Paige Harris Hints of brown sugar, cinnamon & cayenne put a fall-spin on a versatile spicy pumpkin sauce, marinade, or delicious drizzle.
So I don’t know if you’ve noticed at all, but I really like pumpkin. I know. You’re shocked. I can tell even from here.
Everyone else is going head-over-heels for baked goods stuffed with the good orange stuff (even me). But why not give your sweet tooth a rest and try something savory for a change?
Enter, Pumpkin Sriracha Sauce.
If I’m being honest, I can’t take full credit for this amazing idea. Recently I helped my mom move my baby sister out to Drexel for her first year of college. And yes, that does make me feel old, thank you. The plan was to make the trek the day before and stay in a hotel. That way, we would only have around a half-hour to drive in the morning. And so we did. After six hours of driving, a minor car emergency, and a few break-downs, we were all ready to get some food and chillax for the night.
We left our hotel craving burgers, and burgers we got. But not before I spotted a Sriracha Pumpkin Wings appetizer on the menu. When the waiter came over, I had to ask ask about them. He told me that they were as amazing as they sounded and offered to get the recipe for me.
I thought he was kidding, but to my wonderful surprise, he wasn’t!
I shoved the piece of paper in my wallet and didn’t think anything more of it. Only when I got home did I realize that the recipe he gave me was for a half-gallon of the stuff!
Now don’t get me wrong, I love Sriracha, but when a recipe calls for 5 cups of the stuff, my taste buds run away and hide in fear.
So instead I scaled it back to a yield of approximately 2 cups of sauce total – the perfect amount for use in two or so recipes.
The night I made this sauce, I used it as a topping to some Local & Grass-Fed Beef Burgers along with a sprinkle of feta cheese and a handful of crisp spinach. I also drizzled it all over some roasted potato wedges, but they didn’t make the picture. 😉
And though it was good straight out of the bowl, I have to say it improved a TON in the fridge overnight. The flavors were more blended and whole, and the consistency was a LOT thicker.
So if you’re looking for a way to incorporate pumpkin into yet another meal, whip up a batch of this sauce and let the creative juices start flowing! I want to see how YOU can make this sauce your own! (Or just follow along with one of my recipes. There’s nothing wrong with that, either 😉 ).
Pumpkin Sriracha Sauce
Hints of brown sugar, cinnamon & cayenne put a fall-spin on a versatile sauce and delicious marinade.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cup sriracha
- 1/4 cup pumpkin purée NOT pie filling
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 Tbsp + 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar light or dark
- 2 Tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice* see notes
Instructions
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Melt the butter over medium heat in a small pot on the stove.
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While butter is melting, add the rest of the sauce ingredients to a bowl and mix until well incorporated.
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Once the butter has melted, drizzle it into the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined.
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Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 14 days. I’ve found that chilling the sauce BEFORE using it gave it a much better consistency, but it also tasted delicious right after making (albeit a bit thinner!).
Recipe Notes
* If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, 1 tsp ground cloves, and 1 tsp ground ginger.