Sautéed Shishito Peppers with Creamy Sriracha Sauce, 3 Ways

I’m a little embarrassed to call myself a food blogger to not have tried these amazingly delicious shishito peppers until…a few weeks ago when a friend introduced me to them. Woops! Well, now that I’m on the shishito peppers train, I am FULLY on this thing and not getting off any time soon. Did I casually pretend that I’d known about them forever when I had a mini freakout at the farmers market and the women was so pleased I actually knew what they were? Yes. It’s fine.

I was just so pumped to see them because I’d never seen them before at my CSA or in the store…but maybe I hadn’t been looking for them, or just assumed they were some weird a** looking pepper that would probably burn my face and/or tastebuds off? Not into that kind of thing. Unlike some of my swim coach friends who, whenever we go out to somewhere that has hot sauces, they challenge each other to try the hottest one and see who can go the longest without crying. NOT my jam. Yes, these are my friends. They’re idiots, but they’re my idiots. Love them.

Anyway. Think of these little guys as the most perfect appetizer. Think edamame…but SO much better. Plus, these dipping sauces? To die for. I made a solid batch of each dipping sauce so you could try them all and have leftovers for later, to put on anything from grilled chicken, to salmon, shrimp, pulled pork, roasted veggies, sweet potato fries, eggs, the like. Heck, you could even use them as salad dressings. I was looking around for peppers recipes and stumbled upon this “magic summer sauce” from the Kitchn…obviously had to try it {and put my own spin on it}. Result? YUM. With these peppers? oohhhh, baby. Just wait ’til you try it. 

Doubtful that you’ll have leftovers of the peppers. Extremely doubtful. They’re best eaten hot anyway so…might as well eat the whole batch, right? Grab a friend or two, you’ll polish them off in about .5 seconds. Heck, you could polish them off by yourself. Speaking from experience. Screw appetizers, these babies became my whole meal. Not even kidding.

Sautéed Shishito Peppers with Creamy Sriracha Sauce {3 ways}

 

Print

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Dana: Real Food with Dana

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

For the peppers

• 1 pint shishito peppers
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 Tbsp coarse sea salt

Sriracha Mayo

• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp sriracha
• 1 tsp lime juice

Sweet & Spicy Thai “Peanut” Sauce

• ¼ cup unsweetened sunflower seed butter
• 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp lime juice (juice of one small lime)
• 1 ½ Tbsp coconut aminos
• 1 Tbsp honey* (omit for whole30)
• 1 tsp sriracha
• 1 tsp sesame oil

“Magic Summer Sauce”

• ½ cup unsweetened, plain coconut yogurt
• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 tsp sriracha
• 1 tsp lime juice

Directions

1. First, make your dipping sauces. Whisk the ingredients for each sauce together (in separate bowls) until well combined. Taste to adjust the level of heat with sriracha!
2. In a large cast iron skillet, heat the 2 Tbsp oil for 2 minutes, until very hot. Carefully add the peppers to the skillet in a single layer.
3. Allow the peppers to cook for about 3 minutes a side, until they blister. You may want to put a splatter shield on top so you don’t get sprayed with oil! Toss them gently with tongs or a wooden spoon so they don’t fall apart. The total time cooking will be about 10 minutes.
4. When the peppers are cooked on all sides, toss with coarse sea salt.
5. Serve hot, with your dipping sauce of choice! You’ll eat them whole - pick them up from the stem end, dip, and eat. Don’t eat the stem, silly.

Notes

Have leftovers? Doubtful. But if you do, chop them up and put them in an omelet or scrambled eggs! You’ll definitely have leftovers of the sauces, so use them to spice up some leftover proteins or veggies! The sauce leftovers can be refrigerated and kept for up to a week.

3.5.3208