Make your own peri peri, or piri piri, sauce at home with this recipe. A traditional African sauce made from African Bird's Eye chilies, perfect for making Peri Peri Chicken and so much more!
Homemade Peri Peri Sauce Recipe
If you have not tried Peri Peri Sauce, this is one you need to put on the list.
What is peri peri sauce? Peri Peri sauce is a traditional South African sauce made by Portuguese settlers to the area made with spicy African Bird's Eye chili peppers. It is also known as piri piri, or pili pili. It's perfect for any spicy food lover.
What You'll Love About My Peri Peri Sauce
- I use African Bird's Eye chili peppers for authentic, fiery flavor, though you can use other peppers available to you as demonstrated in the video recipe. This sauce delivers genuine heat that's true to its roots.
- This sauce is incredibly versatile, perfect as a marinade, dip, or condiment. Its ready to help you elevate chicken, seafood, and more with spicy zest.
- It's simple and fresh! We're using fresh ingredients and minimal fuss, a quick and easy way to spice up your meals..
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.
Featured Reader Comment
"I LOVE this stuff! I made it with ripe red jalapeños with a few ghost chilis thrown it to kick it up a bit. My favorite so far is on fried chicken but it's great for cooking on the grill or broiler. Great mixed with Buffalo wing sauce!" -- Bob
Let's talk about how to make peri peri sauce, shall we?
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.
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!
Recipe Tips & Notes
If you can't source African Bird's Eye chilies, you can sub in an equivalent amount of red peppers of your choice.
I have made this with long red cayenne peppers, red jalapeno peppers, and fingerling peppers, even red habanero and ghost peppers, all to similar results.
Traditional ingredients also call for a variety of herbs, though ours incorporates basil and cilantro. You might try oregano, tarragon, or rosemary. Nando's uses a rosemary extract for their herb flavoring.
You'll find regional differences throughout Africa and Portugal.
Storage
Peri peri sauce should keep a few months easily in the fridge, or even longer.
It's all about the acidity. To be technical, target level pH for shelf stable foods is below 4.6 pH, but should probably be lower for home cooks, around 3.5 or so, to account for errors.
It is not recommended to process sauces with oil in a water bath.
This Recipe Is In our Cookbook - FLAVOR MADNESS
Did you know that you can find this recipe in our new cookbook FLAVOR MADNESS? It's waiting for you on PAGE 52.
Hot Sauce Bottles
Here is a link to some bottles I like (affiliate link, my friends!): Swing Top Glass Bottles, 8.5 Ounce - Set of 4. If you like the smaller bottles that most hot sauce makers use, here's another link: Hot Sauce Bottles, 5 Oz - 24 Pack.
Amazon Affiliate links, my friends! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you'll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don't forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I'll be sure to share! Thanks! -- Mike H.
Peri Peri Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound red chilies chopped – African Bird’s Eye peppers are traditional, but you can sub with red peppers available to you
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika you can sub in other chili powders
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/4 cup chopped oregano (I enjoy fresh basil as a substitute)
- 1/2 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
- Juice from 1 lemon
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender. Process to form a smooth sauce to your preferred consistency.
- Enjoy! Refrigerate until ready to use.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
This sauce is gluten free.
This recipe was updated on 3/19/25 to include new photos and a video. It was originally published on 2/10/16.
Larry R says
Hi Michael - over 50 years ago when I was Cadet on a Delta Lines ship we used to eat Piri Piri Prawns at local restaurants in Lobito and Luanda, Angola.
The Sauce was in empty Coca Colas Bottles with a Laundry Spritzer Top and was almost Water Thin but really HOT !! We would "sprinkle" it over the boiled Prawns. Loved to get it every time we were there "In Port"
I make it "thicker" today, but can't seem to find to exact "authentic taste" as I remember it.
Larry
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hey, Larry. My guess is it was a good homegrown version out of someone's kitchen, possibly unique to that cook. So many sauces vary from cook to cook. Could have been a high vinegar concentration (or possibly water or lemon juice) to make it thinner, with heat from local peppers. Bird's eye peppers are the most common for this, though you could easily slip in some habaneros or hotter. Something to experiment with.
