Saucy: 50 Recipes for Drizzly, Dunk-able, Go-To Sauces to Elevate Everyday Meals

By Ashley Boyd and Maren Caruso

Elevate everyday cooking with 50 easy-peasy recipes for delicious, drizzly, dunk-able sauces.

Saucy is an accessible collection of 50 sauce recipes organized by flavor profile (herby, sweet, spicy, savory, and more). This go-to kitchen companion, irresistibly designed with bold graphics and full-color photography, includes simple, super-tasty sauces that transform basics from ordinary to sensational:

• Dress up a piece of grilled chicken with Orange Chimichurri
• Drizzle Thai Peanut Sauce over steamed veggies to up the flavor factor
• Add Coconut Chile Crisp to spice up morning eggs
• Fancify a bowl of ice cream with Blackberry Basil Coulis

How-to instructions for ten homemade dishes, like sautéed shrimp, juicy burgers, and fluffy pancakes, and a handy list of recommended sauce pairings for a range of proteins, vegetables, pasta, beans, grains, and greens, help you get your saucy party started.

Amateur cooks, busy parents, and healthy eaters will appreciate these painless ways to upgrade everyday meals. Paired with kitchen basics, first-apartment supplies, or registry items, Saucy also makes a fun and practical graduation, housewarming, or newlywed gift.

ACCESSIBLE SAUCE RECIPE BOOK: Home cooks will appreciate this super-practical cookbook filled with recipes that provide a lot of flavor with minimal effort. Anyone who doesn't have a lot of time to cook but still wants to eat well, and those who want to eat healthily but don't want to sacrifice flavor, will love these easy-to-make sauces that help simple meals shine. 

SAUCE IS HOT: Whether you're addicted to The Hot Ones on YouTube or have taken advantage of the explosion of specialty crafted hot sauces, bbq sauces, and dipping sauces hitting supermarket shelves these days, it's a tasty fact that sauces are forever! Saucy, with a playful design and close-up shots of drippy sauces, is a fun, fresh, and distinctive cookbook. Its trove of simple recipes will make meal prep and mealtimes tastier, easier, and more enjoyable for years to come.

DELIGHTFUL, PRACTICAL COOKING GIFT: Bright, engaging, and easy-to-use, Saucy makes a fun and useful present for recent graduates, new homeowners, and newlyweds. Wrap it up with a serving spoon, a saucepan, dish towels, or a set of spices to help stock a first apartment kitchen or make a new house feel like home.

Perfect for:

• Beginner and experienced home cooks
• Busy people and parents who want easy ways to quickly dress up basic meals
• Healthy eaters who want good-for-you dishes to taste great
• Apartment renters and new homeowners
• Shoppers looking for a graduation gift, wedding shower gift, or holiday gift for a beginner cook

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chronicle Books Digital
• Release date: Mar 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9781797226057

Ashley Boyd

Ashley Boyd is a cook and the creator of the blog Pink Owl Kitchen, where she shares delicious, approachable recipes influenced by her Southern heritage. If you ask her, sauce makes everything better—especially Comeback Sauce! She lives right outside of Memphis, Tennessee, with her husband and son.

Book preview

Cover: Saucy, 50 Recipes for Drizzly, Dunk-Able, Go-To Sauces to Elevate Everyday Meals by Ashley Boyd

Copyright © 2024 by Ashley Boyd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 9781797226057 (epub, mobi)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Boyd, Ashley (Writer on cooking), author. | Caruso, Maren, photographer.

Title: Saucy : 50 recipes for drizzly, dunk-able, go-to sauces to elevate everyday meals / Ashley Boyd ; photography by Maren Caruso.

Description: San Francisco : Chronicle Books, [2024] | Includes index. |

Summary: 50 simple recipes for delicious sauces that elevate everyday meals--Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2023027173 | ISBN 9781797218953 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Sauces. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX819.A1 B6359 2024 | DDC 641.81/4--dc23/eng/20230724

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023027173

Photographs by Maren Caruso.

Food styling by Becca Martin.

Prop styling by Ethel Brennan.

Photo assistance by Jessica Goss and Emory Dunn.

Design by Lizzie Vaughan.

Influence badges by Henna Crowner.

Typeset in Marby and BN Modern Ombra.

Chronicle books and gifts are available at special quantity discounts to corporations, professional associations, literacy programs, and other organizations. For details and discount information, please contact our premiums department at [e-mail] or at 1-800-759-0190.

Chronicle Books LLC

680 Second Street

San Francisco, California 94107

www.chroniclebooks.com

Contents

INTRODUCTION

RECOMMENDED SAUCE PAIRINGS

Creamy

REMOULADE

CREAMY AVOCADO SAUCE

CILANTRO LIME CREMA

GARLIC MUSHROOM SAUCE

SOUTHWEST RANCH

COMEBACK SAUCE

Herby

BASIL PISTACHIO PESTO

CITRUS MINT GREMOLATA

ORANGE CHIMICHURRI

ZESTY GREEN GODDESS DRESSING

CHERMOULA

Tomato-Based

CHUNKY MARINARA

ROMESCO SAUCE

SALSA TAQUERA

TOMATO GINGER SAUCE

GUAVA BARBECUE SAUCE

Tangy

MOJO ROJO

ROASTED RED PEPPER TZATZIKI

JERK SAUCE

MOLE VERDE

LEBANESE GARLIC SAUCE

Savory

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SAUCE

BLENDER HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

SMOKY MORNAY SAUCE

ROASTED BEET HUMMUS

GARLIC CASHEW SAUCE

COCONUT CURRY SAUCE

Umami

CARAMELIZED ONION GRAVY

HONEY TAHINI SAUCE

THAI PEANUT SAUCE

SWEET GINGER SESAME SAUCE

TERIYAKI SAUCE

SIMPLE TONKATSU SAUCE

APRICOT MISO GLAZE

Spicy

CREAMY CHIPOTLE LIME SAUCE

COCONUT CHILI CRISP

SWEET CHILI SAUCE

NIGERIAN RED PEPPER SAUCE

SPICY MANGO CHUTNEY

CARIBBEAN PEPPER SAUCE

HOT HONEY SAUCE

HONEY GARLIC BUFFALO SAUCE

Dessert

RASPBERRY GLAZE

LEMON CURD

BROWN SUGAR PEACH SAUCE

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE SAUCE

ORANGE CRÈME ANGLAISE

SPICED STRAWBERRY COMPOTE

BLACKBERRY BASIL COULIS

SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

GO-TO MEALS TO GET YOUR SAUCE PARTY STARTED

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

Many cooks, myself included, have found themselves growing bored of rotating through the same tried-and-true dinner recipes week after week. Fatigued from searching for ideas and tired of the same-old same-old, we cave and pick up the phone to order takeout. I get it. We all get it! Don’t feel guilty or lazy, because you aren’t!

Like any home cook, I want to create tasty, healthy, homemade meals that make my family excited for dinner. But sometimes life gets in the way and things get busy. I don’t always have time to look for inspiration, let alone make a luxurious meal every weeknight. That’s where this cookbook comes in.

Think of Saucy as that little kitchen helper full of ideas that will add a little oomph to your usual weeknight dinner. Whether you are short on time after a long day, hoping to eat healthy without sacrificing flavor, or cooking for multiple picky youngsters, sauce is an easy answer. Simply whip up one of your go-to meals (say, grilled chicken, steak, pasta, or salad), add one of these fifty sauces, and voila! A basic dish is transformed into something downright