Okay, so this recipe is pretty expensive. I’ll admit that up front. BUT I had almost an entire jar of roasted red peppers leftover from my hummus making extravaganza last week, and due to poor planning, I didn’t have another use for the leftover peppers. Yes, I could have frozen them for later use, but I decided to just go ahead and use them up on the spot and not risk losing them to the depths of my freezer. And I think it’s important to show ways you can repurpose leftover ingredients to make sure they don’t go to waste. So, I made this ultra simple, yet totally decadent Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, which can be used several different ways.
How to Use Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
The most obvious use for this sauce is as a tomato-free alternative to marinara. It’s nice to change things up once in a while and there are a lot of people who can’t eat tomatoes, so this is a great way to go. On that note, you could probably also use it on a pizza as an alternative to traditional pizza sauce (it would be amazing on a mediterranean style pizza).
But I think my favorite way to consume this sauce is just as a dip for some really good bread. Either just break off a chunk of your favorite bread and start sopping up the delicious sauce, or slice it, brush it with olive oil, and toast it up in your oven for a little crunch. Either way, this sauce makes a great appetizer or addition to a party tray (try sprinkling a little crumbled feta on there, too!).
So, if you ever find yourself with a jar of roasted red peppers…
I can’t lie. I could just eat a baguette dipped in this sauce as a meal. 😅 Maybe with a little goat cheese, too!
Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 16oz. jar roasted red peppers ($4.49)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.27)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream ($0.87)
Instructions
- Add the roasted red peppers to a blender along with about 2 Tbsp of the liquid from the jar. Purée the peppers until smooth, adding a tablespoon or two of water if needed to help it blend (avoid adding too much liquid from the jar as it can be very acidic).
- Mince the garlic and add it to a skillet with the butter. Sauté the garlic in the butter over medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes, or just until the garlic has softened and becomes very fragrant (but not browned). Pour in the puréed peppers, and add the dried basil and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir to combine.
- Allow the sauce to come up to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low and let the sauce simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring often, or until the mixture is thick (see photos below).
- Add the heavy cream to the skillet, stir until the sauce is smooth, and allow to heat through. Taste the sauce ad add salt if needed (I found the liquid from the jar added enough salt for me). Serve warm.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Sauce – Step by Step Photos
These are the roasted red peppers that I had on hand. They were organic, so you may be able to cut back on the price of the sauce if you can find a better deal (this 16oz. jar was $4.49). You can also use red bell peppers that you’ve roasted at home, but you may need to add salt to the sauce at the end.
Add the roasted red peppers to a blender, along with a couple tablespoons of the liquid from the jar. Purée the peppers until smooth. If you need more liquid to make them blend properly, add water rather than more liquid from the jar because the canning liquid can be quite acidic. You’ll end up with about 1.5 cups of red pepper purée.
Mince four cloves of garlic and sauté them in 2 Tbsp butter over medium-low heat for about 1-2 minutes, or until the garlic is soft and fragrant, but not browned.
Pour in the Roasted Red Pepper purée.
Add 1/2 tsp dried basil and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir to combine and let the sauce come up to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer, stirring frequently, for 10-15 minutes, or until it is thick (see next photo).
When the sauce is thick enough to leave a blank trail in the skillet when you stir it, it’s time to add the cream.
Stir in 1/2 cup heavy cream. Taste the sauce and add salt if needed (I did not add any as the liquid from the jar gave my sauce enough salt). It’s ready to eat! You should have about 1.5 cups of sauce, which is enough for about 8oz. of pasta.
This Creamy Roasted Red Pepper sauce is totally luscious.
I ended up using it on my leftover rigatoni from the other day, with some sautéed spinach and Italian sausage. PERFECT. (But I would have been just as happy with a loaf of good bread. ;) )
It’s probably expensive because you’re buying jars of Whole Paycheck brand peppers instead of roasting fresh peppers. I always side-eye online recipes that use canned/jarred anything. The whole point is to make something fresh. I’m going to take a little from this recipe, though. It sounds like it could be really delicious.
Made this for shrimp and grits. Added some brown sugar and cream until bitterness was gone. Also sautéd with some dry vermouth. Added a bit of granular chicken bouillon.
Great tips Nancy!
I used this recipe on top of butternut squash & parmigiano reggiano filled pasta at it was amazing!
Happy to hear it Melissa! Thank you!
Made this as written, doubles the recipe. Absolutely amazing! The recipe doubled was perfect for a 16 ounce box of rigatoni. I roasted my own bell peppers, 2 red bell peppers roughly equals 16 ounces roasted. I didn’t have a problem with the sauce being bitter at all. Was absolutely delicious!
Happy to hear it Evvy! You’re a rockstar for roasting your own!
Love this sauce. Added shaved Parmesan. Served over ravioli and sautéed shrimp
So delicious.
I made this, but I had to roast my own peppers because my client can’t have a lot of salt (60 mg/Tbsp in the jarred peppers!). Wrap peppers individually in heavy-duty foil, put over gas burner (set it on the grate) over medium heat; turn every 3-4 minutes, for 15-20 minutes total, or until they are soft when squeezed gently with tongs. Put in ziplock bag and let them sweat for 5 minutes or so, then peel, cut in half and pour the juice into a dish, scrape out seeds and remove stem. This sauce is AH-MAZING! I used oregano instead of basil and served it over a butternut squash and white corn tamale.
Used a jar of Gia Russa roasted red peppers. The sauce is so bitter I had to toss it. Tried to use baking soda, salt and sugar to tame it but no luck.
Mine was bitter also. Maybe to much liquid from pepper jar added salt and Parmesan cheese ok but still a touch bitter
Thanks for this ! My daughter has just developed a tomato allergy and we usually eat pizza at least once a week, so I needed a tomato-free red pizza sauce.
Delish!!! Served with zoodles and meatballs instead of pasta. Will be making this again!!!
Added some spinach, chopped chicken cutlets and mozzarella cheese, AMAZING
Made this last night and it was awesome! Added spinach, sautéed onions, Italian chicken sausage, and lentil pasta and I couldn’t get enough. Thanks for the quick and delicious sauce recipe!
This would be better with fresh roasted (No bitter acid) peppers and some oregano and a tbsp of balsamic vinega a much better choise for the missing tang of tomato. Also a finely diced onion and a carrot (celery optional, but does assist with the absence of salt.
All these additions are good to make it a renal diet friendly (low potassium).
I’m goingvto can this.
Could you add chicken broth and make soup? I’ll try and report back. YUM!
yes. 1 quart/litre, but will need more veggies, pureed or nit.
I roasted 2 large red peppers in the oven (& last time I made this I only had orange and yellow peppers – which MIGHT have even been tastier, though admittedly not as pretty in color!) since they’ve been on sale frequently and cheaper than the jarred peppers. We eat this as a sauce over pretty much anything we can put it over. So amazing!
I just made this for the first time last night and it turned out great! I accidently picked up fat free half and half instead of cream, which I don’t care for, so I left it out and it was still incredibly delicious. I don’t think it needs the cream at all! I served it with gnocchi and will definitely make again.
I used a jar of roasted red pepper and artichoke tapenade I had on hand. It worked very well. Served over shrimp and crab stuffed raviolis. Yum!