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This Easy Romesco Sauce only uses 9 healthy ingredients and is ready in less than 10 minutes! Gluten Free, Vegan, and Oil-Free, it’s perfect over pasta or with roasted veggies.
The photos for this recipe have been updated as of 2/2020.
The first time I tried Romesco sauce was on my 21st birthday, at a local vegan restaurant. Considering it combines pretty much all of my favorite flavors into one yummy sauce, my mind = blown.
Now that I’ve figured out how to make my own version (that’s only slightly addicting), it’s safe to say I’m going to be enjoying Romesco a lot more often.
If you’ve never heard of romesco sauce before, it’s a tomato & red pepper-based sauce originating from Tarragona, Spain. Not only is this sauce nice and tangy, but it’s creamy too – thanks to almonds and/or walnuts. All in all, it’s hearty, savory, smoky, and has just a little kick — but can have more, if you decide to go heavier on the cayenne.
Traditional romesco is made with a fair amount of oil, but I decided to keep things oil-free around here (as I usually do). I also increased the depth of flavor in this sauce a few ways. fire-roasted canned tomatoes add some smokiness to the sauce while also ensuring that you can make this romesco sauce even when tomatoes aren’t in season. I also added some toasted nutritional yeast for an extra kick – it can be optional, but I will say I strongly recommend you do.
This recipe makes about 3 cups of sauce, so you will probably have some leftovers. However, this sauce is so versatile, you shouldn’t have any problems using it up! It’s traditionally served with seafood, but I also love it with:
- Roasted vegetables,
- Pasta,
- as a drip for crackers or crudités,
- or even as a spread on toast!
Basically? This romesco sauce is really freakin’ delicious and goes with just about anything savory 😉
A FEW FINAL THOUGHTS:
- This sauce will last well in a sealed container in the fridge for up to one week, but you can also freeze any leftovers for up to one month.
- You can make your romesco sauce smooth or chunky – I used to prefer it chunky, but now I like it smooth! See the end of this blog post for an older photo of the chunkier texture, which you can get if you use a food processor instead of a blender.
- If you’re looking for more slightly addicting & saucy recipes, you’ll also love this Vegan Chipotle Mayo and this Rosemary Garlic Cashew Cream!
Finally, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂
Romesco Sauce Recipe
This Easy Romesco Sauce only uses 9 healthy ingredients and is ready in less than 10 minutes! Gluten Free, Vegan, and Oil-Free, it’s perfect over pasta or with roasted veggies.
- Prep Time: 5 Minutes
- Cook Time: 5 Minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (87 g) slivered almonds
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional, but strongly recommended)
- 1 cup (8 ounces / 225 g) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 12 ounces (340 g) roasted red peppers (homemade or store-bought)
- 1/4 cup (5 g) parsley, chopped
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, plus more to taste
- Juice of 1/2 lemon (1 to 2 tablespoons)
Instructions
- Add the slivered almonds to a medium pan over medium-high heat. Toast for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently. The almonds should be fragrant and most of them will have become golden brown when finished.
- Set the almonds aside, and return the pan to the heat. Add the nutritional yeast to the pan and toast for around 60 seconds, stirring continuously. The nutritional yeast will also become a darker brown, and more fragrant.
- Next, add all ingredients to a high speed blender (for smooth sauce) or food processor (for chunky) and process for 30-60 seconds, or until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
- Serve immediately, or store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 10 days. If desired, heat up in a pan for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
- Fire Roasted Tomatoes can be substituted for regular Diced Tomatoes (or even fresh), but this will affect the final flavor of the recipe.
Keywords: romesco sauce, vegan romesco sauce, oil free romesco sauce, roasted red pepper sauce, spanish romesco sauce, red almond sauce
Here’s a photo of the chunkier Romesco Sauce, before I updated the blog photos:
Hi! I only have homemade roasted red peppers which have been “pickled” with olive oil, garlic, herbs and a bit of vinegar. Could I use them and omit the lemon juice because of the vinegar? I so desperately want to make this recipe for a cold pasta salad. Do you think it could work even with these peppers?
Hey! We never tried it with the pickled peppers like you have. I’d imagine it could work, although it would be a sort of riff off of the current recipe. Depending on how strong the flavors are from the pickling and spices if you do try it I would omit the lemon, garlic cayenne, paprika and then taste it before adding anything else.
Will this work with sliced almonds?
You could use sliced. They might not get as nice and toasted as the super thing slivered almonds but you’ll get the same sort of feel.
I just made this and homemade pasta and followed your pasta with romesco and roasted cauliflower recipe. Absolute winner!
★★★★★
Yay! 🙂
I’ve made this yummy sauce several times now. I love the fresh taste and chunky texture. It is so easy to make, definitely now in my cooking repertoire.
Thanks, Kathleen! 🙂
Could you freeze this?
Yes, I have successfully!
The flavor of this sauce is nothing like I’ve tasted before! So many flavors is one sauce! The taste is rich, tasty, savory! I’m making it again as I am giving this review. I love it!
Thank you, Isabel!
Have you ever made oil free harissa?
I have not, but that’s a great idea!
This recipe was delicious! I doubled it and am very glad that I did since there wasn’t much left. It is hearty and has a nice, fresh taste.5 stars from me!!
★★★★★
This sounds amazing, do you think I could substitute walnuts for almonds?
Traditional Romesco is made with Almonds, but I think Walnuts could work as well! I would just chop them up some before you toast them to increase their surface area 🙂