Homemade Harissa Paste With Coconut Oil for Full GAPS

This homemade harissa is a thick pepper-and-garlic paste with toasted coriander, caraway, and cumin. Dried guajillo chiles give it depth, fresh red chiles supply brighter pepper flavor, and lemon and cilantro keep the finished paste from tasting only hot.

This Full GAPS version uses coconut oil so the paste can go into cooking. It is a concentrated seasoning to spoon into a marinade or use with a meat or vegetable meal, rather than a sauce you pour over the whole plate.

I prepare lunch and dinner before leaving for second shift, unless something is already made. A homemade component needs its own place in that plan. Making the paste before starting a meal means you can measure what you need without also trying to soften dried peppers while the rest of dinner waits.

Jump To The Recipe

Allow about 40 minutes as a planning estimate, including time for the dried chiles to soften. Their texture decides when they are ready. The finished amount varies with pepper size and how much soaking liquid the mixture needs, so this card makes one batch rather than promising a measured jar volume.

Ingredients

• 2½ teaspoons coriander seeds
• 2½ teaspoons caraway seeds
• 2½ teaspoons cumin seeds
• 5 dried guajillo chiles
• 5 fresh red chiles, halved and deseeded
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 small bunch fresh cilantro
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 125 milliliters coconut oil, gently melted and cooled until no longer hot
• Natural salt, to taste
• Warm filtered water, for soaking the dried chiles, with a little reserved for blending

Use guajillo chiles for the dried peppers in this batch. They need to be softened before blending. A spoonful of ground cayenne or a prepared chili-seasoning mix does not stand in for five whole dried peppers.

The fresh peppers are red chile peppers, not five large red bell peppers. Their size and heat vary, so the finished paste can vary too. Remove the seeds as directed and keep the same measured spice and oil quantities.

Coriander seeds and fresh cilantro are different ingredients here. The seeds go into the toasted spice mixture. The fresh leaves and tender stems go into the blender with the peppers, garlic, and lemon.

Use plain, non-hydrogenated coconut oil. Measure its 125 milliliters while it is liquid, then let it cool until it is no longer hot before blending. There is no sunflower oil, extra oil layer, or unmeasured bottled sauce in this formula.

Harissa products do not all contain the same ingredients. Making this version at home lets you use the peppers, pure spices, garlic, lemon, herbs, and cooking fat listed here. It gives you a homemade component to reach for when another recipe calls for harissa.

How To Make Homemade Harissa Paste

1. Soften The Guajillo Chiles

Put the dried guajillo chiles in a bowl and cover them with warm filtered water. Leave them until they are softened and pliable. Allow about 20 minutes for planning, but give them longer if they are still stiff.

A softened chile should bend rather than crack when opened. Lift the peppers out, remove their stems and seeds, and keep some of the soaking water in the bowl.

Let the softened peppers and any liquid you will use cool before they go into the blender. You need a cold or room-temperature mixture for the Ninja BN801, not hot soaking liquid.

2. Toast And Grind The Seeds

Put the coriander, caraway, and cumin seeds in a dry stainless-steel frying pan. Toast for about one minute, moving them through the pan so they do not sit on one hot spot.

Watch and smell them as they warm. The seeds should become fragrant, with the cumin and caraway especially noticeable. You are not trying to blacken them or leave a scorched smell in the pan.

Take the pan off the heat and grind the toasted seeds with a mortar and pestle. Break them down so the paste will not contain whole hard spice seeds. Let the ground spices cool before adding them to the blender.

3. Prepare The Fresh Ingredients

Halve and deseed the fresh red chiles. Chop the peeled garlic cloves and the fresh cilantro, leaving out any hard, woody herb stems. Squeeze the lemon and keep its seeds out of the juice.

Have the liquid coconut oil ready too. If it was warmed to melt it, let that heat leave before combining it with the other blender ingredients. Keep all of the measured oil for the paste rather than reserving an extra layer for the jar.

4. Blend To A Thick Paste

Put the cooled soaked guajillos, fresh red chiles, ground spices, garlic, cilantro, lemon juice, coconut oil, and natural salt into the Ninja BN801 pitcher.

