Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce is a flavorful sauce that isn’t just for pasta! Jazz up everything from pizza to sandwiches and so much more!

Pick a perfect pepper

Red Peppers can either be the star of a dish or help the whole dish shine, and they’re that great. It’s easy to include them in just about anything, especially if you make a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce! This sauce is so light, with savory, zippy flavors, and is the perfect addition to pasta, hummus, eggs, and more. Also, making up a large batch and then freezing it is easy and a really simple way to enjoy this sauce whenever you want it!

Other Recipes to Serve with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

• Don’t serve Easy Peasey Pizza Dough Breadsticks with boring old pizza sauce! This roasted red pepper sauce will kick these breadsticks up ten notches on the fam favorite list.
• Go out on a limb and just try this sauce on eggs- it’s a total game changer! Ham and Cheese Egg Pastry Tarts are just asking for some of this sauce, and so is your family.

Ingredients

Veggies: Jarred roasted red peppers make this sauce super easy, so grab that plus a can of crushed tomatoes, and onion and garlic.

Dairy/Dairy Free Items: You’ll need heavy cream to make this sauce nice and rich. If you prefer a dairy-free sauce, oat milk or your favorite milk alternative can be used. You’ll also need Parmesan cheese or vegan parmesan (like Violife).

Pasta: This sauce is perfect on thicker noodles, such as fettuccini and gluten-free pasta (Banza is great brand), but feel free to use whatever pasta you have on hand.

Seasoning: You will need fresh basil, dried Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

STEP ONE: If you are making this sauce for pasta, cook your pasta according to the directions on the box and save some of the pasta water when it is done. Add the red peppers, heavy cream, tomatoes, parmesan and basil to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

STEP TWO: In a medium pot, or the one used to cook the pasta, heat the olive oil and once hot, cook the onions and garlic until soft. Sprinkle in the Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds. Add the red pepper sauce to the pot and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

STEP THREE: When the sauce has thickened a bit, add the pasta to the pot and gently toss the pasta with the sauce and heat for about two minutes. If the sauce seems a little thick once it’s tossed with the pasta, you can add a little of the reserved pasta water to thin the sauce. Just be sure to only add a little at a time until you get the consistency you like. When you are ready to serve, top with a sprinkling of basil and parmesan.

Tips for Success

• Buying jarred roasted red peppers is so easy and they are really delicious, but if you’d like to roast your own peppers, here’s how: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the red bell peppers into strips, removing the seeds, stem and membrane. Roast the peppers for 30 minutes until the skins are wrinkled and brown, and once done, remove them from the oven, place them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. The steam created will help the skins become very loose, so removing them is really easy. When you have removed the skins, the peppers can be used in your recipe.
• This recipe is easily customizable to be vegan or not, so use the milk and cheese you prefer! You can also make this gluten-free by using any kind of gluten-free pasta.
• Roasted Red Pepper Sauce is not just amazing on pasta, so don’t forget to try it as a pizza topping or as a sandwich spread with some mozzarella and tomatoes! This sauce is a flavor punch of yum and goes with so many different foods.
• If you want to freeze this sauce later, portion out the size, you want to freeze into freezer bags (I like to freeze this sauce by the cup) and freeze for up to three months. You can defrost the bag of sauce in the fridge when ready to use it.

What can I do with roasted red peppers?

Red pepper has a note of sweetness and zip to it, bringing a lot of flavor to whatever dish you add it to. You can add roasted red peppers to egg dishes, like frittatas or omelets, but it’s also good in scrambled eggs. Fajitas, chicken, and steak dishes all are great ideas, as well as pasta. For pizza, you can use roasted red pepper sauce instead of traditional pizza sauce or include sliced red peppers as a topping. Don’t forget about adding some roasted red peppers to your hummus, too, and it’s fantastic!

Is red pepper sauce the same as hot sauce?

While both sauces are vibrant red, they are made with different ingredients. Red pepper sauce is made from a mix of red peppers, onions and Italian seasoning. Red pepper sauce is savory and a little sweet but not spicy at all, unless you like to add more red pepper flakes, which actually come from chilis. Hot sauce is typically made from dried, and sometimes roasted, chilis, such as jalapenos, habaneros, serrano’s, and so on. The heat level in the hot sauce can vary from mild to very hot, and it is typically used as a condiment.

More ways to enjoy delicious bell peppers!

• Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
• Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
• Three Olive Tapenade
• Stove Top Corn and Pepper Mac & Cheese
• Cheesy Broccoli Ham & Pepper Frittata