your personal taste.
- Enjoy!
Makes about 3/4 cup.
3 comments
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I know this has been up for awhile, but have you tried canning your sauces? They look great and I am thinking about trying several of them, but would like to can them for gifts.
Kristi, yes, I do canning sometimes. I will run certain sauces through a water bath to keep them longer. For home canning, shoot for a pH level of 3.5 or lower. For this particular sauce, you’d be better of using a pressure canner as the acidity isn’t that low.
Looks good. I know there is a love hate, but going to try it with cilantro too.
REPLY: I think this would be great with cilantro. Love it. — Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.