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This sorta-insanely well-tested red hatch chili sauce is the perfect cure for otherwise kinda boring enchiladas, tacos, and more. A perfected New Mexico classic sauce needs to be balanced and lightly smokey, and why shouldn't it be stupid-easy and fast to make too?
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Made from dried New Mexico chilis, this sauce can be varied in heat according to your taste, but consistently delivers a smoky flavor to perk up vegan fajitas, is great over vegetarian Mexican rice, and takes your vegan burrito bowls with vegan chorizo to the zeta-level where angels play a trumpet while you try to eat breakfast in peace.
So, why mess with store-bought sauce when making your own is so simple and rewarding? I can think of only 3 reasons: (1) You prefer bad-tasting sauces, (2) you got upset and threw your blender out of an airplane to its perilous fate below, or (3) you like your food to taste plain and sad (your favorite food is plain spaghetti that you eat out of a ziplock bag on the subway).
Follow this tried-and-true method, and you'll have a homemade red chile sauce that's gonna start a dang riot at the next potluck you go to. Trust me, print and bring copies of the recipe to share, because people are gonna ask you for it! Let's get cooking and unleash the true potential of these incredible hatch chiles!
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🥰Why you'll adore this red chili sauce recipe
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✊ Vegan AF & GF: Like all of my vegan sauces, this bad boy brings the heat and flavor without a single animal product. What's that? You hate gluten so much, and you are mad at soybeans too?!? No worries, this is one of my soy-free gluten-free vegan recipes, so you can have a meal that you don't throw at the wall in a rage for once.
🔬 Rich, Smoky Flavor: Part of the secret to this sauce's deep, aromatic flavor lies in the roasting of the New Mexico chiles, which enhances their natural smokiness. This process bumps the sauce's flavor and fragrance and maximizes the release of capsaicin, which is known for its antioxidant properties.
🌶️ A unique flavor: This recipe has balanced acidity from the subtle use of vinegar and a tiny bit of sugar. While this method is not 100% traditional in New Mexican chile sauce, both my testers and I preferred this more fine-tuned flavor that brings out some lovely nuances of the dried chilies.
✅Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all the vegan recipes I share, this sauce was first replicated successfully by a massive crew of testers from all around the world. It is a reliable choice for your sauce game.
🌶️Ingredients for this New Mexico red chili recipe
Dried Chilies
Dried New Mexico, Hatch, Anaheim, or Pasilla chilies form the backbone of your New Mexico Red Chili Sauce, providing a smoky, mildly spicy base. In their native Mexico, these chilies are often called "chile ancho" or "chile Colorado."
Additionally, Hatch chilies are almost exclusively grown in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico, known for its nutrient-rich soil and unique growing conditions, contributing to their distinct taste profile. Hatch chilies are traditionally either sun-dried or air-dried, which allows them to slowly dehydrate while retaining their flavor and developing a deeper, more robust taste. While both Hatch and New Mexico chilies belong to the annum species and share similar characteristics, the drying method and growing region result in nuanced differences in flavor, heat level, and culinary applications.
Ancho chilies are a great option too. They are sweeter and milder, which is why I use them in a ton of recipes from these killer vegan tamales, to salsa roja, and salsa macha. If you can't get any of those, dried guajillo (like I use for making salsa verde with) or mulato chilies can be used as substitutes.
Oregano
Mexican oregano, or regular ol' dried oregano adds a sweet herbal earthiness that pairs wonderfully with cumin and coriander in the sauce. Mexican oregano is preferred for its more citrusy and less bitter profile than the Mediterranean oregano used for making vegan marinara. That being said, regular oregano will work in this recipe too.
Tomato Paste
While a lot of recipes call for using tomato sauce, I like having more of the flavor come from the natural ingredients that are part of this recipe. Since tomato sauce can vary so much in flavor, thickness, and saltiness, I opted to write this recipe using tomato paste that becomes a sauce when combined with the other ingredients so that the results are predictably great for folks all around the world. However, if you want to double down on the pepper flavor of this sauce, a great alternative is to use tatli biber salcasi, the classic Turkish pepper paste that absolutely slaps in recipes like Kisir, Lahana Sarma, and Mercimek Kofte.
Sugar
A tiny bit of either Brown Sugar, Coconut Sugar, or Palm sugar is essential to balance the acidity of the tomatoes and the heat of the chilies. Brown sugar provides a deep, molasses-like sweetness, while coconut or palm sugar offers a more subtle sweetness with a hint of caramel, which is why that is my go-to sweetener for desserts like klepon and bubur sumsum.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Chipotle Adobo Chile Sauce:
For a smokier, slightly spicy version, add chipotle peppers in adobo sauce into the base recipe. Blend in one or two chipotles with a teaspoon of the adobo sauce for a deeper, more complex flavor. This sauce goes particularly well on vegan fried chicken, mixed into turmeric rice, or as a dipping sauce for vegan buffalo chicken.
Mole-Inspired Red Chili Sauce:
Enhance the traditional red chili sauce with elements typical of a mole sauce, such as ground seeds, a piece of dark chocolate and a pinch of cinnamon. This adds depth, a hint of sweetness and a robust bitterness that balances the heat, making the sauce amazing on vegan taquitos.
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📖 How to make Red Chili Sauce
Master this sauce on your first shot by following these step-by-step photos with helpful tips. Or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the easy-to-print recipe card.
Step One
Heat Wave Starts:
Warm your oven to 350°F (175°C). Spread the dried chilies on a tray and toast them briefly-just until they emit a tempting aroma but haven't darkened-about five to seven minutes. Take them out and let them cool off.
