This Homemade Mint Sauce recipe is surprisingly simple, packed with flavour, and quick to make. It’s tangy, minty notes perfectly complement roast lamb and I promise you’ll wonder why you haven’t made it before!
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I’m someone who occasionally makes homemade butter, makes their own homemade pastry and in general cooks a lot from scratch So I recently wondered why I still bought many of the sauces that I serve with my epic roast dinner feasts. I’d made both smooth and chunky cranberry sauce before and I’ve always homemade my creamy bread sauce. But I decided to experiment and make some more.
First I tackled British Apple Sauce which is most commonly served with pork. Next on my list was this Mint Sauce which is most commonly served with lamb. This sauce did take a little more experimenting than others to get the balance of the sweet and sour flavours just right. I also had a bit of a shock when I discovered just how much mint is actually needed to make not all that much sauce!
Saying that, it is best to make homemade mint sauce in smaller batches so that doesn’t become an issue. I don’t find that it keeps as well as other cooked fruit sauces so smaller is better. Unless of course you grow mint in which case you’ll likely have enough to make mint sauce and start selling it to local pubs within 3 months. If you’ve ever tried growing mint then you’ll know what I mean. And if you haven’t tried it, you should – just make sure to plant it in a pot and not the ground or you’ll have a field of mint in no time.
Mint Sauce vs Mint Jelly
Mint sauce and mint jelly are not worlds apart although mint jelly does tend to be sweeter. And of course it is more like a soft set jam in consistency. Mint sauce isn’t thickened in anyway and is overall quite loose and thin. British people do often tend to have a distinct preference as to which they prefer but I have to admit I’m quite happy with either.
Mint sauce isn’t a common condiment in the US although I am told that mint jelly is more readily available. This isn’t so surprising as lamb isn’t nearly as commonly eaten as it is in the UK. Australia and New Zealand are of course renowned for their lamb and both mint sauce and jelly are widely eaten and available there.
How to Serve Mint Sauce
Naturally the first thing you’ll likely think of is that mint sauce is the perfect condiment for lamb. Especially with roast lamb served on a traditional roast dinner. And you wouldn’t be wrong. Whether you like a little bit on the side to dip your roast meat in, or spoon it all over your roast dinner, it’s a classic flavour combo for a reason.
I’ve got you covered for roasted lamb recipes – you can find my air fried lamb collection by clicking the image below. But don’t forget no one is policing your dinner – if you like mint sauce with other roast meats, don’t let anyone stop you!
But it is worth bearing in mind that you can use it in other ways. The most obvious is as a dressing or marinade. Shake it with a neutral oil to make a salad dressing – use one part mint sauce and around 2 parts oil. Add a little cumin and very finely chopped red chilli for a little kick.
Use that same dressing as a marinade or instead, mix it through thick plain yogurt or crème fraiche and use as a dip, dressing, sauce or marinade. I especially like to do this with a middle eastern style meal with air fried chicken with za’atar seasoning on a bed of Turkish rice.
Another classic way to use mint sauce is to flavour the cooking water for new/baby potatoes. just stir a table spoon into salted water and cook the whole potatoes until tender all the way through. The flavour will permeate into the potato and be subtlety minty right to the centre. You can toss the drained potatoes in more sauce for an extra kick.
Mint Sauce Ingredients
Mint
For the most part when buying mint for culinary use, it will be a variety of spearmint. There are many varieties of mint with the other most common being peppermint. You can use any variety to make this mint sauce but of course the type you use will affect the flavour of the final sauce. If you want to replicate the mint sauce commonly available in the UK, stick with spearmint.
I’ve given the quantity of mint leaves needed as 50g after they have been stripped from their stems. For me, using the bags of supermarket mint that I bought, this took a total of 80g of mint sprigs. Different varieties of mint, different growing seasons and the maturity of the plant will affect how thick and heavy the stems are. So the final amount of leaves is more important than the starting quantity.
Vinegar
I experimented using several different varieties of vinegar to make this sauce. I found that the slight sweetness of white wine and cider/cyder vinegar gave the best results. It certainly gave the result that was closest to the traditional bought sauce.
