Guajillo Chile Salsa

Name: Guajillo Chile Salsa
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
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

Salsa de Chile Guajillo

Recipe Yield

2 cups

Cooking time

30 minutes

Rate this recipe

4.50 from 8 votes

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🤙🏼

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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

1. 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?

1. 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?

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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?

1. 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?

1. 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!!

1. 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?

1. 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!

1. 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

1. 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?

1. 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!

1. 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

1. 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

1. 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!

1. 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

1. 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

1. 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?

1. 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!

1. 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!

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Jul 08
  
  So glad you all are happy, Jasmine!
  
Peter

Feb 19

i used the sauce with beef liver tacos😎WOW

1. 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!

1. 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!

1. 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.

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