Chile de Arbol Salsa

5 from 46 votes

Chile de Arbol Salsa

Make versatile Chile de Arbol Salsa to go with all your favorite Mexican dishes. Drizzle it on tacos, dip salty tortilla chips into it or add it to soups and stews. Make in a cooking blender, traditional blender, or food processor.

Prep Time5

Cook Time16

Total Time21

Course: Appetizer, Sauce

Cuisine: Mexican

Diet: Gluten Free, Low Calorie, Low Fat, Low Lactose

Keyword: chile de arbol salsa recipe, cooking blender salsas, instant ace nova blender recipes

Servings:

Calories: 22kcal

Author: Kristina Tipps

Equipment

Instant Ace Cooking Blender (or traditional blender)

Ingredients

15 chiles de arbol *see notes
1 teaspoon olive oil only if using cooking blender
⅓ cup tomato sauce
2 large tomatoes
1 small sweet onion
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Cut the tops off the chiles de arbol. Remove the seeds and discard (or use for extra spice). Roughly chop the tomatoes and onion.
Cooking Blender: add the teaspoon of olive oil, chiles de arbol, tomato sauce, onion, tomatoes, garlic cloves, and salt. Set to the puree mode for 16 minutes. When done, carefully transfer the salsa to a mason jar or bowl. Allow to cool and then taste, adding more salt if desired.
Traditional Blender: fill a small pot with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat when it begins to boil and add the chiles de arbol. Let sit for 10 minutes in the hot water. Put all ingredients into your blender, including the chiles. Pulse on high speed until the salsa is smooth, about 1-2 minutes depending on the strength of your blender.
Cover and store in the fridge. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Notes

This salsa is meant to be very spicy. If it's too spicy for you, add more tomato sauce to dilute the heat.

If you're unsure about the heat factor, use half the peppers and remove all of the seeds. If that's not spicy enough use more the next time and use some seeds.

But if you love very spicy foods, add those seeds! Don't deseed the chiles de arbol for the most significant spiciness.

A little salsa goes a really long way here. Just a little drizzle over your tacos, eggs, etc. will add a lot of heat. You can always add more so don't add much in the beginning.

This salsa has a thin, sauce-like consistency. To make it chunkier, blend it for less time, use less tomato sauce, or use more fresh tomatoes. The best way to make a chunkier salsa is to eliminate some of the water that the tomatoes produce when blended. Do this by removing their pulp before adding them to the blender. Another way to make it chunkier is to use a food processor to chop the ingredients rather than blend them.

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