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This simple recipe will teach you how to make romesco sauce in just 5 minutes! While some recipes blend up fresh nuts, we’re saving time by using almond butter. This ensures an ultra-smooth sauce, no matter what blender or food processor you have.
save this recipe!We’re big sauce people around here and strongly believe that no meal is complete without one.
And while I love ranch dressing as much as the next person, the world of sauces and condiments is so much bigger than the bottled stuff. Making your own sauces, whether it be a basic vinaigrette or a fresh tomato marinara, gives you so much flexibility in flavor and ingredients (and they just taste better).
This Is THE all-purpose sauce
- It’s PACKED with smoky flavor
- It’s easy to make (ready in 5 minutes)
- It’s fresh and nutrient-rich
Reader rating
Key Ingredients
Jump to the recipe card for the full quantities.
- Roasted Red Bell Pepper: Roasting peppers quickly and easily brings out the pepper’s natural sweetness. You can roast them in the oven or the air fryer or use ones from a jar.
- Ripe Tomatoes: I prefer to use Roma tomatoes because they are sweet and easy to find in stores. But really, any kind will work.
- Almond Butter: Traditional romesco uses whole almonds, but I prefer almond butter so that any type of blender can create a smooth sauce (whole almonds require a strong high-speed blender).
pro Tip
Almond butter can be expensive to buy, but making it at home is super easy and affordable.
What to serve romesco sauce with
Romesco sauce can be served with so many dishes. Here are a few of my favorite ways to serve it:
- Drizzled over veggies like these air fryer vegetables
- As a pasta sauce, like with zucchini noodles
- With a cheese platter – oh hi, cheese board
- As a dip for veggie chickpea fritters or on vegetable trays
5-Minute Romesco Sauce (With Almond Butter)
Ingredients
- 1 roasted red bell pepper
- 1 cup roma tomatoes, about 3 tomatoes
- ¼ cup olive oil, 60 mL
- 3 Tbsp almond butter, 48 g
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tsp lemon juice, 10 mL
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Blend: Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and blitz until smooth.
- Serve: Serve warm or cold with just about anything…crackers, veggies, pasta, whatever!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
Hi, What can be substituted for Almond Butter?
You could probably use a sunflower seed butter! Or pine nuts 🙂
So was the bell pepper roasted? The image just shows a raw pepper.
Yep, use a roasted red bell pepper! 😀
This was great. Served it warm with vegetable pasta. I’m finding it extremely difficult to use the bar to adjust servings. It’s hard to move at times, other times it moves to quickly. Maybe it’s because I’m old and have arthritis. Has anyone else had a problem with this?
Hi Anne! Thanks for pointing this out – I’ll definitely look into it. I’m happy you like the romesco sauce!
Hi, I cannot wait to make the sauce – sounds delicious. But I am stunned about interested buyers peeping into your fridge. Does the fridge come with the house? What people do that? 🙂
In the Netherlands it must be normal! Hahaha
The almond butter surprised me! A quick, easy and tasty sauce.
Right?! The almond butter works miracles here!
Recipe looks so easy! But what is the alternative to almond butter?
You could use another nut or seed butter (like sunflower seeds!)
Hello there, just wondering- roughly how king would you say this sauce will last in the fridge?
About 5 to 7 days!
Can this be frozen?
Yes! This romesco does well frozen 🙂
I loved your Romesco Sauce. It was easy and delicious. I served it over your Roasted Asparagus recipe which was also easy and delicious.
My questions: How to warm the sauce (microwave?) and how warm? Can it get too hot? Can I freeze the leftovers?
I’m going to try the zucchini noodles with the leftovers.
Love your site.
I like to warm this romesco in bursts in the microwave! Getting it too hot can cause the sauce to split so just do 15 or 30 seconds at a time until it’s warm 🙂 And it freezes well!
Looking forward to making this. I have a lot of tomato paste to use up. Could I substitute that for the Roma tomatoes? Or is fresh far better for this recipe?
Thanks so much!
I think it would work! 🙂