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Easy One Pot Creole Sauce Recipe – the best easy Creole sauce for Mofongo, jerk chicken, creole stews, and more! This creole sauce is bursting with rich, delicious flavor and is so good you’ll want to lick the pot!
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This post was sponsored by Princess Cruises. All opinions are 100% my own.
I was recently invited to tour the Caribbean with Princess Cruises on board the Caribbean Princess and try out the new Ocean Medallion program on ship – this revolutionary charm makes it easier than ever to explore the world and take in new cuisine – like I did, feasting on delicious authentic Dominican Creole sauce!
Easy One Pot Creole Sauce
Easy One Pot Creole Sauce this hearty and delicious creole sauce is amazing over meats, fish, and vegetables or with rice and beans.
This creole sauce was inspired by the amazingly rich and delicious sauces I’ve sampled in visiting the Caribbean.
I tried tweaking a couple creole sauces to find something as rich and delicious as the sauces I sampled in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic – and this recipe is out of this world delicious.
This sauce centers around a rich creamy base from the addition of butter – as well as a fresh kick from the creole “trinity” (onions, bell peppers, and celery) – as well as plenty of garlic.
This sauce is a great addition to keto or low carb dishes (watch how much you serve if you are watching your macros as the onions and peppers can add to carbohydrates quickly) – but it adds a ton of flavor without any extra sugars!
I hope you love this creole sauce recipe as much as I do!
What is Creole Sauce
Creole sauce, which is also sometimes called red gravy or sauce piquant, is a staple of Creole dishes across America’s bayou, and the Caribbean – it is great over meats and vegetables, as a stew for rice, beans, mofongo, or other starchy dishes.
Creole sauce is easy to make with simple ingredients – but the flavor is out of this world delicious – and it gets even better as it rests and reduces.
Creole sauce comes together from lots of different cuisines – and helps to marry a lot of the regional cuisines that shape Creole food.
Many creole dishes are based on flavors developed from the French colonial role in the developing Caribbean – but Creole also owes much of it’s deep, rich flavors to Indian and Spanish influence, as well as rich traditional African techniques and ingredients brought to the Caribbean and America’s south through the slave trades.
Creole sauce is nuanced and well balanced – and while rustic and focused on simple ingredients, creole sauce is as refined as any sauce you’d expect from a dish heavily influenced by french cuisine.
Tomato Creole Sauce Ingredients
- Butter (1 tablespoon + 2 tablespoons): The butter adds richness and a smooth, velvety texture to the sauce. It also helps to sauté the vegetables, bringing out their flavors, and adds a touch of creaminess at the end.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil (1 tablespoon): Olive oil complements the butter in sautéing the garlic and vegetables. It adds a subtle fruitiness to the sauce and helps blend the flavors together.
- Garlic, Minced (1 large clove): Garlic provides a robust, savory flavor and aromatic depth to the sauce, enhancing the overall taste and giving it a classic Creole kick.
- Onions, Chopped (¼ cup): Onions add a sweet and slightly pungent flavor to the sauce, forming a flavorful base when sautéed. They help to balance the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Green Bell Pepper, Chopped (¼ cup): Green bell peppers contribute a fresh, slightly bitter flavor that is essential in Creole cuisine. They also add a bit of crunch and color to the sauce.
- Yellow or Red Bell Pepper, Chopped (¼ cup): Yellow or red bell peppers provide a sweeter, milder flavor compared to green peppers, adding a layer of sweetness and vibrant color to the sauce.
- Celery, Chopped (½ cup): Celery adds a subtle, earthy flavor and slight bitterness that balances the richness of the other ingredients. It’s a key component of the “holy trinity” in Creole cooking (onion, bell pepper, and celery).
- Paprika (½ teaspoon): Paprika adds a mild, sweet flavor and a touch of smokiness, along with a vibrant red color that deepens the hue of the sauce.
- Creole Seasoning (1 ½ teaspoons): Creole seasoning is a blend of spices that typically includes garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and other herbs. It provides the bold, spicy, and savory flavors characteristic of Creole cuisine.
- Dried Leaf Thyme (½ teaspoon): Thyme adds a subtle, earthy, and slightly minty flavor that complements the other herbs and spices, enhancing the overall complexity of the sauce.
- Dried Leaf Oregano (½ teaspoon): Oregano contributes a slightly bitter, peppery flavor with a hint of sweetness, balancing the richness of the sauce.
