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Spanish

Romesco sauce

Vegetarian

Salsa romesco

Catalan sauce of roasted tomatoes and garlic, soaked dried ñora peppers, toasted almonds and hazelnuts and fried bread, pounded or blended with olive oil and vinegar.

Romesco sauce is a Spanish sauce from Spain, ready in about 1 hour 20 minutes and made with dried whole chillies, tomato and almonds. It serves 10 and is rated intermediate to cook.

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Prep
20 min
Cook
40 min
Rest
20 min
Total
1 h 20 min
Serves
10
Level
Intermediate
Calories
145

Ingredients

10 servings (about 45 g each)

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Stem and seed the dried peppers and soak them in hot water for 20 minutes. Meanwhile heat the oven (opens in a new tab) to 200 °C.

    • 3 min

  2. Step 2

    Roast the whole tomatoes (opens in a new tab) and the unpeeled garlic cloves (opens in a new tab) on a tray until the tomato skins split and blacken in places and the garlic is soft.

  3. Step 3

    While they roast, toast the almonds (opens in a new tab) and hazelnuts (opens in a new tab) in a dry pan until golden, then fry the bread in a spoonful of the olive oil (opens in a new tab) until crisp on both sides.

  4. Step 4

    Scrape the soft flesh from the soaked peppers with a spoon. Peel the tomatoes (opens in a new tab) and squeeze the garlic (opens in a new tab) out of its skins.

    • 5 min

  5. Step 5

    Grind the nuts and bread to a coarse crumb in a food processor (opens in a new tab) (or pound in a mortar), then add the pepper flesh, tomatoes (opens in a new tab), garlic (opens in a new tab), vinegar, paprika, chilli and salt. With the motor running, pour in the remaining oil to make a thick, slightly grainy sauce.

    Spices being ground in a mortar and pestle
    How it looks · Photo: https://kaboompics.com/ on Pexels

  6. Step 6

    Rest for 20 minutes, then taste and adjust salt and vinegar.

    About this dish

    Origin
    Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain · Well documentedMore food from Spain
    Dish
    Lunch · Dinner · Sauces · Dips & spreads
    Cooking method
    Roasted, Blended, Toasted
    Taste
    nutty, smoky, sweet, tangy, garlicky
    Diet
    Vegan · Dairy-free · Keto-style · Low-carb
    All labelsVegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Keto-style · Low-carb · DASH-style
    Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
    Good for
    Make-ahead · Freezer-friendly
    Cook more with
    Dried whole chillies · Tomato · Almonds · Garlic · Hazelnuts · Crusty bread / baguette
    Techniques
    Roasting · Toasting · Spice roasting (dry-roasting) · Wet grinding · Emulsification

    Allergens

    • Contains: Tree nutsfrom almonds, hazelnuts
    • Contains, can be adapted: Wheatfrom crusty bread / baguette
    • Contains, can be adapted: Glutenfrom crusty bread / baguette
    • May contain: Sesamefrom crusty bread / baguette
    • May contain: Sulphitesfrom wine vinegar

    Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

    Nutrition

    145 kcal per serving

    Calculated

    1 serving ≈ 46 g · recipe makes 10

    Where the energy comes from

    • Protein 6%
    • Carbohydrate 16%
    • Fat 78%
    Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
    NutrientPer servingPer 100 g
    Energy145 kcal316 kcal
    Protein2.3 g4.9 g
    Carbohydrate6 g12.9 g
    Net carbohydrate4.5 g9.7 g
    Sugars1.4 g3.1 g
    Added sugars0 g0 g
    Fibre1.5 g3.3 g
    Fat13.1 g28.6 g
    Saturated fat1.6 g3.4 g
    Trans fat——
    Cholesterol0 mg0 mg
    Sodium199 mg432 mg
    Salt equivalent0.5 g1.1 g
    Vitamins & minerals per serving
    Potassium
    168 mg
    Calcium
    26 mg
    Iron
    0.7 mg
    Magnesium
    22 mg
    Vitamin A (RAE)
    21 µg
    Vitamin C
    6 mg
    Vitamin D
    0 µg
    Vitamin B12
    0 µg
    Folate (DFE)
    17 µg

    How these numbers were made

    • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
    • Optional ingredients are not included: smoked paprika, red chilli flakes.
    • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
    • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

    Good to know

    Tips

    • Romesco should keep some texture from the nuts — don't blend it completely smooth.

    Common mistakes

    • Burning the nuts or the fried bread — any scorch makes the whole sauce bitter.

    Serve with

    • Grilled calçots or spring onions
    • Grilled fish, prawns or chicken
    • Roast potatoes and vegetables

    Storage

    • Refrigerate in a jar up to 5 days; freezes for 2 months.

    Variations

    • Salvitxada: A looser sauce from the same area served specifically with calçots, usually with more vinegar and oil.

    Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

    Recipe DNA

    How this dish is built

    Customise in Sauce & Drizzle

    Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

    What the dish is built around

    Main ingredient

    Used in steps 2, 3, 4, 5

    Make it milder, swap ingredients for your diet, change the batch size or thickness — the original stays as it is.

    Customise in Sauce & Drizzle

    Reviews & corrections

    Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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