Mojo Sauce Recipe | Sauced

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated Apr. 17, 2020
A small dish of mojo sauce next to some tostones.

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Ever since discovering Mojo sauce as the "secret" ingredient to one of my favorite rotisserie chickens, I've been all over this stuff. As a marinade, baste, or dip, this pungent, acidic sauce packs a massive amount of flavor.

There are many varieties of Mojo, but it's the Cuban version that's stolen my heart. Sour orange juice serves as the tart base, with a hefty amount of garlic adding strong bite. Add oil along with oregano and cumin, which gives it an earthy background.

While my recipe has not changed much from my first batch, finding a local source for sour oranges has definitely made a difference, for the better. Prior to that I was using an equal mix of orange and lime or lemon juice, which is a decent approximation but if you want to go for gold, hunt out those sour oranges!

Recipe Details

Mojo Sauce Recipe | Sauced

Prep 5 mins
Active 15 mins
Total 5 mins
Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

  • 8 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2/3 cup fresh sour orange juice, or 1/3 cup of fresh orange juice and 1/3 cup of fresh lime juice

  • 1/3 cup olive oil

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Place garlic in a mortar and pestle. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and work into a smooth paste.

    pounding garlic into a paste with a mortar and pestle

    Serious Eats

  2. In a small bowl, whisk together garlic, sour orange juice, oil, oregano, cumin. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

    whisking mojo sauce together in a small glass bowl.

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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
746 Calories
72g Fat
26g Carbs
3g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
Calories 746
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 72g 92%
Saturated Fat 10g 50%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 1267mg 55%
Total Carbohydrate 26g 10%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Total Sugars 14g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 91mg 453%
Calcium 84mg 6%
Iron 2mg 12%
Potassium 457mg 10%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)