Guajillo Chile Salsa
Salsa de Chile Guajillo
Recipe Yield
2 cups
Cooking time
30 minutes
Rate this recipe
Ingredients
- 3 guajillo chiles (about 1 ounce), stemmed and seeded
- 1 pound roma tomatoes or about 4 or 5 tomatoes
- 1 garlic clove peeled
- 1/4 cup white onion roughly chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt or to taste
- 1 tablespoon safflower or corn oil
To Prepare
- Toast guajillo chiles for about 20 seconds per side over an already hot pan or comal set over medium low heat. Be careful not to burn them or they will taste bitter.
- Place toasted chiles, tomatoes and garlic in a pan covered with hot water and simmer for about 10 minutes until the guajillos are softened and tomatoes are cooked through. Place the chiles, tomatoes and garlic in the blender with about ½ cup of the cooking liquid, the onion, oregano, cumin and salt and puree until smooth. Strain the sauce.
- Heat oil in a sauce pan set over medium high heat. Once hot, pour in the sauce, careful because it will jump a bit, and simmer for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until the sauce thickens and seasons. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if needed. Once cooled down, the sauce may be refrigerated for a couple weeks.
Comments
55comments inGuajillo Chile Salsa
Bobbi Perio
Mar 11
Just made this salsa. Love it very much.
Mahalo Pati🤙🏼
Pati Jinich
Mar 11
So happy to hear Bobbi, gracias!
Rick H.
Jan 29
This is wonderful Pati! I made it for a sauce on tamales last night. I was so good I had it on my eggs this morning.
Pati Jinich
Jan 30
Yay! This is one of my favorite salsas ever as well Rick 😉
Lisa O.
Dec 24
I made breakfast enchiladas with this salsa and the family loved them. My daughter then stole the recipe I printed. Awesome.
Pati Jinich
Jan 14
Hahaha, so happy to hear Lisa!
Paolo
Sep 29
I found that adding a lot of lime (1-2 lime’s) really made this pop. I love your recipe’s and can’t wait to try more. Thank you
Pati Jinich
Oct 05
So glad you liked it Paolo, gracias!
Clement Mercier?
Aug 25
Great salsa. Next time, how do I strain the sauce?
Pati Jinich
Sep 04
Just pass it through a fine sieve Clement, to get rid of the tiny stubborn pieces of pepper that did not get ground 🙂
Michele Armstrong
Jun 02
Do I need to peel the tomatoes, or cut them up before cooking with the chilies and garlic?
Pati Jinich
Nov 25
Not at all Michele, use them whole and unpeeled!
Mark H
Apr 05
Delicious salsa. Thanks for this recipe. Simple yet complex flavors. It was plenty smooth after blending about 30 seconds. I did not strain it.
Pati Jinich
Jun 12
So glad you liked it Mark!
Jill Budzynski
Dec 23
This salsa must be served in Heaven, it’s so perfect. It haunts my tastebuds and I’m going to use it on LOTS of things edible. Exquisite.
Pati Jinich
Dec 26
Awesome! Gracias Jill 🙂
Heather
Dec 20
This is a beautiful silky flavorful salsa–would it be appropriate to use in a chilaquiles recipe?
Pati Jinich
Dec 26
Absolutely, great idea Heather go for it 🙂
Vivian Rivera
Oct 29
Love this sauce Pati. Thank you
Would you recommend this for tamale’s?
Pati Jinich
Oct 29
Absolutely! You can mix it with some shredded pork or chicken and use it as a filling for your tamales Vivian 🙂
Doodles312
Oct 26
O. M. G. So good on everything!!
Pati Jinich
Oct 29
Agree! Glad you liked it 😉
Anna
Jul 01
Why isn’t the onion and garlic toasted on the comal as well?
Pati Jinich
Jul 03
The caramelization gives this salsa, and everything actually, an extra layer of flavor Anna. Hope you enjoy it!
Roberta
Jun 30
I’ve seen you making it this way many times, and with an abundance of tomatoes here in my so cal garden, I’m wondering how you think this would freeze? Congrats on the Emmy nod!
Pati Jinich
Jul 04
Hola Roberta, there is no such a thing as too many tomatoes right? This salsa freezes very well and also stays in the fridge for 2-3 weeks, enjoy!
Rose Marie Espinosa
Jun 30
Delicious
Pati Jinich
Jul 04
Yay!
Vanessa
Apr 23
Do you really have to simmer the tomatoes before blending if you are going to fry the salsa afterwards anyway? I’ve been trying to figure out why some recipes you cook soft fleshy ingredients beforehand and some you don’t?
Pati Jinich
Apr 25
For this salsa, cooking the tomatoes before frying them gives it another layer of flavor Vanessa, sometimes I even char them in a comal. It depends on your taste, you can also go ahead and do it with ripe tomatoes, enjoy 🙂
Cheryl
Mar 31
Hi Pati!