- Dried Leaf Basil (½ teaspoon): Basil adds a sweet, slightly peppery flavor with a touch of anise, bringing freshness to the sauce and complementing the tomatoes.
- Worcestershire Sauce (1 teaspoon): Worcestershire sauce provides a tangy, umami-rich flavor with hints of vinegar, molasses, and anchovies, adding depth and complexity to the sauce.
- Hot Pepper Sauce (¼ teaspoon): Hot pepper sauce adds a spicy kick, enhancing the heat and brightening the flavor of the sauce without overwhelming the other ingredients.
- Freshly Ground Pepper (¼ teaspoon): Freshly ground pepper adds a sharp, pungent spice that complements the other seasonings and gives the sauce a slight heat.
- Diced Tomatoes with Juice (1 can, 14.5 ounces): Diced tomatoes form the base of the sauce, providing acidity, sweetness, and a rich tomato flavor that melds with the other ingredients.
- Chicken Stock (1 can, approximately 1 2/3 cups): Chicken stock adds savory depth and richness to the sauce, enhancing the flavor and helping to thin the sauce to the desired consistency. Vegetable stock can be used for a vegetarian version.
- Green Onions, Sliced (4 green onions): Green onions add a mild, fresh onion flavor with a slight sweetness, and their vibrant green color brightens up the sauce.
- Tomato Paste (1 heaping tablespoon): Tomato paste adds concentrated tomato flavor and richness, thickening the sauce and giving it a deep, savory taste.
How to Make Creole Sauce
- Cook vegetables. Heat butter and oil over medium-low heat in a medium saucepan. Add chopped garlic, onions, peppers, and celery. Sauté the vegetables for about 5 to 7 minutes, until just tender.
- Make sauce. Meanwhile, combine the paprika, Creole seasoning, thyme, oregano, basil, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and ground pepper in a small cup. Stir tomatoes into the vegetables then add the seasoning mixture. Sauté for 1 minute longer. Add chicken or vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the sliced green onions.
- Reduce & thicken. Continue boiling, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Most of the liquid will cook away. Stir in the tomato paste until well blended into the sauce. Remove from heat and stir in the 2 tablespoons butter.
- Enjoy! Serve with fish, seafood, chicken, or other meat.
Creole Sauce Recipe Tips
- Watch Salt Content. Since this creole sauce tastes even better when reducing, it is absolutely essential to use butter without added salt, low sodium chicken stock, and preferably low sodium cajun seasoning.
- Make ahead of time. For best results, I like my cajun sauce to sit for at least two hours before serving for the flavors to really come together – but it’s even better if made a night before.
What to Serve with Creole Sauce:
Creole sauce is an incredibly versatile addition to any meal – it is BURSTING with flavor, and has a bit of a stew-like consistency, making it great over rice or cauliflower rice, or with chicken, shrimp, or steak.
While this spicy and savory creole sauce is a big part of my mofongo recipe, it is great over just about any meat or vegetable you’d like to add a kick to!
Some of my favorite dishes to serve with this creole sauce are below:
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Easy One Pot Creole Sauce Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- ¼ cup onions, chopped, about 1/2 medium onion
- ¼ cup green bell pepper, chopped
- ¼ cup yellow or red bell pepper, chopped
- ½ cup celery, chopped
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons Creole seasoning
- ½ teaspoon dried leaf thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried leaf oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried leaf basil
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 can, 14.5 ounces each diced tomatoes with juice
- 1 can, approximately 1 2/3 cups chicken stock ?(or vegetable stock)
- 4 green onions, sliced, with most of the green
- 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Heat butter and oil over medium-low heat in a medium saucepan.
- Add chopped garlic, onions, peppers, and celery. Sauté the vegetables for about 5 to 7 minutes, until just tender.
- Meanwhile, combine the paprika, Creole seasoning, thyme, oregano, basil, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and ground pepper in a small cup.
- Stir tomatoes into the vegetables then add the seasoning mixture. Sauté for 1 minute longer.
- Add chicken or vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the sliced green onions.
- Continue boiling, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Most of the liquid will cook away.
- Stir in the tomato paste until well blended into the sauce.
- Remove from heat and stir in the 2 tablespoons butter.
- Serve with fish, seafood, chicken, or other meat.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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