Peri Peri Sauce Recipe (Piri Piri Sauce)

Homemade Peri Peri Sauce (Piri Piri Sauce)

Make your own peri peri sauce, also called piri piri sauce, at home with this easy recipe. It's a fiery, garlicky African chili sauce made with bird's eye chilies, lemon and fresh herbs, and it's the sauce you need to make classic peri peri chicken.

I've been making this exact sauce for well over a decade and love the versatility and how easy it is to make.

You may have heard of the world's most famous brand of Peri Peri sauce - Nando's. This is a homemade version that is fairly similar.

Homemade Peri Peri sauce (or should I say Homemade Nando's?) is simple enough to make.

It requires no actual cooking, just some chopping and processing of the ingredients. It's an oil-based sauce, at least it is with our version, ideal for dipping, and it goes GREAT with chicken and seafood.

What I love most here is the heat. African bird's eye chilies give it that real peri peri fire, though you can swap in whatever red chilies you have. I use it as a marinade for chicken before grilling, as a dipping sauce, and as a finishing sauce spooned over just about anything, from shrimp to grilled vegetables. If you want it a bit tamer, I've added a milder version below using roasted red bell pepper. Same flavor, less fire.

Let's talk about how to make peri peri sauce, shall we?

Peri Peri vs. Piri Piri: What's the Difference?

There is no difference. Peri peri and piri piri are two spellings of the same sauce, and the same chili. "Piri piri" is generally traced to Swahili, meaning "pepper pepper." The sauce began with Portuguese cooking in Mozambique and Angola using African bird's eye chilies, and from there it spread to Portugal and beyond.

You'll see "peri peri" more in South Africa and the UK, where Nando's made it famous, and "piri piri" more in Portugal. In other parts of Africa you'll also hear "pili pili." Whatever you call it, it's the same fiery, garlicky, lemony chili sauce.

Peri Peri Sauce Ingredients

• Chili Peppers. African Bird’s Eye peppers are traditional, but you can sub with other red peppers available to you, including red bell peppers. Roasted red peppers are wonderful here. Try it with fiery habanero peppers, ghost peppers, or a mix.
• Fresh Garlic.
• Smoked Paprika.
• Fresh Herbs. Cilantro, basil (or use fresh oregano, which is more common).
• Olive Oil. Or vegetable oil.
• Lemon Juice.
• Salt. To taste.

How to Make Peri Peri Sauce - the Recipe Overview

Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender. Process to form a smooth sauce to your preferred consistency. You can strain out some of the excess liquid if you'd like, or just use it as-is.

Enjoy! Refrigerate until ready to use.

BOOM! That's it. It's an incredibly easy recipe to make.

How to Use Peri Peri Sauce on Chicken

Peri peri chicken is the reason most of us look for this sauce, my friends. Here's how I use it.

• As a marinade. Set aside some of the sauce for serving first. Rub the rest all over the chicken, under the skin as well, and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight for the most flavor. The lemon juice is acidic, so don't push it much past 24 hours.
• As a basting sauce. Brush more sauce on during the last few minutes of grilling or roasting, so the garlic and herbs don't scorch.
• As a finishing sauce. Spoon the reserved sauce over the chicken right before serving.
• Spatchcock it. A butterflied whole chicken grills evenly and soaks up the most sauce. Bone-in thighs and wings are great too.

Never reuse marinade that touched raw chicken as a serving sauce. Set the serving portion aside before you start.

For the full recipes, see my Peri Peri Chicken and Grilled Peri Peri Chicken Wings.

What to Serve with Peri Peri Sauce

Peri Peri sauce goes particularly well with grilled chicken of any kind. Peri peri chicken is the most common use for it, and I love it for peri peri chicken wings or peri peri chicken on the grill.

However, it's also wonderful with seafood, such as shrimp or whitefish. Try it on grilled vegetables!

Storage

Refrigerate in a sealed jar and use within 1 week, or freeze in small portions for up to 3 months. It freezes perfectly. It will last longer in the refrigerator if you use garlic powder instead of fresh raw garlic and dried herbs instead of fresh.

It is not recommended to process sauces with oil in a water bath.

More Spicy Sauce Recipes

• Caribbean Style Mango-Habanero Hot Sauce
• Pineapple-Mango Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
• The Hottest Hot Sauce I Ever Made (Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce)
• Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
• Mojo Picon - Canarian Red Pepper Sauce
• Bravas Sauce (Salsa Brava)
• Homemade Mumbo Sauce

FAQs

What is peri peri sauce made of?

Peri peri sauce is made from African bird's eye chilies, garlic, lemon juice, oil, and herbs, often with a little paprika. My version uses smoked paprika, cilantro and oregano. It's blended raw, so there's no cooking at all

Is peri peri sauce very spicy?

Yes, this version is hot. African bird's eye chilies pack serious heat, and a full pound of them makes a fiery sauce. For a milder version, swap some of the chilies for roasted red bell pepper (see the tips above).

What peppers can I use instead of African bird's eye chilies?

Thai chilies are the closest substitute and work great. Red cayenne peppers, red Fresno or red jalapeño peppers make a milder sauce. Habaneros or ghost peppers take it to the wild side.

Can I use dried chilies?

You can. Soak dried bird's eye or Thai chilies in hot water for about 20 minutes, drain, then blend as usual. The sauce will be deeper and a bit less bright than with fresh chilies.

Is this the same as Nando's peri peri sauce?

It's not a copycat, but it's the same style of sauce, with the same bird's eye chili heat, garlic and lemon. Nando's makes several heat levels and its bottled versions include vinegar. This homemade version is fresher and more vibrant.

How long does peri peri sauce last?

Keep it refrigerated in a sealed jar and use it within 1 week. For longer storage, freeze it in small portions (an ice cube tray works great) for up to 3 months. The oil may separate, just stir or shake it.

Can I can peri peri sauce?

I don't recommend water bath canning this sauce. It's oil-based, and oil-based sauces aren't safe for home water bath canning. Freeze it instead.