We don’t have really good fresh tomatoes until summer at our grocers. If a recipe calls for 1 pound of Roma or other tomatoes, can I substitute for canned, and what version should I look for? Whole, crushed, or can I use tomato sauce? How much canned, verses fresh tomato? Thank you so much! I love your recipes, and watching your show!
Pati Jinich
Apr 11
Hola Cheryl, I hear you about the tomatoes, so feel free to use canned. Go for whole or crushed but do not use tomato sauce. One large can of whole tomatoes should be around 1 pound. Enjoy!
Alicia Hunt
Feb 24
Pati ,I made this Chile salsa I give it 5 stars…,
😊 thank you
Pati Jinich
Mar 07
Thanks to you Alicia!
Amanda
Oct 02
Hola Pati.
Me gusta ver tus recetas.
En esta receta de Salsa de Chile Guajillo, al final dice que se debe refrigerar por un par de semanas.
Está correcto eso?
Saludos
Pati Jinich
Oct 04
Hola Amanda! No quiere decir que se tenga que refrigerar dos semanas antes de usarse, sino que dura dos semanas si la guardas en el refri. Ay no! Te imaginas tener que esperar tanto? Que desesperacion 🙂
Gloria
Jul 02
Hi Pati – after seeing guajillo recipes on your website and the variety of dried chilies at the store, I decided to give this salsa recipe a go. My favorite way to eat this is as a additive to many different types of recipes especially hispanic food, and it is absolutely amazing on eggs, tacos, asadas, rice, etc. It’s even good mixed with mayonnaise and spread on a sandwich.
During this lockdown period, I’ve been experimenting alot with flavor enhancing sauces and spice mixtures. This is a winner!
Pati Jinich
Jul 05
Thanks for your feedback Gloria, I absolutely agree with you, Guajillos are super versatile and delicious in salsa! So glad you liked this recipe 😉
Anonymous
Mar 03
Good day, Ms Pati!
Love this recipe, though it lacks the heat I find myself craving.
So to cure the crave, I add a habanero to the simmering water, triple the garlic and double the spices.
Oh my!!
Between this and your verde ( I also triple the peppers) fresh salsa is something I regularly enjoy!
Thank you so much! Next up will be trying a roasted pork shoulder recipe!
Thank you,
Michael Dale
Pati Jinich
Mar 04
Wow Michael, you do like it spicy! Good for you, I think habaneros were a great addition to this salsa 😉
Anonymous
Oct 22
Hola Patti!
Your recipe calls for toasting the pepper.
I can only find this pepper in a dried state.
Are you actually toasting a dried guajillo pepper?
This technique would be new to me and that is why I’m asking.
Thank you for your help!
Michael Dale
Pati Jinich
Oct 23
Oh yes, you toast the dried pepper, Michael. Here’s some more info: http://patijinich.com/pati_2020/guajillo_chile/ Enjoy the salsa!
Robyn Plascencia
Jul 29
Pati, is this the same as simple enchilada sauce?
Pati Jinich
Aug 01
That’s a different sauce…try this one: http://patijinich.com/pati_2020/enchiladas-in-red-tomato-sauce/
Tommy G
Jul 11
This recipe is unreal! Used unstrained on scrambled eggs also for chip dipping. I love all of your cooking ideas and endless recipes. I have learned so much from watching your tv show, keep up the great work Pati!
Pati Jinich
Jul 12
Thank you so much, Tommy!
Jasmine
Jul 06
So super yummy! I ended up not straining it as I like a chunkier salsa. So rico! I made breakfast tostadas with eggs, chorizo and black beans and ripped then with this salsa. It was divine! Foodie mama, picky papa and 15 mo old all so happy! A rare occasion!
Pati Jinich
Jul 08
So glad you all are happy, Jasmine!
Peter
Feb 19
i used the sauce with beef liver tacos😎WOW
Pati
Feb 20
Yum!
James
Feb 15
I had a similar experience to Christina (before reading this comment) that in my fine-mesh strainer almost nothing came out, so I wasn’t sure which side of the strainer I was supposed to discard. Luckily I kept it all and it turned out delicious. Thanks Pati for all your great recipes and techniques!
Pati
Feb 19
So glad you are enjoying the recipes and techniques, James!
Christina Morache
Jan 21
Patti, once I strained the sauce though a sieve, there was barely half a cup of salsa left. Thoughts? Regardless, it tasted delicious.
Thanks!
Pati
Feb 04
Some chiles and tomatoes run a bit small…make sure to use an ounce of guajillos with a pounds of tomatoes. You can also skip the straining part, if your blender does a good job of pureeing 😉
velia
Mar 23
Yo frio los chiles y los remojo, aparte frío los jitomates, cebolla y ajos. después muelo todo junto agreagando los chiles ya suaves y las especias.