Creole Sauce, or Sauce Creole, is the classic Creole tomato-based sauce made with the Holy Trinity (onions, bell peppers, and celery), lemon, garlic, and other customary South Louisiana seasonings and spices. Slowly simmered to create a robust, chunky yet smooth Creole Sauce that will elevate just about any dish to a Creole classic. Here’s Sweet Daddy D’s no-angst method to make this delicious sauce.
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Tips for Making a Great Sauce Creole
- Don't rush it! Many Creole Sauce recipes are described as quick and only cook the ingredients together for a few minutes. That’s fine and can produce a very good Sauce Creole, but I've found that investing a little more time can produce a luscious and interesting depth of flavor. The longer cooking time gives the individual ingredients a chance to mellow and meld their flavors into a larger, homogeneous flavor. The result is a richer sauce with more depth of flavor.
- Use all the ingredients! A great Creole Sauce is also a balanced flavor. Butter and sugar balance the acid qualities of the tomatoes and lemon. With a flavor foundation built upon the Trinity, garlic, and herbs, the umami flavors of Worcestershire sauce is the thread that ties it all together. A tip for making a great Sauce Creole? Don't leave out any ingredients!
Here's What You Need
Ingredient quantities can be found in the printable recipe card below.
Ingredient Notes
- Tomatoes: This recipe was developed using canned peeled whole tomatoes. You can also use canned diced or crushed tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes may be substituted for canned. Use any variety of tomatoes that you like, but make sure they are VERY ripe. They should still be peeled and deseeded first. If using fresh tomatoes, you may need to add a small bit of water, extra stock, or extra tomato sauce.
- The Trinity: This is the yellow onions, bell peppers, and celery. It's the foundational layer of flavor.
- Stock: It is better to use stock instead of water. For general purposes, chicken stock is always good. If making this sauce to accompany crawfish, try to use crawfish stock; if accompanying shrimp, try to use shrimp stock, to keep it purely vegetarian, use vegetable stock. You can also grab these commercial stocks from Amazon...it's actually what I use most of the time!
- Salt: Many commercial Creole seasonings contain large amounts of salt. I developed this recipe using Le Bon Papa Creole Seasoning, a no-salt, all-purpose Creole Seasoning. If you use a seasoning containing salt, taste the sauce before adding any salt. Other ingredients that may contain salt are butter, stock, and Worcestershire.
- Cayenne pepper: Cayenne pepper is great with tomato dishes if you like a little kick, but check out your Creole seasoning before you add too much. Lots of times the Creole seasoning can be pretty spicy on its own and may not need any extra oomph!
- Worcestershire Sauce: Although there is only a small amount of Worcestershire used in the recipe, it is an essential ingredient that adds an umami element to the recipe. You should not leave it out.
Equipment
You won't need any special equipment to make this recipe. All it takes is some prep equipment to perform your mise en place and a Heavy-bottomed Dutch Oven or large skillet.
Hints and Tips (FAQ)
We do make a roux in this recipe, but not a traditional roux. Instead of starting with a roux and cooking it to a nice brown hue, in this recipe, we add the flour to the mixture containing butter and cook it for only 2 or 3 minutes. While this will provide some thickening, we don't need the roux to provide any color, which comes from the tomatoes.
Leftover Creole Sauce can be stored in the fridge for 5 to 7 days in an airtight container. If you keep the sauce longer than that, store it in the freezer for up to 6 months in an airtight, freezer-proof container. Cool the sauce down before storing it within 2 hours of cooking. Defrost frozen Creole Sauce in the fridge overnight and reheat in a saucepan on the stovetop.
Typically, Creole Sauce is not spicy. This recipe, as written, may have a bit of spice depending on how much, if any, of the optional cayenne pepper you use. If you don't like heat, leave it out. If you like your Creole Sauce with a kick, use the Cayenne or add some jalapeno or habanero peppers to the mix.
Yes, you can make this Creole Sauce a few days ahead of time (no more than 7 days) and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Here's What You Do
First...you have a beer. No-angst cooking is the result of a proper start. Pop a top while you read the recipe all the way through. Gather your ingredients and tools and perform your mise en place, preparing the ingredients, tools, and cookware before you start cooking. You'll have most of the work out of the way and cooking will be more fun.
Mise en place
Ingredient Prep
This is a simple preparation and requires no special skills.
- Roughly chop the yellow onions, bell peppers, and celery and place them in a small bowl.
- Slice the green onions and place them in a small bowl.
- Place the canned tomatoes in a bowl and crush if using whole tomatoes.
- Rough chop the garlic.
- Zest the lemon, then slice half the lemon and squeeze the remaining half.
- Combine the Herb and Spice Blend in a small prep bowl.
- Measure all the remaining ingredients.
Start with the vegetables
What happens in this step? We start with a foundation built with the Trinity and aromatics.