Ingrid says
How did I never come across this incredible blog before today? (while googling "how to use up lots of habaneros") So many recipes that I cannot WAIT to try!
This one is at the top of my list. About 15 years ago my husband and I were living in Western Australia, and our favorite Latin-style hot sauces were nowhere to be found. How would we survive? But there were Nando's Chicken franchises everywhere, and then we found the Nando's hot sauces in bottles at the grocery store! So, so tasty! Similar consistancy and spice level to a Cholula or Tapatio, but with a really unique flavor from the lemon and the herbs. I'm so excited to give this a try, and relive the memories of that time 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Ingrid! Glad you found me. =) Enjoy!
Ashley says
You’d be crazy not to try this! I am obsessed with Peri peri chicken but don’t eat it too often as it’s hard to find a good restaurant. This sauce on my chicken is probably better than anywhere I’ve ever had it professionally made and I will for sure be keeping this at the top of my recipe list
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Great stuff, Ashley! I love Peri Peri Chicken!
Karanicle says
I used a whole bunch of birds eye chillis I grew and WOW this sauce is stomach-turning spicy. Each pepper might have been 250,000 on the scoville scale; they were an interesting breed.
I added grilled pineapple to sweeten it a bit, and now its okay to use in small doses. But SO delicious.
Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome!! I love it!
Veronika says
I made the mild version with 1 red jalapeño and the rest red bell peppers. I love the cilantro/basil combination! Amazing! Made grilled chicken with it and my husband said not to EVER lose this recipe! Fantastic flavors even without all the heat. Thank you!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Sounds wonderful! Thanks, Veronika!
Dpg says
The results are great. Thanks for the recipe. One procedural thought… I like to put the garlic and lemon in the blender first and purée while I chopped the peppers and other ingredients. Just mellows the garlic a lot… Or so it seems. I also couldn’t leave well enough alone and enjoyed the addition just a teaspoon or less of fish sauce.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Wonderful! Thanks!
Lily says
Do you remove seeds from the peppers? I used unseeded red jalapenos and it's pretty spicy!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Lily, you can if you want to. I usually do not, but some people prefer to remove the seeds. Removing the whitish innards will remove much of the pepper heat.
SHELDON says
Made this with some frozen jalapeno peppers I had around. Very Delicious! Added an extra garlic clove and a little extra lemon juice. Want to try some other hot peppers once ready to be picked 🙂
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Great, Sheldon! Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. It's great with other peppers for sure.
James Mallon says
An instant favorite!!
Loved it. Did a three pepper blend: chile de Arbol, sweet shepherd pepper and red bell. A little more lemon juice for me.
Fantastic!
Thank you.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
I love the pepper blend! GREAT combination there. Super happy you enjoyed it, James.
Leticia says
this was awesome recipe my family loved the chicken test with this sauce.
thanks
Leticia
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Leticia! Glad your family enjoyed it!
Fixit says
Hello, your peri peri recipe is superb! Can this be kept for a few days at room temp? I am planning to send this sauce out of town...
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
This is best in the refrigerator, though the citrus will act as a preservative. If you need to keep it out of the fridge, I would add more citrus or vinegar to help preserve it.
Margo Sluman says
Definitely 5 stars but I knew I had to sub sub some red bell pepper. I'm in heaven over here and so is my husband!! Tried two now and both 5*s
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Margo! I love to hear it! Peri peri is SO GOOD. Glad you both enjoyed it.
Bruno says
Lol Nando’s ain’t the world famous Piri Piri sauce never heard of Nando in Portugal or in Spain, lol this is a Portuguese sauce and most likely Afro Portuguese origins. Angola it’s the most likely the ex Portuguese African colony where originates actually they don’t really sell Piri Piri sauce maybe nao as white Portuguese only have Piri-Piri chicken and we don’t even advertise it it’s same as chill sauce or mayo for us, Afro Portuguese Angolan descendants they have them small chillis in a sauce and they take couple and put on their own plate and crush it we don’t really cook food with chillis in it we ad it after. Portuguese cuisine don’t use much chillis.