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I know one thing about you- you want a hyper-flavorfull nutty salsa with a level of heat that doesn’t make you scream. This Salsa Macha has been tried and loved by over 400 recipe testers. This reliable, easy recipe’s got robust smokey flavor, and slaps equally hard on authentic Mexican dishes as it does on your nachos.
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While some traditional recipes use raw peanuts, I've found that unsalted dry roasted peanuts deliver just as flavorful a result, and are easier to find in the US. In Oaxaca, the salsa macha trend is to use smoked pasilla chiles, but this recipe is based on some of the Chile varieties that are easiest to get your hands on all around the world, while staying true to the complexity of flavor and balanced heat you might have fallen in love with on a visit to Veracruz.
This versatile salsa is stupid-yummy to have all over your vegan burrito bowl, or drizzled onto homemade nachos with vegan nacho cheese. Get ready mommy, because with its complex flavors, this Salsa Macha recipe is going to be your new fave.
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🥰Why you’ll adore this salsa macha recipe
✊ Vegan AF and GF: Like all of my vegan Mexican recipes, this Salsa Macha is made without any animal based ingredients or cholesterol. And if you are hunting for gluten-free vegan recipes for your fave salsas, this right here checks all the dang boxes, m’love.
⭐️ Quick & Easy, Even If You Suck at Cooking: This recipe takes under 20 minutes from start to finish, making it a fast and reliable choice for homemade salsa.
⏰ It Lasts Hella Long: Because it’s made with dried peppers, and has plenty of oil in it, unlike salsa roja and my roasted habanero salsa, this one lasts for weeks in the fridge after you make it!
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like I do with all of the vegan recipes I share here, I first spent a very long time tweaking and perfecting this salsa. Then, before sharing it online, I had it tested and reviewed by a team of over 400 recipe testers who successfully recreated it all around the world.
🌶️ Ingredients for Salsa Macha
Guajillo Chiles
Guajillo chiles are dried mirasol peppers with a mild to medium heat and a slightly sweet, smoky flavor, which is why I rely on them my smoky tomatillo sauce as well as for non-Mexican recipes like my red curry paste.
If you can get them, this salsa is friggin’ insanely good made with smoked pasilla chiles in place of the guajillo peppers.
Ancho Chiles
Ancho chiles are dried poblanos known for their mild heat and rich, raisin-like sweetness. They are wayyyy much more about flavor than heat, which is why I use them in filling in my vegan tamale recipe, which would suck if they were too spicy. You can replace them with dried mulato chiles if you can’t get anchos.
Arbol Chiles
Arbol chiles are small, red, and very spicy, bringing a sharp heat to the salsa, which is why I don’t have a TON in the recipe. If you can’t get them, you can use dried Thai chilies like I use in my tom yum paste recipe.
If you prefer less heat, you can substitute with byadagi chilies, which are what I keep on hand to use for making the tempered oil toppings in my peerkagai recipe, and chana dal.
Oil
Salsa Macha isn’t a wet salsa like you might be used to in the US. Honestly, it has more of the consistency of nam prik pao, like a very thick, dark chili oil. So the oil you use matters, since there is quite a lot of it in the salsa.
Canola oil is a neutral oil with a high smoke point, perfect for frying without imparting any unwanted flavors. It helps to crisp the peanuts and garlic while extracting flavors from the chiles. Sunflower, mild olive oil, or vegetable oil can be used as alternatives.
Peanuts
Peanuts add a crunchy texture and a nutty richness to the salsa. I made this salsa recipe with unsalted dry roasted peanuts and here’s why:
- Salted peanuts vary wayyyyy too much in how salty they are, and I want to make sure you have consistent results.
- I always keep dry roasted peanuts on hand in my home kitchen to use in recipes like Kem Chuoi and Vietnamese peanut sauce, and I just didn’t want to have a zillion different types of peanuts in my pantry, because I’m a cheap bastid’.
You can absolutely make delicious salsa macha using almonds or cashews instead if you have a peanut allergy.
Oregano
Dried oregano is actually pretty essential to Mexican cooking, and you can see it in full effect in recipes like sopa de lentejas, and red chili sauce. If you can get it, Mexican oregano is preferred, but regular ol' oregano, like you would use to make vegan marinara, can be used just fine.
You would for real need to be some kind of perceptual savant to taste the difference in a blind taste test of the final salsa anyway.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Chipotle Salsa Macha
Add one or two chipotle peppers in adobo sauce to the blender for a rich, smoky flavor. I’m referring to the chipotles in adobo I use in my vegan nacho cheese recipe here. If you want to use dried chipotle chiles, you can seed them and roast them with the other dried chiles, but I prefer all of the pungent flavors that come with the canned chipotles.
Salsa Macha with Herbs
Add a nice handful of chopped fresh cilantro and parsley into the salsa. What I like to do is get the salsa to the consistency I like without the herbs, and then just pulse them in at the end. This way, there are lots of small bits of fresh herb throughout, rather than having them breakdown and become a puree. This type of salsa is especially bangin’ over a bowl of vegan Mexican rice with vegan refried beans. For real. Try it. It’s kinda breathtaking.
