Recipe for fiery, herby green Yemenite sauce with cilantro, parsley, jalapeños, garlic, spices and salt. Adds a spicy kick to all kinds of foods. This recipe makes roughly 2 cups of schug.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, (or more as needed)
Categories
Side Dish
Cuisine
Middle Eastern
Steps
Carefully stem and seed the jalapeño peppers. Wear gloves for this if possible; the peppers will leave a layer of capsaicin on your skin for 24-48 hours that can really make you miserable (your skin will feel burny and if you touch your eyes, they will burn badly). Best to wear gloves and avoid this misery! Discard the seeds and white pith, unless you REALLY love spicy flavors... then, reserve a few. I doubt you'll need them though.
Remove the seeds from the cardamon pods and discard the green pods. If you don't have pods, substitute a heaping 1/4 tsp cardamom powder.
Add the parsley to your food processor and roughly chop, then add the cilantro and roughly chop. Make sure it's rough, you don't want an herb puree here... bits, pieces and stems are fine at this point.
Place the jalapeños, garlic, salt, cardamom seeds (or powder), caraway seeds, cumin, pepper and olive oil into the food processor.
Pulse the mixture, scraping the sides periodically, until the whole thing begins to resemble a pesto-like consistency-- not super smooth, a little texture is good.Taste the mixture. Careful, it's hot! Add more salt to taste if needed (salt really makes the spicy flavors pop). If you want it hotter, you can blend in some additional jalapeño seeds. But seriously, it's plenty hot without the seeds. Add more olive oil for taste and texture, if desired.
Keep it in a sealed jar or tupperware in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Check by smelling to ensure freshness. I don't recommend keeping longer than a week. Schug does freeze and defrost well; I often make a big batch and freeze in smaller 1/2 cup portions, which we thaw as needed.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 151 kcal
Carbohydrates: 10 g
Protein: 2 g
Fat: 12 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 966 mg
Reviews
Sam on 2026-01-11 (5 stars): This is so good! I’ve been trying to copy a dish from a local spot & this tastes just like it! Thank you!
Kama Weinberger on 2025-08-31 (5 stars): Tori you are my go to for anything Israeli or Jewish. My husband just got back from 3 weeks in Israel and asked if I could make this. I’m not big on super spicy so I used one Serrano and took out most of the seeds. We both loved it! Toda
Linda on 2022-08-15 (5 stars): Wow! I made a big batch of this last night and it's delicious. I was a little hesitate to use all 10 peppers but don't hesitate, it's great! I think deseeding them really helps keep the heat from reaching a scorch level. I can't eat raw garlic so I oven roasted a whole bulb cut in half, drizzled with olive oil, and wrapped in foil for about 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Then I squeezed in all the roasted garlic since it's much more mellow when roasted. I enjoyed this on a whole grain "bowl" last night for dinner, and dipped salt pita crisps in today for a snack. I think this will go really well with just about anything. And it smells so goooood!
Jeanie on 2022-08-04 (5 stars): Hi, Could you mention where you get your cardamon seeds . Yours look so plumb and fresh.
Paul H. on 2020-08-30 (5 stars): Hi Tori. Recently found your blog and am working my way through some of your recipes. All excellent so far. My friends, Israelis, had a little jar of commercial red schug from Israel which they put on the side of their hummus but have now run out of it and I really would like to try making it myself together with your hummus. I think the combination would blow them away! Would you be able to share your recipe for red schug / schug adom ?
Ellie L. on 2020-06-17 (5 stars): This is delicious! I happened to have all of the requisite ingredients, and figured I would try it! I would love to learn about the red Schug, if you are so inclined!
Ling on 2020-04-14 (5 stars): I fell in love with eating Schug after I visited Israel. Upon return to U.S, none of the few restaurants served it as good as the one(s) I had there. Yours the best !
Debra Nix on 2020-02-03 (5 stars): I think this has so many uses, thank you.
Add to mayo for burgers seems like a great way
to test it out.
