Easy Creole Sauce Recipe (GF)

Jump to Recipe

I am all about easy homemade sauces, like this Easy Creole Sauce recipe which requires minimal effort and minimal prep, but still allows me wow friends and family with a zesty homemade sauce that is full of flavor. Yeap, this recipe embodies the best of the best about lazy cooking.

This classic Southern Creole Tomato Sauce is made with a few everyday affordable ingredients and comes together in under 25 minutes. Try it once and you will always want to have it on hand to use for whipping up lunch and dinner for like ever and ever and ever.

It goes great over pasta or Cajun Shrimp, served alongside some classic red beans and rice. It’s also great over all sorts of meats and veggies. I have even had it as a sandwich spread along with some flaked Air Fryer Salmon Fillets. #sogood

Why You Will Love This

• It is easy to make form everyday pantry staples.
• It is great for meal prep.
• It can be doubled or tripled to feed a crowd.
• It is great for freezing for quick weeknight suppers
• Great way to use up leftover tomatoes.
• Suitable for Gluten free diets.

What Is Creole Sauce

Creole sauce, along with its various other names (aka red gravy, creole tomato sauce, and sauce piquant) is a staple in Creole cuisine, traditional southern food recipes, as well as Caribbean cuisine.

It really is super simple to make. It is basically a fragrant and spiced tomato sauce that contains the holy trinity of creole cooking => celery, bell peppers, and onions, along with a variety of seasoning and spices.

P.S. if you are interested – Creole Cuisine, which originated in Louisiana (thanks y’all!) is my kind of cooking as it is a mish-mash of African, Amerindian, French, Haitian, Spanish and traditional southern cooking. This means aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the fingerlicking flavors and then some.

Ingredient Notes

• Oil – Use canola oil or any oil you like. 
• Veggies – You can use white or red onion, celery sticks and bell peppers of any colour.
• Tomatoes – You can start with juicy fresh tomatoes of you have these or you can grab some canned tomatoes from your pantry staples and use those. Use plain unflavored tomatoes as you add flavor with the seasonings.
• Creole seasoning – use homemade creole seasoning or a store bought one. Choose a brand with the heat level that you like.
• Flavourings – This sauce gets it some of its great taste from garlic, fresh lemon juice, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Play around with the amounts you add in to your taste.
• Broth – This recipe uses vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian, but you can certainly substitute in some chicken broth.
• Butter –  Use salted or unsalted butter. Just adapt the amount of salt you add in.

How To Make Sauce Creole Very Easily

Get the complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and peppers and saute for about 5 minutes until soft.
2. Mix the garlic, red peppers, creole seasoning, and cayenne pepper and cook for about 30 seconds and stir until fragrant.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, stock, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato purée, and butter. Allow to boil, then simmer, with the lid ajar, for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauce has thickened (feel free to simmer for a further 5 or so minutes if you want your sauce to reduce more).
4. Switch off the heat and serve as is. If you prefer a smooth sauce, then puree with an immersion blender.
5. Serve on top of a bed of rice.

Recipe Tips

• Use a sharp knife to dice the veggies small so that they cook quickly.
• I love blitzing up this sauce and using it to add some classic southern flavor to lasagnas, veggie meatballs, and regular meatballs.
• I have kept this vegan by using vegan butter, but feel free to use regular butter if not vegan.
• You can use fire-roasted tomatoes if you prefer extra flavor in this.

Delicious Variations

This recipe is as good as is, but you can easily mix and match herbs, spices, and other ingredients to suit your taste.  They don’t have to be creole, just use what you like.

• Add herbs – Add things like basil, oregano, bay leaf and cilantro. 
• Use yellow or orange tomatoes – Adds a fun splash of color. 
• Add in other veggies – Diced eggplant, yellow squash, or zucchini. 
• Up the heat – add more red pepper flakes, jalapenos or even some chipotle to taste

How To Adjust The Heat/Hotness Level To Your Sauce

• The sauce recipe gets its heat from the Creole Seasoning. So if you have a hot seasoning, add about half the required amount and adjust the next time.
• If you don’t want much heat, or none at all, you can make your own homemade Creole seasoning and adjust the amount of chili or remove it altogether from the seasoning.
• When I make this sauce for guests or for the kids, I only use about a half to two-thirds of the creole seasoning required.

Storage

This is a great recipe that is perfect for meal prep. Whip up a batch or two of this sauce and store it in airtight jars inside the fridge to use throughout the week.

• Prep Ahead – This can can be cooked up to a few days in advance and reheated. 
• Store – Store the cooled sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. 
• Freeze – Follow the handy tips below for how to freeze this. Transfer cooled into freezer bags. Squeeze out all the extra air and seal the bags. Label the bags and then lay them flat in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• To make reheating easier, freeze in the right portion sizes that you need for the future.
• Thaw – Remove from the freezer the night before needed and let it thaw in the fridge.

Serving Suggestions

• Cajun Shrimp.
• Air Fryer Chicken Breast.
• Instant Pot Chicken Breast.
• Air Fryer Salmon.
• Instant Pot Rice. <= my favorite

More Creole and Southern Recipes

• Creole Seasoning.
• Air Fryer Cajun Fish Fillet.
• Red Potato Salad.
• Cajun Shrimp Salad.
• Instant Pot Red Beans And Rice.
• Yellow Squash Casserole.
• Grape Salad.
• Shrimp Creole.
• Salmon Croquettes.

Weight Watchers Points

One serving of this homemade tomato sauce contains 4 Blue Plan SmartPoints.

Thank you for reading my Homemade Creole Sauce Recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue dreaming up recipes, traditional African recipes, African fusion recipes, Sierra Leone recipes, travel plans and much more for you. Thanks for supporting Recipes from a Pantry,  food blog

Get The Creole Sauce Recipe