Malt vinegar and straight white vinegar were much too astringent and red wine vinegar added a flavour that isn’t welcome. Rice vinegar is however a good alternative with the right flavour profile.
Sugar
The type and amount of sugar needed for this recipe was another element that took a surprising amount of working out. It is best to stick with simple white sugar – this provides the sweetness needed without any additional flavouring.
It doesn’t matter if you use granulated or caster (superfine) sugar as it is heated in the sugar to melt in anyway.
Be Flexible
I would suggest making the sauce per the recipe and allowing it to sit for a little while. Once the flavours have had a chance to meld, you can make adjustments as you prefer. A little more sugar, a little more vinegar or even more water to thin it further.
As for making major changes, you can make a more subtle sauce by switching half or more of the mint for parsley – either curly or flat-leaf. To make a more pungent sauce you can take your cues from chimichurri sauce and switch some of the mint for oregano. Add minced fresh garlic and use red wine vinegar for an even closer match.
Vegetarian or Vegan Mint Sauce
This homemade mint sauce recipe contains no animal derived ingredients and is therefore suitable for vegetarians and vegans as written.
Make Allergy Friendly Mint Sauce
This recipe is free from egg, dairy, gluten and nuts.
Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.
Equipment Notes for Mint Sauce
I am fully aware that there are many people who may be horrified at the concept of cutting herbs with a metal knife. So if you want to attempt to cut several bunches of mint leaves into very small pieces by tearing them or using a plastic knife, please be my guest.
But I have no issue with using a knife here. It can also be an idea to use a small food processor or chopper. You do need to make quite a few passes over the leaves with a knife to get the pieces small enough so this is especially helpful if you have any dexterity, grip or mobility issues.
A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.
Get Ahead
You can make this mint sauce around two to three days ahead of time. It will need to be kept in the fridge and this recipe hasn’t been tested for long term preservation or canning.
Although the sauce is realistically good to use for several more days after this – up to around 7 days, it is at it’s best when relatively fresh.
Homemade Mint Sauce Tips
It really is worth spending the time making sure that firstly all of the stalks are fully removed from the mint. Unlike herbs like coriander or parsley, the stalks are not nice to eat in this manner.
Secondly it is worth spending the time making sure that the leaves are chopped really finely. A large chopping board and a large sharp knife will make this easier.
You will need to trust your own tastebuds and preferences to balance the flavours of the final sauce. The vinegar you use will be slightly different in astringency than mine and we all have preferences. So don’t be scared to use my recipe as a starting point and add as you need.
Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?
Still Have Questions?
Simple! Just contact me and I will do my best to help as quickly as I am able. Head over to my Contact Me page, any of my social media channels or post a comment at the bottom of this page and I’ll see what I can do.
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More Sauce Recipes
The Recipe
Homemade Mint Sauce Recipe (For Lamb)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 50 g Fresh Mint Leaves - see note
- 4 tbsp Sugar
- 8 tbsp White Wine/Cyder/Rice Wine Vinegar
- ¼ tsp Sea Salt Flakes
- 4 tbsp Water
Instructions
- Prepare the mint by stripping the leaves from the stalks and discarding any leaves that are wilted or discoloured. You are looking to end up with around 50g Fresh Mint Leaves in total.
- Use a large knife to chop the leaves.
- Keep going over and over the leaves until they are really finely chopped. This will take a few minutes so keep going!
- Add 4 tbsp Sugar, 8 tbsp Vinegar, ¼ tsp Sea Salt Flakes and 4 tbsp Water to a small saucepan.
- Gently heat the vinegar mixture over a medium heat whist continuously stirring. Take it off the heat as soon as you can see and feel that all the sugar is dissolved.
- Put the chopped mint leaves into a mixing bowl and pour over the vinegar mix.
- Stir until everything is combined and allow to cool.
Denise says
I’m a big fan or both lamb and mint sauce, but I had never made my own. It was so simple and so much nicer than anything I’ve bought.
Lesley says
This was so easy to make and had a great flavour of fresh mint to it, far tastier than store bought mint sauce.