Adjika is a fragrant dip made of tomatoes, garlic and other veggies. It’s lightly spicy and delicious on just about everything.
Adjika is the perfect way for you to use all those tomatoes you picked up at the farmer’s market. Make a big batch, store it in jars and enjoy for months to come.
If you’re looking for something different than salsa, it’s time to try adjika. This sauce packs some serious flavor and will take your taste buds on an adventure around the globe! The secret ingredient? Tart green apples!
What is Adjika?
Adjika is an Eastern European twist on tomato salsa or Italian red pesto. Popular in Ukraine and Russia, this fragrant sauce is made throughout the summer and has Georgian roots.
Adjika is the perfect recipe to pair with any baked or grilled meat. It’s popular for elevating flavors and adding just the right amount of spice.
Traditional adjika doesn’t actually use tomatoes, but as this dip took hold over much of the continent of Europe, it took on many different variations. Much adjika in Ukraine and Russia is packed with juicy tomatoes — just the way my mother made it!
How to Make Adjika
The big difference between adjika and salsa is that adjika is brought to a boil and canned. Also, you can serve it cold or hot depending on the mood you are in. Follow these step-by-step instructions to make it:
- Wash and prepare all your veggies. To chop them, you can use a food processor or a grinder.
Hot tip: Add the hot peppers last and taste as you go! Sometimes those tiny peppers pack a ton of heat.
- Bring the ingredients to a boil in a large pot over medium heat. Make sure to give the adjika a good stir here and there to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.
- Sterilize your jars by preheating the oven to 215 ℉. Wash jars and lids and place them in the oven for 15 minutes or until completely dry.
- Using a canning funnel, place adjika into jars.
- Close all the lids very tightly and flip each jar upside down for a couple of hours.
- Store in a cool place for up to a year.
Tips for The Best Adjika
Adjika is a simple dish that requires little work, but results in tons of flavor. Use the freshest ingredients you can get your hands on to make this sauce perfect each time:
- Taste Your Adjika As You Go. Taste your adjika as you go! Each component you add creates a special flavor and layer. Everyone has their own preference with this dip, so the best way to learn yours is to taste it as you go!
- Adjust the Spice. Use more or less peppers depending on how much heat you like.
- Tomatoes. Use very ripe tomatoes for this recipe. You want the juiciest and sweetest ones you can find. The riper, the better!
- Cutting Up All Veggies. Use either a grinder or a food processor to get the adjika to that perfect, nearly blended consistency.
- Apples. Tart green apples are the way to go. They add so much flavor and a nice tanginess.
- Peppers. Red bell peppers are the sweetest and work best for adjika. But, if you only have yellow or green, feel free to use them!
Storing Adjika
- Refrigerate: If you choose not to can you adjika, you can refrigerate it for up to two weeks. The kicker? The longer it marinates in itself in the fridge, the better it tastes.
- Canning Adjika: Canning adjika is a bit more time consuming, but well worth it. Canned adjika will last for up to a year when stored in a cool place like your pantry.
More Homemade Sauces to Make
- Teriyaki Sauce – Serve over any protein or use for the classic chicken teriyaki.
- Easy Homemade BBQ Sauce – Homemade truly is best!
- Chimichurri Sauce – Bright, tangy and so good over beef.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 7 large Tomatoes
- 10 medium Carrots
- 6 large Red Bell Peppers
- 6 large Green Apples
- 5 tiny Cayenne Chili Peppers
- 200 g Vegetable Oil
- 3/4 cup Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Salt
- 150 g Sugar
- 1 1/2 Garlic Heads
Instructions
Making Adjika
- Wash all the vegetables, except for the garlic, and slice into smaller pieces. Grind using a food processor or grinder.
- Place the combined ingredients into a pot and bring it to a boil. Continue cooking it on medium for about an hour, while occasionally stirring.
- Once it's cooked, add oil, vinegar, salt and sugar. Let Adjika cook for another 20 minutes, while occasionally stirring.
- Remove from heat, add pressed garlic to the mixture and let it sit in a room temperature for about an hour.
Canning Adjika
- Sterilize the jars by preheating an oven to 215 °F. Wash the jars and lids, and place them in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until completely dry.
- With the help of a canning funnel place Adjika into jars.
- Close all lids very tightly.
- Store the canned adjika in a cool place for up to a year.
I made this yesterday and it tasted FANTASTIC. I love making chutney's, pesto's, marmelades,... but this is something else all together. I'm amazed at how sweet it tasted though it contains so little sugar. I made some tiny adjustments: less bell peppers (only 4 instead of 6, but really big ones), and I used my all-time favorite chilli: the scorpion (2nd hottest in the world, right after the carolina reaper, which tastes horrible btw). But I only used two of them. The natural smokey flavor of the scorpion is a perfect match with this recipe.
