Category

Sauces & Dips

The part that makes the plate make sense. Everything from a chimichurri you'll remember to a hollandaise you'll stop fearing.

All ⏱Under 30 min ⏱Under 60 min 💪High Protein 🌾Gluten-free 🌶️Spicy 🥑Keto

Sort by

Gochujang Mayo (Korean Spicy Mayonnaise Sauce)

🇰🇷KoreaEasy

Sauces and Dips

Gochujang Mayo (Korean Spicy Mayonnaise Sauce)

Gochujang mayo is a Korean-inspired spicy condiment built on Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise, fermented gochujang chili paste, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and garlic. The mayo cools and rounds out the heat, the gochujang brings deep fermented umami, sesame oil signs the sauce as Korean. Whisks together in five minutes, lives in the fridge for a week, and works on Korean fried chicken, sweet potato fries, poke bowls, burgers, sushi, and as a sandwich spread. Serves about eight as a dipping sauce. The 30 minute rest in the fridge before serving is what separates a punchy mix from a balanced sauce.

5 min110 kcal8 serves

🌶️Spicy⚡Quick

★4.5

🇺🇸USAMedium

Sauces and Dips

Green Goddess Dressing

Green Goddess was invented at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco in 1923. The formula: mayonnaise, a serious amount of fresh herbs, tarragon, garlic, anchovy for depth, and lemon to hold it all together. The result is vivid green, herb-forward, and complex in a way no bottled version gets close to. Doubles as a dip, a sandwich spread, and a sauce for grilled fish or chicken. Makes in 10 minutes.

10 min120 kcal8 serves

🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

★4.9

🇫🇷FranceEasy

Sauces and Dips

Hollandaise Sauce

A warm, buttery emulsion of egg yolks, clarified butter, and lemon juice whisked over gentle heat until it holds its own weight on a spoon. Hollandaise is one of the five French mother sauces, and its reputation for being difficult is vastly overblown — the only real rule is keep the heat low. I make this every weekend for eggs Benedict and it takes me about twelve minutes from cold butter to finished sauce.

15 min180 kcal4 serves

⚡Quick🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free

★4.8

Homemade BBQ Sauce (Sweet, Smoky & Tangy)

🇺🇸USAMedium

Sauces and Dips

Homemade BBQ Sauce (Sweet, Smoky & Tangy)

Barbecue sauce is the foundation of American pit cooking — a condiment that in its classic Kansas City form balances four fundamental flavors: sweet (brown sugar and molasses), sour (apple cider vinegar), savory (Worcestershire sauce and garlic), and smoky (smoked paprika). Unlike most sauces, which are built by reducing a complex stock, BBQ sauce is assembled from pantry staples and then simmered together for 15 to 20 minutes until the flavors merge and the raw edge of the vinegar rounds out. The result is a thick, glossy, mahogany-coloured sauce that clings to ribs, glazes chicken, and tastes of concentrated American summer. The key adjustable levers: more brown sugar for sweetness, more vinegar for tang, more smoked paprika (or a small amount of liquid smoke) for smokiness, cayenne for heat. This recipe makes approximately 480 ml (2 cups) — enough for one full rack of ribs with extra for dipping.

25 min55 kcal16 serves

⚡Quick🌾Gluten-free🌶️Spicy

★4.5

🇮🇱IsraelEasy

Sauces and Dips

Hummus

Creamy homemade hummus from chickpeas, tahini, lemon, and garlic — blended until impossibly smooth. Ten minutes from can to bowl, and it beats every store-bought tub I have ever tried.

10 min170 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick🌾Gluten-free

★4.9

Italian Bagna Cauda (Piedmontese Hot Anchovy and Garlic Dip)

🇮🇹ItalyMedium

Sauces and Dips

Italian Bagna Cauda (Piedmontese Hot Anchovy and Garlic Dip)

Bagna cauda — Piedmontese dialect for 'hot bath' — is the ancient warm dip of olive oil, garlic, and anchovies that defines Northern Italian conviviality. Slowly melted into a single silky emulsion, kept warm at the centre of the table in a terracotta fujòt over a candle, surrounded by raw and cooked seasonal vegetables and crusty bread for dipping. Origins trace to medieval Piedmont and the Strada Salis (the salt road) that brought anchovies and salt from Provence and Nice into landlocked Piedmontese valleys, fueling a cuisine built on cured fish far from the sea. In 2005 the Asti Delegation of the Italian Academy of Cuisine officially registered the recipe with a notary in Costigliole d'Asti. Every November-December Asti celebrates Bagna Cauda Day. This domestic balanced version uses milk-poached garlic for elegance, salt-packed anchovies for depth, and a finishing knob of butter for silky texture. Active 25 minutes plus 15 minutes milk-poach. Yields about 300 ml, serves 6 as a centerpiece dip.

40 min350 kcal6 serves

🌾Gluten-free🥑Keto

★4.6

Italian Pesto al Limone (Ligurian Basil and Lemon Pesto)

🇮🇹ItalyEasy

Sauces and Dips

Italian Pesto al Limone (Ligurian Basil and Lemon Pesto)

Pesto al limone is the Ligurian variation of classic Pesto alla Genovese with the addition of lemon zest and juice — turning the herb-paste into a fresh citrus-herb sauce. The combination of fresh Genovese basil, toasted pine nuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano, garlic, lemon, and delicate Ligurian olive oil produces a bright emerald-green sauce with a floral-citrus lift that classical pesto lacks. Origins are the Liguria coastline (Cinque Terre, Portofino, Genoa region), home to Italy's finest basil DOP and world-class olive oils. Lemon is the key differentiator: the acid balances olive oil richness, brightens the basil, stabilizes the emerald colour longer than classical pesto, and turns the sauce into a versatile year-round condiment. A separate Procida-style lemon pesto exists from southern Italy (parsley + mint + walnuts, no basil), but this is the Ligurian school. Active 15 minutes including pine nut toasting. Yields about 250 ml, serves 6 as pasta sauce or condiment.

