How to Make Schug (Skug, Zhug, Zhoug) Sauce
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Schug (pronounced skoog, sometimes spelled zhug or skug or zhoug) is a spiced green sauce originating from Yemen but used throughout the Middle East. It’s a blend of herbs, chilies, and toasted spices.
I first wrote about it several years ago after discovering it in Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons, which inspired me to drizzle it over anything from roasted vegetables to grilled meat. This is maybe my favorite way to use it: roasted cauliflower (or delicata squash) with lemony yogurt sauce. The combination of the charred vegetables, with the creamy yogurt sauce and the spiced, herby schug is irresistible.
Of all the green sauces I have made — from pesto to salsa verde to green goddess — schug is most similar to a green harissa, but it’s even more spiced: there’s cumin and coriander as well as hot chilies. Because the chilies are seeded, the sauce is not impossibly spicy—it’s, in fact, bright with lemon, as these sauces often are, and it has a bit of texture thanks to the mass of chilies, garlic, and herbs.
How to Use Schug (Zhug)
Maybe the better question is how not to use schug? I want to drizzle it over everything:
How to Make Schug: A Step by Step Guide:
Here’s the play-by-play: Gather your ingredients.
Toast whole cumin and coriander seeds:
Grind the spices in a mortar and pestle:
Remove the ribs and seeds from a few hot chili peppers:
Zest and juice a lemon.
Transfer chilies and garlic to a food processor and pulse.
Add cilantro, parsley, ground cumin and coriander, lemon zest and juice, and salt.
Process till fine:
Add olive oil, and process more:
Ta da! Schug: you’ll want to put this on everything.
Here’s the roasted delicata squash with the schug and yogurt sauce:
This is a favorite recipe: Roasted Cauliflower with Schug and Lemony Yogurt Sauce
How to Make Schug (Skug, Zhug, Zhoug) Sauce
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1.5 cups
Description
Adapted from Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons
Schug (pronounced skoog, sometimes spelled Skug, Zhug, Zhoug) is a Middle Eastern (often used in Yemeni/Israeli cooking) blend of herbs, chilies, and toasted spices: there’s cumin and coriander as well as hot chilies. Because the chilies are seeded, the sauce is not impossibly spicy—it’s, in fact, bright with lemon, and it has a bit of texture thanks to the mass of chilies, garlic, and herbs. Once you make schug once, you will want to put it on everything.
Note: You’ll see in the video I only used 1 chili — it was all I had on hand that day! — and I didn’t add lemon zest…I forgot. All of this is to say the recipe is very forgiving. As long as you include some toasted spices and something that provides a little heat, and as long as you get the balance of lemon to olive oil right, you’ll be good to go.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 cup (or less! see notes above) seeded and roughly chopped fresh hot green chilies, such as serrano (2 to 4)
- 2 to 3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
- 2 cups lightly packed cilantro leaves and stems
- 2 cups lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves and stems (rough stems removed)
- zest from one lemon
- juice from one lemon, about 3 tablespoons
- salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- In a small skillet, toast the cumin and coriander seeds until they smell fragrant and have turned a shade darker in color. Transfer to a spice grinder or crush with a mortar and pestle.
- Put the chilies and garlic in a food processor and pulse a few times until they are fairly fine. Add the cilantro, parsley, lemon zest, reserved toasted spiced, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and a few twists of black pepper. Pulse until all is finely chopped into a rough purée. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil. Stop the processor before the sauce is completely blended and smooth—you want some texture. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with another 1/2 teaspoon salt (I always do), and pepper and lemon to taste.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Condiment
- Method: Food Processor
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
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29 Comments on “How to Make Schug (Skug, Zhug, Zhoug) Sauce”
This is an absolutely magical recipe! It is useful and looks fantastic. such a beautiful color of emerald.
Can I use already ground spices if I still toast them? I have everything on hand but no whole spices
Yes, absolutely!
OMG! Can you see my happy dance? I just made this to go with your falafel recipe for tomorrow night’s dinner. It is so fresh, vibrant, and delicious! Just like I remember from the falafel cart at the university of Miami when I went there decades ago. I have been jonesing for decades and all I surmised was some kind of spicy green sauce from middle eastern cuisine. You fulfilled my dream of having that sauce again. I cheated and used already ground spices. Can’t wait to make again.
Wonderful to hear this, Lisa! And great to hear pre-ground spices worked just as well … so nice to be able to cut steps out of recipes. Happy Falfel Dinner Night 🎉🎉🎉🎉
This sauce gives grilled chicken a new life! I also put it on sliced tomatoes. SO fresh!
That sounds amazing! So nice to hear this, Theresa!
This is delicious! Can it be frozen?
So great to hear this! Yes! I like to freeze this as I freeze pesto: in ice cube trays.
This is really delish! Pairs well with guacamole and quick pickled veggies
Great to hear, Laurie!
Delicious with any grilled meat or fish! I use it in my salads as well, brightens any dish!
So nice to hear this Elsa! This is one of my favorite condiments/sauces. Thanks for writing 🙂
Can you use to marinate the chicken before grilling?
You can, but I would use it sparingly and wipe away most of it because it likely will burn.
Any chance the Delicata squash and zhoug recipe is still knocking around a corner of the internet? Would love to make it again!!!
Hi Kara! As I remember, I did this: roasted the delicata squash as in this recipe; then made a yogurt sauce: Stir together 1 cup Greek yogurt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Taste. Adjust seasoning to taste. Smear the yogurt sauce over a platter. Top with the roasted squash. Spoon the schug over top.
This recipe is fantastic–so delicious! How long does this keep in the refrigerator? Thanks.
Hi Andrea! I would say about a week — it begins losing a bit of its vibrancy after 3 days or so, but it’s still delicious.
I used this on top of some grilled halloumi, eggplant, and zucchini. It was sooooo delicious. Super fresh, a little spicy—just perfect.
That sounds outstanding! Thanks for writing and sharing 🙂
Hey, do you know how much cilantro, parsley and chillies to use in grams? I would really love try this, I’ve tried a few zhug recipes but none have been as good as the stuff i have been buying:(
Unfortunately I don’t! I’m sorry.
Hm I could not figure out cups, I looked up how many grams it was but got completely different answers on each site, then I read it is just how much you can fit in a 250ml cup, when I tried this I also got completely different amounts each time. I ended up using 60g’s of cilantro and 37g’s of parsley. I’ve tried about 3 other recipes for zhug and they were all just okay, nothing like the super expensive/tiny jars I had been buying. But this one is even better than those. It would cost over 25 euro for me to buy as much as I got with the tiny jars. Thank you so much🥰
Perfect zhoug recipe! I’m growing some padron peppers that are too hot to eat grilled, so I de-seeded and tossed them into this recipe. Will definitely make again! Thanks, Alexandra!
Great to hear, Jenny! Thanks for writing 🙂
How long does schug last? It looks delicious.
At least a week in the fridge 🙂