I also used huge tomatoes, home-grown by friends of ours.
I love how you can probably make this recipe all year round, though the taste will most likely always be best using fresh summer vegetables.
And I'm happy I made lots of smaller jars so I can start handing them out to my loved ones.
THANK YOU for this great recipe !!
Hi Hades, Thanks for sharing! You have me craving some Adjika now!
This recipe sounds wonderful. However, the amounts of each ingredient are confusing.
Medium and large sizes are so variable. Everyone has their own idea of what a medium or large vegetable or fruit looks like.
It would be more helpful indicate how much is needed by cups of chopped vegetables.
This would make it easier, too, to decrease the total amount of sauce for those of us who don't can or would prefer to make a smaller batch.
Same for the oil and sugar - would be helpful to have them measured in cups.
I could just "wing it" - estimate amounts -but never having tasted this sauce I don't know what to compare it to.
I am going to try it, though, and hope it turns out as good as you describe.
Thanks!
Hi Beth, Thank you for sharing your insights. Thats a good point. I hope this recipe turned out well and you love it. Enjoy!
You need to specify how many servings per recipe...PLUS the serving size ...we are very conscious of that because if sugar and fats...
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Hi Vicki- It's difficult to calculate the exact nutritions with the calculator we use, I'm sorry. I don't want to provide you with inaccurate info since you are specifically conscious of the amount of sugar/fat. This is a topping/sauce, and how much a person eats varies..and the recipe yields multiple jars of this sauce.
Hi Natalya, thank you so much for the recipe, I haven't got a food processor, would it work if I use blender instead? I am often buying Georgian Ajika from the shop and would love to make it myself.
Hi Kristine- Yes, I think a blender would work just fine. Have fun cooking, I hope you love this recipe! 🙂
Adjika is Traditional Georgian food, During Soviet Times, most of the countries did not have normal Cuisine, so all of them were taking something from Georgia, and Georgia was well known for its diverse tastes, so not only it has Georgian roots, it is Georgian! Like most of Eastern European Food. Please make it clear in this article!
Hi Eleanore, thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback. Have a great day!
Hi there! This recipe sounds so delicious, but I’m curious about it being shelf stable without doing a hot water bath or pressure canner? I’m new to the technique of just leaving the jars upside down to seal. Any additional info would be great- thanks!
I, too, was wondering about this. The method you describe (sterilizing the jars, then filling and sealing them) is what we use for refrigerator storage. What we call canning involves boiling the filled jars under water for 10-20 minutes, depending on the contents. That way they can be stored in a cool place for a year or more.
Diana, we usually refrigerate ours but if I sterilize the jars and do the canning process, you can keep it in a cool dark place.
Hi Molly, I have this information in the Storing Adjika section. If you can it it will last for up to a year when stored in a cool place like your pantry. If you choose not to can you adjika, you can refrigerate it for up to two weeks.
Thank you for the recipe. I wonder what the sauce was like before juicing it up with tomatoes. I am using your recipe to mix with baked fish.
Hey Karen, what do you mean about juicing tomatoes? I want to make sure I am answering you correctly.
Sounds amazing, must try
It's amazing, I hope you give it a try! Please get back to me if you do!
what is pressed garlic?
Pressed garlic is pretty much the same thing as crushed garlic.
Thank you Natalya, lovely recipie
So good to hear! Thank you for sharing!
I didn't know about Adjika until finding your blog. This is such an easy way to change up my sauce game and something different for dinner!
Trang, I hope you love it. A staple around here. 🙂
It’s easy to make and requires just a handful of ingredients. This recipe is definitely a keeper we loved it!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
This has such a great flavor! We are it with crostini and fresh veggies! I love that you can store it too.
Yep, mom would make a huge batch and we use it for months. 🙂
I sterilize both new and used lids. I would suggest putting it in jars as warm as possible. But if you will store it in fridge it should be fine either way.
Thank you so much for your comment 🙂
The source is heated so all bacteria is killed and vinegar does the last part. You can use standard serilization technic with boiling it for 10 min. Due to nature of ingredients like jalapeños, garlic and tomatoes the sauce is naturally pickels it self over time. We also use fresh version without heat at all and it last in freedge for a month.
Hi, do you use old/used lids or are you sterilizing new ones? Also, is it ok to place cooled Adjika into jars? They won't spoil? I've always poured my salads boiling into jars, but then I'm a novice to canning:) I love exactly this recipe, my grandmother made me some, mmmm it's delicious! I love your site.