Homemade Nando's Peri Peri Sauce

As we sail around the world there's always things we've had somewhere that we love to eat, but are expensive or hard to find in the moment. Nando's Peri Peri sauce is one of those!

Back in Australia we used to eat it a lot, and in Europe it's easy to find. But, now that we're in Trinidad it's much more expensive, costing around 74 TTD ($10.95 USD) a bottle compared to the $5.50 AUD ($3.50 USD) we paid back in Australia.

After some experimentation, I came up with something similar, that tastes fresh, tangy and spicy, using ingredients that are available in Trinidad.

DIY Nando's Sauce Recipe

I usually double this recipe which gets me around 750mL of sauce.

Ingredients

Sauce Base

• 2 large bell peppers (char grill)

• 1 red onion (char grill)

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1/2 cup lemon juice

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

• 2 yellow hot peppers (scotch bonnet) - add more to make it spicier

• 2 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 1/2 tsp dry oregano

• 1 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pepper

• 1 bay leaf

To Finish

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1/2 cup olive oil

Method

1. Char grill the bell peppers and onions

2. Puree the bell peppers and onions in the food processor or using a blender

3. Add the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, peppers, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper, then blend until smooth

4. Cook in a saucepan for 20-30 minutes, adding the bay leaf

5. Let the sauce cool until its warm

6. Remove the bay leaf

7. Add the finishing lemon juice and red wine vinegar, then puree the mixture again

8. Slowly add the oil while pureeing the mixture at the same time

I usually store my finished sauces in glass jars with screw top lids, and keep it in the fridge.