30 Popular Sauces From Around The World

It can be easy to stick to your favorite basic sauces for dipping, spreading, dolloping, and drizzling. In fact, if you're from the United States, we can safely assume that you have ketchup, mayonnaise, tomato sauce, and hot sauce in your refrigerator or pantry right now. And while it's nice to stick with tried-and-true reliables, it never hurts to venture outside of your comfort zone. Not only are there endless variations on classics just waiting to tantalize your taste buds, but also new flavors that you may have never thought to pair together. Variety is the spice of life and sauce is one way to add diversity to your palate. Venture out of your comfort zone and try some of the popular sauces from around the world. 

From spicy red pepper pasta sauce to umami soy dipping sauce, the options are endless. Even when you peer into a select category like gravy or chutney, each culture does it differently. The best way to expand your horizons and flex your culinary creativity is to explore and test ingredients, seasonings, herbs, and sauces you've never had the pleasure of tasting. It is, however, important to understand the flavor profile you're getting yourself into before you pair a new sauce with food, so we've listed out the most popular sauces from around the world that you need to try at least once. Let's get tasting.

Who doesn't love to indulge in a little pasta Alfredo every once and a while? This Italian cheese sauce is nothing short of decedent. Typically, an easy Alfredo sauce is made with parmesan cheese, cream, garlic, butter, salt, and pepper. The ingredients are whisked together in a hot pan until the cheese and butter are melted, and the sauce begins to thicken. Sometimes flour is added as a thickening agent and fresh parsley for garnish. Beyond pasta, Alfredo sauce can be used for dipping or as a sandwich spread.

This Cantonese sauce is loaded with salty and umami flavors. Hoisin is commonly used alongside Peking duck, giving it its alternative name, "Peking sauce." The sauce is thick, salty, tangy, and slightly sweet, with rich undertones. A classic hoisin sauce recipe is made with black bean paste, soy sauce, brown sugar, fish sauce, chili paste, prunes, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and plenty of herbs, spices, and aromatics. Use it in a stir fry, or pair it with fish or meat.

If you've never tried chimichurri, then you're missing out. It's an herb and oil-based sauce from South America. A typical fresh chimichurri sauce is made with minced cilantro and parsley, olive oil, hot pepper flakes, vinegar, salt and pepper, and aromatics like shallots and garlic. The ingredients are mixed together and drizzled over meat, fish, or vegetable kabobs. You can even use this tangy, spicy, refreshing, and intensely aromatic sauce over grains.

Let's turn the heat up a notch or two with harissa, a popular North African chili paste. Harissa is a spicy sauce made with roasted red peppers and Baklouti peppers, along with herbs, spices, and aromatics. Olive oil is added to the aromatic blend to give it depth. Harrisa is gaining popularity in the United States and can be paired with roasted vegetables, burgers, hummus, sandwiches, and meats. If you're not sure where to start, try a harissa beef pot roast recipe.

What is sambal, really? This sauce has many flavorful variations, but at its core, it's an Indonesian hot chili paste. You may have seen sambal oelek in the grocery store, or Asian market, which is a sambal condiment that is available around the world. It's made by crushing a variety of fresh hot chilis, salt, and vinegar together into a paste. It's less salty and tangy than sriracha and is chunkier, as the sauce is traditionally made with a mortar and pestle.

If you think chocolate is strictly a dessert, you must have never heard of mole sauce. Mole is a South and Central American sauce made from broth, onions, garlic, chili peppers, raisins, spices, almonds, and unsweetened cocoa. Mole is slightly creamy because of the nuts and is sometimes thickened with flour. The spices and cocoa give it richness, and the peppers offer a spicy kick. Although it's typically eaten with Mexican cuisine, it can be enjoyed over your morning eggs, steak, and vegetables.

Although salsa is famously paired with chips, it can be used in a variety of capacities. In addition, salsa has a range of preparation methods, ingredients, and flavors. Salsa can be made raw, fire-roasted, blended, chopped and chunky, green, red, spicy, or mild. There are many types of salsa, typically sharing a base of tomatoes, onion, and lime juice, although there are plenty without these key ingredients. Fresh herbs like cilantro can help to flavor the recipe. Salsa should be tangy and light and offer a substantial amount of flavor.