15 min210 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

★4.8

Italian Salsa Rossa (Piedmontese Bagnet Ross Tomato Sauce)

🇮🇹ItalyAdvanced

Sauces and Dips

Italian Salsa Rossa (Piedmontese Bagnet Ross Tomato Sauce)

Italian salsa rossa — known as bagnet ross in Piedmontese dialect — is the second obligatory condiment for bollito misto, the winter ceremony of mixed boiled meats from Northern Italy. It is the red sibling of the more famous salsa verde (bagnet verd): a slow-cooked purée of ripe tomatoes, yellow onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, balanced with a touch of sugar and red wine vinegar, finished with extra virgin olive oil. The traditional Nonna Titta version contains no bell pepper, no spices — pure vegetable depth, sweet and tangy, mildly hot from a pinch of peperoncino. The name 'salsa rubra' (Latin for red) was popularized in 1930s Italy when the Cirio company ran a contest under Mussolini's foreign-words ban to find an Italian name for ketchup — Rubra and Vesuvio won. Modern restaurants often use bagnet ross and salsa rubra interchangeably. Naturally vegan and gluten-free. Active 15 minutes plus 60 minutes simmer. Yields about 600 ml, serves 10 as condiment.

75 min120 kcal10 serves

🌾Gluten-free🌱Vegan

★4.7

Italian Salsa Tonnata (Piedmontese Tuna Sauce, Pellegrino Artusi 1891)

🇮🇹ItalyEasy

Sauces and Dips

Italian Salsa Tonnata (Piedmontese Tuna Sauce, Pellegrino Artusi 1891)

Salsa tonnata is the Piedmontese emulsion sauce of canned tuna, anchovies, capers, hard-boiled egg yolks, olive oil, and lemon juice — a creamy savory cream that defines the iconic vitello tonnato (cold sliced veal under tuna sauce). Origins go to 18th-19th century Piedmont as a way to use leftover meat; the modern form was codified by Pellegrino Artusi in his 1891 cookbook 'La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiar bene', where he added tuna and capers to an older anchovy-oil base. Before Artusi the dish was known as vitel tonné, sometimes mistakenly attributed to French origins via Savoy linguistic mix. By the 1980s vitello tonnato became a must-have on Italian restaurant menus. This classic Artusi version uses hard-boiled yolks rather than raw — safer and historically authentic. Beyond veal: tomato tonnato, egg tonnato, pasta salad, sandwiches, vegetable dressing. Active 20 minutes plus 1-2 hours rest. Yields about 350 ml, serves 8 as a sauce or dip.

20 min180 kcal8 serves

🌾Gluten-free🥑Keto

★4.4

Italian Salsa Verde (Piedmontese Bagnet Verd Green Sauce)

🇮🇹ItalyEasy

Sauces and Dips

Italian Salsa Verde (Piedmontese Bagnet Verd Green Sauce)

Italian salsa verde — known as bagnet verd in Piedmontese dialect — is the punchy raw green sauce of Northern Italy. Built on flat-leaf parsley, anchovies, capers, garlic, hard-boiled egg yolk, vinegar-soaked bread, and olive oil, it is the obligatory condiment for bollito misto (mixed boiled meats), the wintertime ceremony of Piedmont. The recipe traces back to the Vie del Sale, the ancient salt routes that connected Liguria's coast to Piedmont's inland valleys, bringing olive oil, salt, and anchovies into mountain kitchens. Bright, salty, sharp, herbaceous — designed to cut through the richness of long-cooked meat. Versatile far beyond bollito: spoon over grilled fish, roasted vegetables, soft cheese, hard-boiled eggs, or crostini. Active 20 minutes, plus 1-2 hours of resting at room temperature for flavours to integrate. Yields about 250 ml, serves 8 as condiment to a main course.

20 min180 kcal8 serves

⚡Quick

★4.7

🇱🇧LebanonMedium

Sauces and Dips

Labneh with Sizzled Tomatoes

Labneh is strained yogurt — drained overnight until it's thick, tangy, and spreadable. The tomatoes are the opposite: cooked fast in very hot oil with garlic and cumin until they blister and burst, then poured while still sizzling over the cold labneh. The contrast is the point. Cold and creamy against hot and jammy. You can buy labneh at most Middle Eastern grocery stores and save the overnight step, but making it yourself takes nothing except time.

30 min180 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

★4.7

🇱🇧LebanonMedium

Sauces and Dips

Muhammara

Muhammara comes from Aleppo, Syria, and the name is Arabic for 'reddened'. It's a roasted red pepper and walnut dip with a flavor unlike anything else in the mezze world: sweet from the peppers, tangy from pomegranate molasses, earthy from toasted walnuts, with a slow heat from Aleppo pepper. Breadcrumbs give it body and a slightly grainy texture that holds up on pita. The dip improves overnight — the flavors round out and the texture firms slightly. Unlike hummus, which can be polarising, muhammara tends to win over everyone who tries it.

20 min195 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌱Vegan⚡Quick

★4.9

Other categories

Keep browsing the archive — twelve doors into 529 recipes.

Dishes Seafood Salads Soups Dips Grains