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Ajvar (Macedonian Roasted Red Pepper Relish)
Sweet red peppers, and a little eggplant, roasted until blistered, peeled and cooked down for hours with sunflower oil until thick, glossy and smoky, the autumn relish for bread, cheese and grilled meat.
Macedonian · medium · serves 12
prep 60 min · cook 150 min · plus 1 h hands-off time
~211 cal · 3g protein · 17g carbs · 15g fat · 5g fiber · 7g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Every autumn, when sweet red peppers pile up at the markets, families in North Macedonia gather in their yards to make ajvar. The peppers are roasted over wood fires or on stove-top plates until blackened, peeled while warm by a small army of relatives, ground and then stirred for hours in huge pans over the fire. It is so much a part of the season that it is described as almost a small holiday, and the jars go into the cellar as zimnica, the winter stores.
The Macedonian way puts the peppers first. The traditional choice is a long, thick-fleshed sweet red pepper such as the Kurtovska kapija, and many families make ajvar from peppers alone, cooked down with sunflower oil and salt; others add a little roasted eggplant, garlic, a splash of vinegar or a pinch of sugar. Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia make it too, and both Macedonian ajvar and Serbian Leskovac ajvar have protected names.
The word comes from the Turkish havyar, caviar. Ajvar is eaten spread on bread with white cheese, beside grilled meat, or with pastries, and a spoonful goes into sandwiches all winter.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 12
- 3 kg long sweet red peppers (such as Kurtovska kapija, ramiro or red bell)
- 1 medium (about 350 g) eggplant, optional; many Macedonian families use peppers only
- 200 ml sunflower oil
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, optional
- 1 tbsp wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt, or to taste
Instructions
- 1Heat the oven to 220C (425F). Lay the whole peppers and the eggplant on baking trays and roast for 45 to 60 minutes, turning once or twice, until the skins are blistered and blackened and the flesh is soft.
- 2Put the hot peppers in a covered pot or bowl for 20 minutes to steam, then peel them and remove the stalks and seeds. Scoop the eggplant flesh from its skin.
- 3Leave the peeled peppers and eggplant to drain in a colander for at least 1 hour, or overnight, so the ajvar cooks down faster.
- 4Grind the peppers and eggplant through a mincer or pulse them in a food processor until finely chopped but not puréed.
- 5Put the mixture in a wide, heavy pot and cook over medium-low heat for about 45 minutes, stirring often, until much of the water has evaporated.
- 6Stir in the garlic, then add the oil a little at a time, stirring constantly, and keep cooking for about 45 minutes more, until the ajvar is thick and glossy and a spoon dragged through it leaves a clear trail.✎ Chef’s noteIt spits as it thickens. Use a long wooden spoon, keep the heat low and scrape the bottom so it does not catch.
- 7Stir in the vinegar, sugar and salt and taste. Serve cool with bread and white cheese or grilled meat, or spoon it hot into sterilised jars, cover with a thin layer of oil and seal.
Macedonian autumn zimnica tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Skopje. Autumn is pepper season and the whole country smells of it. Red peppers are roasted in quantity, peeled and cooked down with aubergine into ajvar and put up in jars for the winter, and whatever is not made into ajvar gets dried and ground into the paprika that colours nearly everything else.
🗺️
North Macedonia. North Macedonian cooking is Balkan and garden-driven, ajvar pepper relish, tavče gravče baked beans, and grilled meats. Peppers, beans, dairy, and Ottoman-rooted pastries define a warm, rustic table.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from North Macedonia
Tavče GravčeNorth Macedonia's national dish: white beans baked in a clay pan with paprika, peppers, and mint.
BurekCoiled flaky pastry filled with cheese, baked golden and eaten with a drinking yogurt.
PastrmajlijaAn oval bread base topped with cubed marinated meat and baked crisp, North Macedonia's boat-shaped flatbread.
Browse all North Macedonia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Oven, Steamer, Food processor.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a North Macedonia meal
RavanijaDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Ajvar (Macedonian Roasted Red Pepper Relish)?
Sweet red peppers, and a little eggplant, roasted until blistered, peeled and cooked down for hours with sunflower oil until thick, glossy and smoky, the autumn relish for bread, cheese and grilled meat.
Where does Ajvar (Macedonian Roasted Red Pepper Relish) come from?
Ajvar (Macedonian Roasted Red Pepper Relish) is a Macedonian dish from Skopje, North Macedonia.
Can Ajvar (Macedonian Roasted Red Pepper Relish) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Ajvar (Macedonian Roasted Red Pepper Relish) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Ajvar (Macedonian Roasted Red Pepper Relish) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Ajvar (Macedonian Roasted Red Pepper Relish) take to make?
About 4 h 30 min in all: 60 minutes prep and 150 minutes cooking, plus 1 h of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 12.
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