Guajillo Sauce (Guajillo Salsa) is a bold salsa recipe used for dipping chips or as a sauce for enchiladas and tamales. However, you can use it with any of your favorite Mexican cuisine dishes. Made with guajillo chilis, onion, and garlic, this rich salsa is loaded with warm, savory flavors!
What Is Guajillo Sauce?
Guajillo Sauce is a a classic Mexican sauce made from guajillo peppers. Guajillo peppers are dried mirasol peppers. Once dried, the skins of the peppers becomes shiny, leathery, and dark red. The flavor of this salsa is bitter like dark chocolate. Guajillo Sauce is enjoyed as a salsa with tortilla chips or as a sauce to be used in Mexican cuisine.
Are Guajillo Chiles Spicy?
The Scoville scale, which measures the heat levels of chili peppers, has assigned a heat range to guajillo chilis of between 2,500 and 5,000. What does this mean you ask? Well, comparatively it means that guajillo chilis are hotter than poblano chilis but milder than jalapenos. This makes them a moderately spicy chili.
My personal opinion, this isn’t a spicy salsa even for someone with a sensitivity to spicy foods. However, take this with a grain of salt coming from someone who puts hot sauce on everything. Just make sure you remove the seeds from the chilis before you cook them. The seeds of chilis can add a considerable amount of heat. Just be careful!
What I Love About Guajillo Sauce
- Simple to make. There are only 6 ingredients in this recipe and the instructions are so simple that you can commit them to memory.
- Wonderful, warm flavors. This is one of my favorite salsas. The flavors are bitter and bold with a punch of garlic and cumin. I had not previously had much experience with this salsa until recently and it has become an instant favorite. Though Guajillo Sauce has a beautiful red color, it won’t taste anything like tomato-based salsas.
- It’s vegan! All ingredients in this recipe are plant-based.
- It’s healthy! Chili peppers are believed to be beneficial for alleviating symptoms of heartburn in addition to promoting weight loss. (1)(2)
Recipe Ingredients
- Chile Guajillo– You can buy these in most grocery stores. They often come packaged in clear plastic.
- White onion – You can also use yellow onion.
- Garlic – 5 cloves total; 3 sauteed and 2 raw cloves blended into the salsa.
- Olive oil – Used to sauté the onion and garlic.
- Cumin – Cumin adds a lot of flavor to the Guajillo Sauce.
- Salt
How To Make Guajillo Sauce
- Prepare and toast chilis. Remove the stems and seeds from the chilis. Place chilis in a cast-iron skillet and toast them over medium heat for roughly 60 seconds on each side.
- Boil chilis. Let the chilis soak in boiling water for about 15 minutes.
- Sauté onion and garlic. Add onions and 3 of the minced garlic cloves to a skillet and sauté over medium heat for about 4 minutes.
- Blend ingredients. Remove chilis from water and set water aside. Add chilis, sauteed garlic and onions, raw garlic, cumin, salt, and 1/4 cup of the chili broth into a blender; blend until smooth.
- Adjust consistency. Add more guajillo broth if needed.
- Cook sauce. Pour guajillo sauce into a small pot and cook for roughly 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Adjust and refrigerate. Adjust flavor by adding more salt or cumin. Adjust consistency by adding more chili broth. Refrigerate for 2 hours to allow flavors to combine.
Recipe Tips
Let the Guajillo Salsa refrigerate for about 2 hours before serving. Trust me, it really makes a huge difference. That’s because the flavors of the garlic, onions, and cumin will become more enhanced as the sauce is allowed to sit for a while.
What To Serve Guajillo Sauce With
- Simple style with some good Homemade Tortilla Chips!
- Drizzle it over your favorite Mexican dishes. Try it on my Lentil Tacos, Chipotle Sofritas, or Vegan Chimichangas. It’s so good!
- Add a spoonful to soups and stews. Try it with my Vegan Tortilla Soup, Vegan Chili, or Cuban Black Bean Soup.
- Use it as a sauce for enchiladas or tamales.
I hope you enjoyed this Guajillo Sauce recipe! Before you go, check out some of my other favorite salsa recipes!
More Easy Salsa and Sauce Recipes
- Salsa Verde
- Salsa Taquera
- Pineapple Habanero Salsa
- Chipotle Tomato Salsa
- Pineapple Habanero Salsa
- Vegan Ceviche
- Mango Black Bean Salsa
- Serrano Salsa
- Fire Roasted Salsa
- Boom Boom Sauce
- Mango Habanero Sauce
- Salsa Ranchera
- Adobo Sauce
Guajillo Sauce
Guajillo Sauce (Guajillo Salsa) is a bold salsa recipe used for dipping chips or as a sauce for enchiladas and tamales. However, you can use it with any of your favorite Mexican cuisine dishes. Made with guajillo chilis, onion, and garlic, this rich salsa is loaded with warm, savory flavors!
Ingredients
- 12 Guajillo chiles
- 1/2 White onion, chopped
- 5 Cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 Teaspoon cumin
- 2 Teaspoons sea salt
Instructions
- Remove stems and seeds from the guajillo chilis. Place the chilis in cast-iron skillet and toast them over medium heat for about 60 seconds on each side.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil, turn off the heat, and soak the chilis in the boiling water for about 15 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add diced onions and 3 of the minced garlic cloves. Sauté for about 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Remove guajillo chilis from the water and set water aside. Add chilis, sauteed garlic and onions, 2 raw minced garlic cloves, cumin, salt, and 1/4 cup of the guajillo broth to a blender. Blend on high until smooth.
- Add more guajillo broth if needed.
- Pour guajillo sauce into a small pot and cook for roughly 10 minutes over medium heat until sauce becomes darker in color.
- Add salt or cumin as needed and refrigerate for about 2 hours to allow flavors to combine.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 196Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 2155mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 6gSugar: 16gProtein: 6g
The Vegan Plate attempts to provide accurate information. However, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations.
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