Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This roasted red pepper sauce will be your new favorite weeknight sauce to jazz up your meal! With only about 5 minutes of hands-on cooking time, it is a quick and easy sauce anyone can make!

Making Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Perhaps the best thing (besides the fact that it is delicious!) about this sauce is that it is so easy to make.

All you need to do is roast and peel the red peppers.

Red peppers after roasting

Then, throw the peppers into a food processor with the other ingredients. Blend and voila! Roasted red pepper sauce!

Peppers with other ingredients

Serving Suggestions

Fish or Chicken

Try spooning this delicious roasted red pepper sauce over baked or broiled fish or chicken. I think this sauce tastes best with mild fish such as cod, tilapia or whitefish.

Serve this with a side of vegetables to complete your meal.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce served over baked cod with a side of spaghetti squash

Pasta or Other Grain

This sauce is a delicious over your favorite pasta. It is a great way to sneak some veggies into Italian night!

You could also serve this sauce over other healthy whole grains such as brown or wild rice, couscous, bulgur or quinoa.

Red Pepper Sauce over pasta (my favorite!)

Vegetables

Serve this sauce with your favorite veggies to add delicious flavor without much salt! Try potatoes, asparagus, eggplant, cauliflower, parsnips, squash or zucchini.

Eggs

This sauce is an amazing way to elevate your eggs. Try with scrambled eggs or as a topping for omelets.

Flatbread Pizza or Crostini

Use this red pepper sauce in place of pizza sauce on flatbread or English muffin pizzas. Or, spread on toasted baguette slices with a sprinkle of cheese for a fancy appetizer!

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce vs. Tomato Sauce

Low Sodium

This roasted red pepper sauce is a tasty low sodium sauce. Making it an excellent option for people people with kidney disease, kidney stones, high blood pressure, liver or heart disease.

At only 72mg of sodium per 1/4 cup, it has about 1/3 of the sodium of jarred pasta, alfredo and most other sauces.

Remember that you can always make your own tomato sauce at home to keep it low sodium!

Low Oxalate

Although not everyone with kidney stones needs to limit oxalate, some people do. Always remember that healthy eating for kidney stones is much more than monitoring how much oxalate you eat.

Tomato sauce has about 60% more oxalate compared to this roasted red pepper sauce.

Low Potassium

This red pepper sauce has about half of the potassium in traditional tomato sauce. Some people with kidney disease need to avoid eating too much potassium. Swapping this sauce for tomato sauce in spaghetti or pizza can help cut back how much potassium you eat.

Happy Eating!

Melanie

Roasted red pepper sauce in white bowl garnished with fresh basil leaves
Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Flavorful, garlicky roasted red pepper sauce. Perfect for pasta, fish, chicken or vegetables!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Condiment
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 8 1/4 cup
Calories: 65kcal

Ingredients

  • 3 large red bell peppers
  • 5 tbsp Parmesan cheese shredded
  • 12 leaves fresh basil
  • 2 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1/2 lemon juiced (or more to taste)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp red wine vinegar (or more to taste)

Instructions

  • Slice peppers in half lengthwise and remove stem and seeds. Place on baking sheet and bake at 400'F for 30 minutes. Rotating pan halfway through baking.
  • Let peppers cool a few minutes. Peel the skin off peppers. The skin should be slightly charred and come off easily. If not, roast them for a few more minutes. It is okay if you don't get all of the skin off!
  • Combine peeled & roasted peppers with remaining ingredients in a food processor. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Serve immediately! You may want to heat the sauce on the stove or microwave.

Notes

Nutrition Facts (per 1/4 cup): 65 calories, 4.5g fat, 1g saturated fat, 3mg cholesterol, 72mg sodium, 5g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 0g added sugar, 2g protein, 42mg calcium, 113mg potassium, 37mg phosphorus, 4mg oxalate

40 thoughts on “Roasted Red Pepper Sauce”

    1. Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, FAND

      I also love spicy food!! This sauce DEFINITELY isn’t spicy – but you could absolutely add some sriracha and jalapeno to give it a kick!

  1. I don’t use the Parmesan but I do add slivered almonds so as to get a small serving of healthy nuts. And I add a few red chili flakes to make it a bit spicy. It’s perfect on toast!

  2. I’m making this tomorrow night as a sauce for ravioli accompanied by Veal Parmesan and sauteed spinach. Our family is free of kidney disease & stones, but I’d like to keep it that way by always cooking healthy. Thanks for this great recipe!