Blend, stopping to scrape the mixture down with the motor off as needed. Add only a little of the reserved cooled soaking liquid if the mixture needs help moving around the blades.

The aim is a thick, spoonable paste. It should hold on a spoon instead of running off like a thin hot sauce. You should no longer find a stiff piece of dried chile or a whole garlic clove, though small herb and ground-spice flecks are normal.

Do not pour in a large amount of water at once. It is easier to add a little more liquid than to take it out of a thin batch. Keep the mixture below the pitcher’s MAX LIQUID line, including when making a larger batch.

5. Jar And Chill

Transfer the paste to a clean jar with enough room for the batch. Cover it and put it in the refrigerator. There is no fermentation step and no waiting for bubbles or a sour ferment smell.

Coconut oil firms when chilled, so this paste can become thicker in the refrigerator. Take out the small portion you need and let it soften enough to measure, while keeping the rest of the jar refrigerated.

Where This Fits On GAPS

This paste is for Full GAPS after the peppers, garlic, herbs, and spices have been introduced and tolerated. It is a pepper-based seasoning, so it does not fit a No-Plant meal or a version that leaves out nightshades.

Dr. Natasha’s GAPS guidance permits natural non-hydrogenated coconut oil for cooking and baking. Cold-pressed olive oil is kept raw. Coconut oil is used here because this paste is intended for cooked meals as well as serving at the table.

The recipe has no eggs, dairy, honey, or added sugar. The spices are individual seeds, toasted and ground, rather than a commercial seasoning mixture with other ingredients added.

Start with a small spoonful in the food and mix it through before adding more. The heat varies with the chiles, so check the flavor of the meal as you go.

Storage And Serving

Refrigerate the covered paste promptly and use it within four days, or freeze it in small portions for longer storage. Label the container with the name and date so you know which batch you are using.

Small frozen portions let you take out the amount a later recipe needs. Thaw in the refrigerator, then let just that portion soften enough to measure. Return the remaining paste to cold storage.

Use this paste in Harissa Chicken Wings for Full GAPS, which gives the chicken an overnight marinade before baking. You can also serve a small amount with a Full GAPS meat or vegetable dish, adjusting the portion to the heat you want.

For a cool, creamy side on the same plate, Lime and Cilantro Guacamole gives you a separate avocado preparation. Serve it alongside the seasoned food for a mild, creamy texture.

For a different homemade condiment to keep in your recipe collection, save Fresh Herb Vinaigrette. That dressing uses its olive oil raw, so it has a different job from this cooking paste.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Use Chili Powder Instead Of Whole Guajillos?

Use the named whole dried chiles for this batch. They are soaked, deseeded, and blended into the paste. A ground seasoning mixture can have different peppers, amounts, and added ingredients.

Why Is The Paste Firm In The Refrigerator?

The coconut oil firms as it cools. Let the portion you need soften enough to measure. Do not add extra water to the entire cold jar just to make it pour.

Can I Make It Without Nightshades?

Peppers are the base of this formula. Choose a different seasoning when leaving nightshades out, rather than removing the main ingredient and expecting the same paste.

How Much Does One Batch Make?

The amount depends on pepper size and how much soaking liquid is needed. Use a jar that comfortably holds the finished paste. The card counts one batch so you can scale the ingredients without guessing the finished jar volume.

Can I Double It?

Yes. Double the measured ingredients and use enough soaking water to cover the dried chiles. Blend in batches if needed and mix the batches together so the spices and oil are distributed evenly.

Recommended Equipment

Use measuring spoons, a milliliter measure for the coconut oil, a bowl for soaking, a dry stainless-steel pan, a mortar and pestle, a knife and board, a citrus juicer or strainer, the Ninja BN801, a spatula, and clean storage containers.

Recipe Card

More Homemade GAPS Flavor

The planned Sauces, Dressings & Condiments Cookbook will bring more homemade flavor components into one collection. Look for release details in the WFLI shop, and keep the individual recipes handy so each finished component has its own clear method.