Confession: I’ve lived almost my entire life in New Mexico and NEVER made my own red chile sauce!
Most of the restaurants around town have their own special recipes which are sold at the grocery stores so I’ve never had much need for my own recipe. But I can hardly call myself a New Mexican without at least knowing how to make red chile sauce.
As usual, I did my research and found several recipes. I took elements from each recipe and added a few flavorings I typically like in my chile and this recipe was born! I thought for sure I’d have to play around with it more but I am really happy with how it turned out on my first try. Hope you love it too!
New Mexico Red Chile Sauce
A delicious spicy sauce made from New Mexico red chiles. Use it in place of salsa or put it on just about anything like you would ketchup or any other condiment.
Ingredients
- 25 pods New Mexico Red Chile dried, whole
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 6 cloves Garlic peeled
- 1 tsp Mexican Oregano dried
- 1/2 tsp Cumin dried
- 2 tsp Better Than Bouillon vegetable base
- 1/4 White Onion diced
- Water
Instructions
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Stem and seed your red chile pods.
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Place pods in a pot and cover with water.
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Cover the pot and bring water to a boil.
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Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 20 minutes to soften the pods.
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Remove from heat, set cover aside, and allow to cool while preparing other ingredients. Don’t pour the water out – you’ll need some of it for the next step!
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Place chiles, garlic, Mexican oregano, cumin, Better Than Bouillon paste, white onion, and 3 cups of the chile water in a blender.
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Blend until smooth – about 2 minutes.
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If you don’t have a high-powered blender like a Vitamix, you may need to strain your sauce by pressing it through a fine sieve or cheesecloth if you want a super smooth sauce. If you don’t mind some texture in your sauce, you can skip this step!
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Store in a jar in the refrigerator up to 1 week or freeze. You can portion it into ice cube trays or into freezer bags to store in the freezer.
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Enjoy on anything!
Note: This recipe uses New Mexico Red Chiles which are technically the Hatch Green Chiles I wrote about here. They turn red and develop a different flavor profile when you leave them on the plant a bit longer. If you’re out of state, you can order red chile pods online from several different places. Even Amazon carries them!