Marie Sharp’s – Nopal Green Habanero Pepper Sauce

Bitter: 🟡○○○○

Salty: 🟡🟡○○○

Sour/Tangy:🟡🟡🟡🟡○

Sweet: 🟡○○○○

Umami: 🟡○○○○

Heat: 🟡🟡○○○○○○○○

Quick Flavor Notes: Fresh, vegetal, grassy, tangy

Recommended: Yes

Texture: Medium with natural texture

Ingredients: Nopales, Select Green Habanero Peppers, Vinegar, Onions, Lime Juice, Salt and Garlic

I realized that, despite having reviewed hundreds of hot sauces by this point, I’ve only reviewed on Marie Sharp’s product, and that was their limited edition 40th Anniversary Special Habanero Pepper Sauce. I have long been a fan of Marie Sharp’s products and I like to keep a green sauce around for the things that it goes well with so Marie Sharp’s Nopale Green Habanero Pepper Sauce seemed to be the perfect next sauce from the company to open up.

The blurb on the back of the bottle talks about Marie Sharp’s using only the freshest and finest ingredients. Something that I do like about Marie Sharp’s sauces is that their sauces have clean ingredients, though it is more than a bit of hyperbole for them to state that the green habaneros in this are some of the hottest peppers known to man. The unique ingredient in this sauce are the nopales. Nopales are the leaves or “pads” of the prickly pear cactus. They’re commonly used in Mexican cuisine but also make appearances in Central American dishes. They have a light clean vegetal flavor similar to fresh green beans with a bit of tartness. Combined with that are the Belizean green habaneros which are known to have a grassier fresher flavor than the riper red variety. The rest of the sauce is typical for the style – lime juice to add more citrus flavor and a tartness different from the vinegar, and the traditional aromatics of onions and garlic. This sauce does have a pleasantly pulpy texture with a medium consistency, I love that it’s not over-blended to the point of being homogenous and smooth. The habaneros, vinegar, and that green vegetable smell of the nopales all come out in the aroma.

Marie Sharp’s choice to use nopales in this sauce is what transforms something that would be good anyway into something great. Green habaneros have that vibrant fresh grassy flavor but they can also be just a little bit harsh. The nopales are the perfect foil for that slight edge and add a roundness to this sauce while perfectly blending with that green vegetal flavor. Being fresh and vibrant are the most important things for a green sauce for me and this absolutely nails both. That green-bean or slightly asparagussy flavor of the nopales is also a great bridge between the green habaneros and the garlic and onion making this whole sauce taste more cohesive. Nopal Green Habanero Pepper Sauce is strongly acidic, as a green sauce should be, but with the lime juice it’s not purely a vinegary type of acidity. The heat level is minimal. Even with a habanero pepper base the habaneros used in Marie Sharp’s sauces are all on the milder side so this is a sauce you can easily eat by the spoonful without catching your mouth on fire or experiencing any real burn.

I love vibrant green sauces with creamy pastas and since Publix had had a sale on some someone-or-other-from-Maine frozen seafood dinners I had a chance to try this out with shrimp fettuccini alfredo and it was a perfect match. The onions and garlic in the sauce matched up with the garlic in the alfredo sauce and that vibrantly green flavor with the vegetal undertones cut right through the creamy sauce. This sauce was also absolutely perfect with some takeout Brazilian barbecue from a local food truck that I love. It’s the perfect sauce not only for fried yucca but for any kind of grilled meat, again simultaneously giving a bit of that vegetable-side vibe while also providing super bright tangy aspects that cut right through the grease and fat. Finally this is of course amazing with tacos, especially fried fish tacos (or any fried food really). Vibrant green sauces and seafood or fried have always been a match made in heaven and this is no exception.

Marie Sharp’s Nopal Green Habanero Pepper Sauce gets my highest recommendation. This may be my new favorite green sauce. I nearly killed the bottle off within just two days. Thankfully this sauce is also very inexpensive, you can easily find it for between $4-$5 so it’s cheap enough to try it on a whim or to use it with abandon. This sauce is also all natural with no artificial preservatives, flavors, colors, or thickeners.