      1. 5 stars
        I have End Stage Renal Disease, so I really need to pay close attention to my diet. This sauce makes me all kinds of happy! I’ve used it for spaghetti and as a pizza sauce. Next is kidney friendly lasagna!

  3. Hi Emily:
    Is the cheese essential for this recipe? I’m allergic to casein so can’t have cheese.
    Thx.
    MC

    1. Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, CSG

      I’ve never made it without the cheese, but I’d imagine it would come out just fine. You might want to sub some nutritional yeast in for the parmesan to add a little of that “umami flavor” to the sauce – but not necessary!

      1. I have made a similar red pepper sauce in the past without the Parmesan and it is very tasty. I freeze it in ice cube trays so is easy for a single serving option if everyone else in the family is have a tomato based pasta sauce. At serving time I add a little grated cheese then which adds a nice garnish and makes me feel spoiled!

    2. My husband has ckd n had high potassium. I am at a lost of how or what to cook anymore. He also has diabetes. I am so overwhelmed with meals. Can u help

      1. Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, FAND

        Hi Betty! This article about diabetes and CKD and this one about potassium should help! Ultimately, EVERYONE with CKD should be working with a dietitian who specializes in kidney disease. I have a list of dietitians who do here.

  4. Melanie,
    Have been looking for something like this for so long. I have both Cardiac disease (by pass surgery, stents, etc., etc). My wife was Italian, and you know, “if it doesn’t have tomatos it’s not Italian”!! I just saw this recipe and cannot wait to try it. Pizza. pasta, chicken, etc. I will try them all. My local store has several low sodium cheeses so I will do my best to make the most tasty low sodium/low potassium meal I can. Is a cauliflour crust much better than a regular crust??
    Thanks

    1. Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, CSG

      I’m glad you are excited to try it! Let us know what you think. All cauliflower crusts I’ve seen are PACKKKKKED with sodium. I’d recommend making your own whole wheat pizza crust – here is a recipe!

  5. Can homemade pesto/ olive oil be a healthy replacement as a base sauce for pizza? I have spinach and mushrooms added, easy cheese. Thanks!

    1. Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, CSG

      I love this idea! Some commercial pesto can be high in sodium – but make it yourself to control that sodium. Love all those veggies!

  6. 5 stars
    This is my go to recipe for roasted red peppers. For a mellow garlic flavor I roast the garlic in aluminum foil with the peppers. I also replace the wine with smoked paprika. Devine on pizza, pasta, chicken or seafood.

    1. Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, CSG

      AH! YAY! I’m so glad you love this sauce so much. I agree it is quite tasty, as super versatile 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing!

    1. Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, CSG

      Glad you liked it! I might up the amount of peppers in the sauce next time to thicken it up a bit.

  7. Mary Jane Plemons

    I have some jarred roasted red peppers. I’m thinking I can probably use them in this recipe. I have only dried basil, but that should present no problem. We’ll give this a try at our house. Thank you!

    1. Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, CSG

      Absolutely! Let us know how it goes. Double check the sodium in those jarred bell peppers. I’ve found some brands are surprisingly low sodium, and others are quite high!

    1. Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, CSG

      Nearly all foods have a little potassium in them (except for fats/oils!). Most of the potassium is coming from the bell peppers and cheese in this particular recipe!

  8. Hi from Australia. Thank-young for this great sounding lie it was made for me recipe.
    Thank-you for the nutritional list. However I would like to know where the 70 grams of sodium comes from is this from the Parmesan cheese?
    Many grateful thanks for your recipe.
    Cherie.

  9. Hi from Australia, recently diagnosed with CKD from my 37 year journey with type 1 diabetes. Iam trying so hard now to find alternatives for things zImno longer have. .

    1. Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, CSG

      Hello! I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis. But, hope you find my site helpful in your journey! Know that a renal diet is VERY individualized to your labs and stage of CKD. This article might help you figure out where to start!

  10. I have Stage 4 CKD. I was looking for a replacement to tomato sauce for homemade flatbread pizza. I will definitely try this red pepper sauce. Thanks!

    1. Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, CSG

      Woo hoo! I’ve actually never personally tried it on pizza, but a few people have told me it is great on pizza. Let me know what you think!

  11. Nicole Kingsbury-Ganz

    5 stars
    This is delicious. My husband has just been diagnosed with kidney disease and I was looking for flavorful recipes. This fit the bill. Even with our palettes being used to a high sodium diet, we really enjoyed this sauce.

    1. Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, CSG

      Woo hoo! Thank you so much for sharing Nicole. It makes my day that you and your husband enjoyed it!

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