Though the pepper itself was cultivated by Portuguese colonists travelling to Southern Africa, peri peri seasoning is now a pantry staple in many western homes.
In the UK, peri peri seasoning rapidly became popular with the rise of Nando’s and other chicken-focused chain restaurants. The seasoning was around and readily available in supermarkets long before.
There are a few peri peri seasoning varieties you can buy ready-made from the supermarket. But if you are not a fan of the spicey seasoning or cannot find your favourite variety, there are a few substitutes you can use instead.
Our 4 Substitutes for Peri Peri Seasoning
Peri peri seasoning is practically tailor-made to pair with chicken. It is made from accessible herbs and spices, including garlic powder, onion powder, parsley (for sweetness) and oregano.
However, the intense heat makes peri peri seasoning so popular. The heat traditionally comes from a type of Malaguena pepper that is hotter than a jalapeno but not as hot as a habanero chilli pepper.
Here are our top 4 substitutes for peri peri seasoning:
1) Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne pepper powder is popular in spice mixes and makes up a large proportion of peri peri seasoning spice.
The pepper itself doesn’t need one specific condition to grow in, so it can grow worldwide. That is why the powder can be sold for cheaper than most other pepper powders and why it is often included in peri peri seasoning mixes.
Because of this, it will produce a flavour most similar to peri peri seasoning.
Cayenne pepper can only produce a heat of up to 50,000 SHU (Scoville Heat Units), which is the bare minimum that a peri peri pepper makes.
The heat of a cayenne pepper only intensifies by a little when turned into a powder, so you will still need to use far more in your dish to get the same amount of heat as peri peri seasoning.
Create Your Own Mix
You could use cayenne pepper powder by itself when substituting peri peri seasoning, but you will not get the same complex flavours unless you add in your own herbs and spices.
Parsley and basil, in particular, will provide that sweetness that cayenne pepper powder lacks and will instantly be a flavour booster.
2) Chilli Powder
Compared to peri peri seasoning, chilli powder is extremely mild. However, it is cheap, easily accessible and can often be brought in bulk.
You will need to use a lot of chilli powder in your dish to compensate for the lack of heat, so its affordability makes it one of the best substitutes for peri peri seasoning.
Chilli powder is not made out of one specific kind of chilli pepper but rather a mix. The variety of chillies used in the mix are milder but will create a complex kind of heat like peri peri seasoning.
Learn How to Balance Out Heat
If you find chilli powder to still be too hot, but you want the flavours of peri peri seasoning, then use less chilli powder and add some vinegar or tomato juice to your dish. This will neutralise the heat and will make the dish easier to eat.
3) Tabasco Sauce
As the name would suggest, tabasco sauce is made from tabasco chilli peppers that don’t have the level of heat like peri peri peppers.
However, the additional salt and vinegar that goes into tabasco sauce can create a deliciously flavoured dish like peri peri seasoning.
The longer that the sauce is left to age, the richer and hotter the pepper in the sauce becomes. To best replicate peri peri seasoning, buy a tabasco sauce that has been aged for years rather than a few months.
Manufacturers usually pride themselves on this, so it will not be hard to set the hotter sauces apart.
Flavour Chicken with Tabasco Sauce
Tabasco sauce is just that, a sauce. Peri-peri seasoning tends to be a powdered mix, so instead of flavouring your chicken via a rub, marinade it in Tabasco sauce instead.
Or, if you only want a fraction of the peri peri seasoning heat, add a few dashes of tabasco sauce to your dish before serving.
4) Buffalo Sauce
Buffalo sauce is sweet and spicy in a different way than peri peri seasoning. It is not as hot, but it has a tingly tang that highlights the heat of the peppers.
You can make your own buffalo sauce at home with some basic hot sauce and a fat of choice.
Most commercial buffalo sauces use butter, giving the sauce a thick, creamy quality. This makes it a great marinade or condiment to use with either chicken or pork.
Obviously, this consistency is very different from peri peri seasoning, but it will be a similar match, flavour-wise.
Control the Heat
To make buffalo sauce resemble peri peri sauce even more, add some extra hot sauce or powdered chilli pepper. Whatever extra heat you have to hand, really.
Other Substitutes for Peri Peri Seasoning
Some of the above seasonings can still be too hot for those with a sensitive palate. So, here are a few more options you can use instead of peri peri seasoning that are on the cooler side:
- Paprika – Like cayenne pepper, paprika is a key part of peri peri seasoning, though it is not as hot. It will need to be mixed with other herbs and spices to resemble the seasoning.
- Sriracha Sauce – Made from jalapenos, the sauce is less spicy than tabasco but still gives a sweet enough kick to your meal.
Summary
Very few substitutes will perfectly match the intense heat of peri peri seasoning. However, there are some sauces and mixes, such as chilli powder, that can come close when used in large quantities.