- In a heavy Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. When bubbly, add the Trinity (yellow onions, bell pepper, and celery) and sauté until it starts to caramelize, which takes about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Next, add the aromatics (garlic and about half of the Herb and Spice Blend without the bay leaves) and about ⅔ of the green onions. Mix well and sauté until you get the super fragrance of the garlic. This only takes about 2 minutes. Add the AP flour and stir thoroughly, cooking it for about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir constantly so it does not stick.
Add the Liquids
What happens in this step? Upon the foundational layer, we add tomatoes and more seasoning to create the sauce.
- The whole tomatoes with their juice go in next. Crush each tomato by hand as you add them to the Dutch oven. Add the tomato sauce, lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon slices. Increase the heat and add about ¾ cup of the stock (reserve the remaining stock).
- Mix well. Bring the sauce to a heavy simmer, then reduce the heat to medium and maintain a slow simmer. Add half the remaining Herb and Spice Blend, both bay leaves, the sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir thoroughly.
Lagniappe Tip: Diced or crushed tomatoes can be used in place of whole tomatoes. Make sure to use any liquid in the can.
Slow Simmer Time
What happens in this step? This is where the magic works. A slow simmer will coax the individual flavors to soften and meld into a cohesive, uniquely flavored sauce.
- Maintain the low simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered, stirring often while it thickens. After 20 minutes, place the cover on the Dutch oven and turn the heat to very low. Simmer for another 30 to 45 minutes, stirring often so it does not stick.
- After 30 minutes, taste for seasoning and add more if needed. When the sauce reaches the consistency you like, turn off the heat and let it sit for about 15 minutes uncovered. Remove the bay leaves and lemon slices, and serve immediately.
Lagniappe Tip: Add some reserved stock should the sauce become too thick while simmering.
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Serving Suggestions
- This sauce is fabulous when served simply over rice.
- Creole Sauce shines over fried or baked fish, wild game such as rabbit, stuffed peppers, omelets, eggs, and even jambalaya.
- Add this sauce as an ingredient with various proteins like shrimp, crawfish, and chicken. Serve these "Creoles" over rice with a green salad and crispy French bread.
The possibilities are endless...let me hear how you serve it in the comments below.
Here are some other great Creole Recipes from Sweet Daddy D
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REVISION NOTICE
Recipe
Sauce Creole
Here's What You Need
- 4 tablespoons Butter
- 1 medium Yellow Onions diced
- ½ Green Peppers diced
- 2 stalks Celery diced
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 bunch green onions
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 15 ounce Whole Tomatoes in juice
- ¼ cup Tomato Sauce
- Juice of ½ Lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tablespoons White Sugar
- 1 cup stock See Notes
Herb and Spice Blend
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Basil
- ½ teaspoon Thyme
- 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Here's What You Do
- Chop and measure all ingredients into small prep bowls. In preparing the lemon, start by zesting the lemon. Slice the lemon in half, juice one half and slice the other half into 3 or 4 slices.
- In a heavy Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high heat until bubbling; add the trinity (yellow onions, bell peppers, and celery) and sauté for about 8 to 12 minutes until starting to caramelize.
- Add the garlic and about half of the Herb and Spice Blend (not the bay leaves yet) and about ⅔ of the green onions. Mix well and sauté until aromatic - about 2 minutes.
- Mix in the flour and stir thoroughly. Cook about 2 to 3 minutes stirring constantly so it does not stick.
- Add the tomatoes (and the juice), crushing each by hand as you add them. Add the tomato sauce and mix well. Bring to a simmer, add about half of the remaining Herb and Spice Blend, both bay leaves, the sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well.
- Add in the lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon slices and ¾ cup of the stock (reserve the remaining stock). Mix well and bring back to a heavy simmer; lower the heat to a slight simmer and cook for 20 minutes uncovered, stirring often while it thickens.
- After 20 minutes, cover the Dutch oven and continue to cook on low for another 30 minutes, stirring often so it does not stick. We are looking for a thick, smooth (but chunky) sauce, so remove the cover or leave the cover on, depending on how the thickening is coming along. If it gets too thick, add some of the reserved stock, if it's not thick enough simmer with the cover off.
- At this point taste for seasoning.
- Remove the bay leaves and lemon slices and serve over rice or whatever you are serving, sprinkled with green onions on top.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Estimate
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Louisiana is a wonderful place where the rich cultural heritage enriches and entertains. I'm Dave Howson, aka Sweet Daddy D. I'm glad you found my website and I look forward to exploring the cultural mosaic of Louisiana with you…
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Roger
Ingredients include juice of 1/2 lemon and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest. Instructions show to add lemon juice and lemon slices (step 5), and to remove lemon slices (step 8), and there is no mention of lemon zest. Please clarify what is required.
Sweet Daddy D
Hey, Roger. I see that it is a little confusing the way I have written it. Here’s what you do: when you prep the lemon, first zest the lemon, then slice it in half, juice one half and slice the other half. Add all of those-zest, juice and slices in Step 5. Then later, remove the slices before you serve (step 8).
I hope this clarifies it; I will correct the instructions for clarity as soon as I can. Thanks for calling that out.