Cole Cooks: New Mexico Red Chili Sauce
On our cross-country trips, we love stopping in New Mexico for the food. New Mexico has its own unique cuisine and we are big fans. We have developed many New Mexican recipes. However, one of the basics is a New Mexico Red Chili Sauce. This sauce is key to many delicious dishes.
Go To Recipe
One of the great things with New Mexico chilis is you never know how spicy they will be. On our recent stop at Duran’s Central Pharmacy in Old Town Albuquerque, the wait staff was warning everyone the red chilis were running very hot this year.
The best way to ensure a more even heat level is to buy the dried, packaged New Mexico chilies. In San Diego, these are commonly found in the grocery store in 8-ounce packages. In most cases, they will be a fairly predictable moderate heat. If you like your food hotter you can always add extra heat.
This is an easy recipe to make. Simply toast the chilies, simmer them in water and blend. This puree is added to stock with onions, flour, and spices. The final step is once again blending. For stock, we are big on Better than Bouillon Beef. However, they also have vegetarian flavors.
Note there is some debate about whether to toast the chilies. Serious Eats has an article on why you should toast them. Cook’s Illustrated recipe for carne adovada (made using red sauce) says to skip toasting the chilis. We have always toasted the peppers and it is an easy step.
We find that our Nutra Ninja works great for this recipe. However, any blender, or even a food processor, should work fine. What you want is a smooth red sauce the consit6ecny of tomato soup,
This recipe can be used in many dishes. Some of the dishes we use it for include our Frito Pie and Pork Carne Adovada. It also works as an enchilada sauce, a topping for burritos and for breakfast with huevos rancheros.
For a simple meal, you can create a bow of red chili like the serve at Duran’s Central Pharmacy in Albuquerque. You simply brown some ground beef, add red sauce and serve it a bowl like a soup.
New Mexico Red Chili Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 oz Dried New Mexico chiles
- 4 cups beef stock chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
- 2 Tablespoons lard or vegetable oil
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano or marjoram
- 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions
- Heat a pot of water to boiling. In a large skillet, toast whole chiles on both sides until steaming. Work in batches if necessary. Add toasted chilis to boiling water. Reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle remove stem and seeds.
- In a blender combine chiles with stock or water. Work in batches if necessary. Puree the chiles.
- In large skillet heat lard or vegetable oil. Add onion, garlic and flour. Cook until golden, stirring frequently. Add chili puree, cumin, Mexican oregano (or marjoram), vinegar, salt, and honey.
- Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 15 minutes.
- When mixture is cool process in a blender. Work in batches if necessary.
In addition to New Mexico Red Chili Sauce, there is also a famous New Mexico Green Chili Sauce. See our recipe for Pork Chili Verde to see a version of this green sauce we make.
We made this with our Nutri Ninja. See our review.
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