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Ancho Chile Salsa Recipe

From: Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta , by
Ancho Chile Salsa
Makes: 2 1/2 cups

This mellow salsa is made with ancho chiles, which are dried poblano chiles. The chiles are prepared and cooked with tomatoes and tart tomatillos. This is a good all-around salsa that will enhance the flavor of almost any dish. A rich tomato flavor is important in this salsa, so when tomatoes are out of season, Jesús will often substitute good-quality canned tomatoes.

Note: Be sure to use Mexican oregano, which has a milder taste than Mediterranean varieties.

See Deborah Schneider preparing her ancho chile salsa in this CHOW Tip.

This recipe was featured as part of our Nacho Recipes photo gallery.

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1/2 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 3 small garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
  • 2 dried ancho chiles, seeded and torn into pieces
  • 3 dried guajillo or California chiles, seeded and torn into pieces
  • 2 Roma tomatoes, cored seeded, and roughly chopped
  • 4 large green tomatillos, husks removed, washed, and roughly chopped
  • 2 cups water or basic vegetable broth
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
  • 2 tablespoons fresh Mexican oregano, or 1 tablespoon dried (see note)
  • Fresh cilantro (12 sprigs), about 1/2 cup, stemmed and chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. In a 10-inch sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and dried chiles, and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft and you can smell the chiles.
  2. Add the tomatoes and tomatillos, reduce the heat slightly, and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring often.
  3. Add the water or stock, 1 teaspoon of salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes.
  4. Stir in the oregano, cool for a few minutes, puree the sauce in a blender until smooth, then stir in the cilantro.

This recipe, while from a trusted source, may not have been tested by the CHOW food team.

    Write a review | 6 Reviews
  • Ancho Chile Salsa Recipe
    2

    Used garden fresh tomatoes and tomatillos, still this recipe as written came out incredibly bland and with no heat to speak of. After almost doubling the salt, adding a teaspoon of vinegar, a jalapeno, and some cayenne pepper powder this recipe actually started to taste somewhat ok. Would not use again.

  • Ancho Chile Salsa Recipe
    1

    Made it exactly as written and did not care for it at all. Reminded me more of a tomato sauce than a salsa.

  • Ancho Chile Salsa Recipe
    5

    Deborah, con esos condimentos, sabe rico, lo hare apenas pueda. Una pregunta, eres belga? conoci una amiga con ese nombre, la conoci en Bruselas, vivia en el Wavre. Mis cordiales saludos. Heber

  • Had to change things around because I couldn't get all of the ingredients down here in Buenos Aires. But I kept the basic principles and made do. The salsa was great... smooth, a bit smokey and perfectly spicy. I'll be using it on lots of things, not just tortilla chips.

  • PRODUCT PLACEMENT!

  • Great Salsa!!!

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