Step Two
Soak in the Heat:
Transfer the toasted chilies into a bowl and douse them with boiling water. Cover them and let them steep for about 15 to 20 minutes until they become tender.
Step Three
Sizzle and Spice:
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Toss in the onions and garlic, and cook for 4 minutes until they're just softened and aromatic.
Step Four
Base Flavors:
Stir in the oregano, cumin, and coriander. Keep everything moving in the pan for a few minutes as the spices become fragrant.
Step Five
Bubble and Tenderize:
Add the softened chilies and their soaking liquid to the pan along with the tomato paste, vinegar, your chosen sweetener and salt. After four minutes, turn off the heat when the liquid starts to boil.
Step Six
Blend to Perfection:
Dump the sauce mixture into a blender and let it cool for ten minutes. Then, blend on medium speed for 90 seconds until the sauce is smooth.
Step Seven
In Strain in the Membrane:
Pour the sauce into a saucepan through a fine mesh strainer to remove any bits of seed or pepper that didn't totally blend.
✅For a thicker consistency, simmer over low-medium heat for about ten minutes to concentrate the flavors.
Step Eight
Cool and Jar:
Take the sauce off the heat and allow it to cool. Then, if not using immediately, pour into a jar. The sauce lasts in the refrigerator for up to 6 days. Use it to jazz up your favorite dishes whenever you like.
💡Serving Ideas
This vibrant New Mexico Red Chili Sauce is a versatile condiment that adds a tasty and tolerable heat to whatever you want to pour it all over.
Drizzle it over chilaquiles verdes or vegan elote for a smoky take on classic Mexican street corn, or mix a generous spoonful into Vegan Cheese Sauce to make the best nachos in the darned galaxy. It's great to use as a finishing sauce to cook homemade seitan in.
You wouldn't be wrong to dip vegan fried chicken into the stuff (don't freak out, you can totally make it in your air fryer, if that's your jam). Basically think of using is as a less tangy, more robust sauce to use in place of vegan buffalo sauce.
👉Top tips
- Roast for Robust Flavor: Lightly toasting the dried chilies before soaking them can significantly improve their flavor. Sometimes dried chilies can look a little dusty. Wiping them down with a damp kitchen towel before roasting them helps remove some of the particles that can easily burn and contribute to a bitter taste.
- Don't Skip Straining: Especially if you aren't using a fantastic blender (my ride or die is from Blendtec). Straining the blended sauce through a fine mesh sieve is a crucial step in achieving a smooth, velvety texture.
- Rest to Develop Flavors: It's not in your head! The sauce is even better a day or two later when it has a chance to fully combine and mature, reducing the initial sharpness of the spices and rounding out the overall taste.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
You can keep your New Mexico Red Chili Sauce in the refrigerator for up to 6 days if it's in an airtight container or mason jar. For longer storage, you can freeze the sauce in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to three months, and you will have a homemade flavor bomb on hand for use anytime you want a little on-demand fire.
The spiciness of your sauce will depend on the type of chile pods you use. New Mexico chile pods can range in heat, so choose mild, medium, or hot varieties according to your preference. You can always start with less and add more to increase the heat to your liking. Think of this more as an enchilada sauce. It's not anywhere nearly as spicy as fermented chat sauce or other absurdly spicy hot sauces.
If your New Mexico Red Chili Sauce tastes too bitter, you can adjust the flavor by adding a little vinegar and maple syrup to balance the sauce and mask the bitterness.
The spiciness of your sauce will depend on the type of chile pods you use. New Mexico chile pods can range in heat, so choose mild, medium, or hot varieties according to your preference. You can always start with less and add more to increase the heat to your liking. Think of this more as an enchilada sauce. For sure it's not anywhere nearly as spicy as fermented shatta sauce, pickled hari mirch, or other absurdly spicy hot sauces.
While the answer is 100% yes, letting the sauce sit in the fridge for a couple of days makes it even better. This waiting period allows the flavors to deepen and mature.
✌️My faves to serve New Mexico red chili sauce on:
New Mexico Red Chili Sauce
Ingredients
- 15 dried hatch chilies (AKA Anaheim chilies and New Mexico chilies), or Pasilla chilies, stems removed
- 2 ¼ cup boiling water
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ⅓ cup onion small dice
- 2 tablespoons garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar (or coconut sugar, or palm sugar)
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Once the oven is hot, place dried chilies on a baking sheet and roast for 5-7 minutes, just until fragrant but not dark. Remove from oven and let them cool to room temperature.
- In a bowl, pour boiling water over the roasted chilies. Cover and let the chilies soak and steam for 15-20 minutes until softened.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil. After 2 minutes when the oil is hot, sauté onions and garlic until softened, for about 4 minutes.
- Add oregano, cumin, and coriander to the saucepan. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add the chilies and their soaking water, along with the tomato paste, vinegar, sugar and salt, to the pan and continue to cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes until the liquid starts to boil and bubble.
- Transfer the contents of the pan to a blender. Allow the mixture to cool for ten minutes before blending at medium speed for 90 seconds until smooth.
- Strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer back into the pan to remove any seeds or miff maff. If you would like to thicken the sauce, cook over low-medium heat for 10 minutes to reduce it.
- Remove from heat and let the sauce cool before transferring to a jar or container for storage. Use as desired in your favorite recipes.
Notes
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Heva says
Delicious and packed with flavour.
Marna says
Very unique flavor... a departure from typical New Mexican red chile with the use of vinegar, sugar and tomato paste...perfect for tostadas and burritos!
Mari J Hahn says
Very authentic flavor