Romesco Sauce
Learn how to make the classic Spanish Romesco sauce with this recipe, including roasted bell peppers, tomato, garlic, almonds and thickened with toasted bread.
Romesco sauce is a Spanish sauce with a focus on red peppers and almonds or other nuts from Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.
Typically the nuts are slightly roasted then processed with roasted red peppers and thickened with a toasty bread. The nutty flavor is apparent goes with any number of dishes, and can be used as a simple condiment, left out as a spread, or tossed over proteins.
The red wine vinegar is an ideal finisher for this sauce and you can vary up the zing quality with more or less vinegar in the end.
There are so many ways to enjoy this sauce. It’s an ideal condiment served at the table for use with any preferred ingredient. I always enjoy it with pork.
Let’s talk about how we make it, shall we?
Ingredients for Making Romesco Sauce
Ingredients include:
- 1 large red bell pepper roasted and chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes sliced in half
- 6 medium garlic cloves peeled
- 1 slice Italian bread stale or lightly toasted
- 1/4 cup raw almonds
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- A few dashes of sea salt
How to Make Romesco Sauce – the Recipe Method
To make classic Spanish Romesco sauce, first slice the tomatoes and bell pepper in half. Set them onto a baking sheet.
Wrap the garlic in aluminum foil with a bit of oil and a dash of salt. Set it with the tomatoes and pepper.
Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, or until the peppers and tomato skins loosen and char.
Remove from heat and cool.
Heat a small pan to medium heat and dry roast the almonds about 5 minutes.
Set into a food processor.
To the food processor, add bread and pulse a few times to break it all apart.
Peel the skins from the tomatoes, pepper and garlic.
Into the food processor they go with a bit of salt.
Process until a paste forms. It should be fairly wet.
Pour in olive oil in a stream while processing. Process until it smooths out.
Add vinegar and pulse. Taste. Need more vinegar for zing? Need more salt? Adjust as you’d like.
That’s it, my friends! I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think. I’d love to hear.
Try Some of My Other Popular Sauce Recipes
- Mojo Picon – Canarian Red Pepper Sauce
- Bravas Sauce (Salsa Brava)
- Green Chimichurri (Chimichurri Verde)
- Red Chimichurri (Chimichurri Rojo)
- Chermoula
- Homemade Harissa
- Sweet Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
- Sambal Oelek
- Peri Peri Sauce
- Ajvar
- Muhammara
- Zacusca: Romanian Roasted Eggplant & Red Pepper Sauce
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.
Romesco Sauce - Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large red bell pepper roasted and chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes sliced in half
- 6 medium garlic cloves peeled
- 1 slice Italian bread stale or lightly toasted
- 1/4 cup raw almonds
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- A few dashes of sea salt
Instructions
- Slice the tomatoes and bell pepper in half. Set them onto a baking sheet.
- Wrap the garlic in aluminum foil with a bit of oil and a dash of salt. Set it with the tomatoes and pepper.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, or until the peppers and tomato skins loosen and char.
- Remove from heat and cool.
- Heat a small pan to medium heat and dry roast the almonds about 5 minutes. Set into a food processor.
- To the food processor, add bread and pulse a few times to break it all apart.
- Peel the skins from the tomatoes, pepper and garlic and into the food processor they go with a bit of salt.
- Process until a paste forms. It should be fairly wet.
- Pour in olive oil in a stream while processing. Process until it smooths out.
- Add vinegar and pulse. Taste. Need more vinegar for zing? Need more salt? Adjust as you’d like.
Video
Nutrition
This recipe was updated on 1/20/19 to include new photos, new video and information. It was originally published on 12/29/2013.
2 comments
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Hi Mike
I want to add chillies to this, is it better to roast them or grind them fresh
Nathan, I would roast them with the other ingredients, or if using powder, just stir it in. Let me know how it turns out for you.