📖 How to make Salsa Macha
With crispy bits of toasted chilies, garlic, peanuts and sesame seeds, you are gonna be in heaven in no time 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
Seed Between the Lines:
Remove the stems from the dried chiles and shake out the seeds.
Step Two
I Fry ‘Em Fine:
Heat your oil in a small pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Once it’s hot, toss in the dried chiles, peanuts, and garlic cloves.
Step Three
But, Like, Not Tooooo Much Frying:
Let the mixture sizzle for just about 2 minutes until the garlic and peanuts turn lighty golden brown, but not burnt. Turn off the heat, then use a slotted spoon to transfer the chiles, peanuts, and garlic to a blender or food processor.
Step Four
Cool It:
Let the oil cool in the pot for 15 minutes. After it cools, pour it into the blender or food processor with the sesame seeds, lime juice, and salt.
✅ Want to balance the acidity of the lime juice? You might want to add up to a teaspoon of brown sugar, or coconut sugar here if you don't want a bright tasting salsa.
Step Five
Blend it Like Beckham:
Blend on low for 15 to 20 seconds if using a blender, or 30 to 40 seconds in a food processor.
✅Aim for a slightly chunky texture—don't make it into a smooth puree.
Step Six
Chill Out:
Allow the salsa to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, transfer it to a sterile glass jar and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Or serve it right quick with vegan fajitas and whatnot!
💡Serving Ideas
Salsa Macha is going to make your vegan taquitos stupidly hard to stop eating! I fill mine with tofu chorizo, but you can also make it filled with shredded vegan chicken.
I routinely serve my vegan tostadas with this salsa, topped with a sprinkle of vegan cotija, vegan sour cream, and fresh herbs. Salsa macha is also superb as a condiment to serve vegan elotes with.
Making vegan buffalo wings or vegan fried chicken for the Super Bowl? Well, a spoonful of salsa macha mixed into some vegan kewpie makes an instant yummy spicy mayo that’s a whole heck of lot more interesting and fun than regular ol’ tartar sauce.
👉Top tips
- Watch the Oil Temperature: Ensure the oil is hot before adding the chiles, peanuts, and garlic. Just letting the oil warm for about 2 minutes should be fine, but if you aren’t sure, you can use a frying thermometer. For sure you don’t want the oil hotter than 350. If the oil isn’t hot enough, the ingredients won’t crisp up and will absorb excess oil, which can lead to a greasy salsa.
- Even Golden Color: Make sure to stir the contents of the pan as you fry the chiles, peanuts, and garlic. That way you don't end up with some raw garlic making it through that didn’t end up submerged in the hot oil at some point.
- Cool the Oil Properly: Allow the oil to cool for at least 15 minutes before blending. You don’t want the oil hot enough to continue cooking the ingredients as they blend. It’s also kinda dangerous to be running a blender full of super-hot oil. You are trying to make salsa here. I don’t want to turn you into Freddy Krueger instead.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Transfer Salsa Macha to a sterile glass jar and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.
Yes, you can freeze Salsa Macha in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Just let it thaw in the fridge before using.
Absolutely. Changing the number of arbol chiles in the recipe can help you tweak the heat level. If you already made the sauce though, adding some cayenne or chipotle powder is the easiest way to make the finished sauce hotter.
Traditionally, salsa macha is made in a molcajete (a coarse mortar and pestle used in Mexican cooking). But since I’m a lazy bum and molcajetes are hard to clean well after they get oily, I use my fave high speed blender from Blendtec for this. Otherwise, it can totally be made in a regular ol’ food processor too.
✌️My faves to serve salsa macha on:
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Salsa Macha (an Easy & Fast Salsa Recipe)
Ingredients
- 4 guajillo chiles
- 4 ancho chiles
- 4 arbol chiles
- 1 cup canola oil vegetable oil, or sunflower oil
- ⅓ cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- 5 teaspoons lime juice
- ¾ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar optional
Instructions
- Remove the stems and shake out and discard the seeds from the dried chiles.
- In a small pot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Once the oil is hot, add the dried chilies, peanuts and garlic.
- Let the contents of the pot fry for about 2 minutes until the outside of the garlic and peanuts are golden, but not dark in color. Turn off the heat under the pot. Remove the garlic, peanuts and chiles from the pot using a slotted spoon or spider and place them into the pitcher of a blender or food processor.
- Allow the oil in the pot to cool for 15 minutes, and then add it to the blender or food processor along with the sesame seeds, oregano, lime juice, salt, and if you are using it the borwn sugar.
- If using a blender, process on low speed for 15-20 seconds, and if using a food processor for 30-40 seconds. You are looking for a well ground salsa, but not a completely smooth homogenous puree.
- Let the salsa cool to room temperature before serving. Once cooled to room temperature, you may transfer it to a sterile glass jar for storage in your refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.
Notes
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Kelly McLaughlin says
This is such a great recipe! I never had the chance to try salsa macha before but when I saw this recipe I thought I’d give it a try. I love the flavours! I will definitely make this again, plus when I see salsa macha as an option in restaurants, I now ask for some!