This simple sauce is considered a mother sauce of French cuisine. Bechamel is incredibly creamy and rich and is made with a base of butter, flour, and milk. However, there are plenty of variations that can add flavor, like the inclusion of onion, garlic, or herbs. The special method that will change your bechamel forever is to add an onion pique for about 10 minutes before removing it to infuse the sauce with flavor. Enjoy the sauce over fish, cooked into pasta dishes, chicken, or vegetables.

While most of us wait for our Thanksgiving turkey to enjoy cranberry sauce, it's actually a sauce that can be enjoyed all year. And if you've ever only enjoyed the canned version, consider making a sweet or savory cranberry sauce this Thanksgiving. This American classic is typically made with cooked cranberries, sugar, and citrus juice. However, many variations exist with ingredients like thyme, walnuts, celery, oranges, and cinnamon. Cranberry sauce is generally enjoyed with meat but can be spread on sandwiches, mixed with mayonnaise, and even enjoyed on baked goods.

This Japanese soy-based sauce is great for dunking scallion pancakes, dumplings, and cuts of meat. It's salty, tangy, and rich with umami flavors. Ponzu has much more of a flavor punch compared to standard soy sauce. But what really is ponzu sauce made of? It contains tamari or soy sauce, vinegar, bonito flakes, kombu seaweed, dried dashi, and mirin. The vinegar adds tang, while the seaweed and fish flakes balance it with depth. In fact, it's almost like an Asian vinaigrette and is great on salads.

While Spanish romesco features tomatoes, they don't steal the show here; peppers do. A typical smoky romesco sauce is made with red peppers, tomato, almonds, vinegar, garlic, olive oil, and paprika. The ingredients are toasted and roasted before being blended together into a thick sauce. The almonds add creaminess, the peppers add sweetness, the olive oil adds depth, and the vinegar adds tanginess. Enjoy romesco mixed with pasta, on crostini, or over meat and vegetables.

Everyone does gravy differently, but there are a few elements that distinguish Canadian poutine gravy from the pack. It's traditionally made with a high-quality beef broth and typically doesn't contain as many vegetables or herbs as a traditional gravy. It's tangy and has some form of tomato added to it. This sauce is poured over a bed of French fries and cheese curds to make the popular Quebec dish, poutine. And believe us, there is one ingredient you can't skip when making poutine: cheese curds.

Chermoula is a spicy North African and Middle Eastern sauce made from fresh herbs. But what is chermoula and how do you cook with it? It's thinner than chimichurri and tends to have quite a kick of spice brought on by chilis. Dill or parsley are minced and mixed with bold ingredients like lemon juice or zest, ginger, and saffron. Other spices like cumin, coriander, and cardamom elevate the unique flavor. Chermoula can be mixed with olive oil to become a delicious marinade, but it also makes for a delicious bread dip or a refreshing yet spicy sauce when mixed with yogurt.

Tkemali, also known as Georgia ketchup, is made with plums instead of tomatoes. In fact, the dish can be made with either ripe purple plums or unripe sour plums, which gives it a pronounced tangy flavor. In combination with ingredients like garlic, fennel, and paprika, fresh herbs like cilantro, spearmint, pennyroyal, and chives are essential to giving tkemali that fresh and distinct flavor. Georgia plum tkemali sauce is typically paired with meats and potatoes but can make a great topping for eggs and vegetables as well.

No matter where you are in the world, people crave hot sauce. In Korea, gochujang is a popular sauce used to give food an extra pop of heat and flavor. It's made with chili peppers, fermented soybean powder, salt, and other ingredients. It's deeply spicy, which is the reason gochujang is often diluted when added to dishes. It's concentrated, thick, and salty; need we say more? Gochujang can be spread on meats, enjoyed in rice bowls, or used as an ingredient to make soups or other sauces sing.