Name: Chicharron en salsa roja (pork crackling with red, spicy sauce)
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 150 gr (5,3 oz) pork cracklings; 680 gr (1.5 lb) tomatoes; 2 pasilla chillies; chile de árbol chillies (read notes); 75 gr (2/3 cup) onion; 1 garlic clove; 1 tbsp pork lard; salt

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Chicharron en salsa roja is a very delicious homemade Mexican dish made with pork crackling simmered in a spicy red sauce, so simple to prepare and also budget-friendly.

The recipe for chicharron en salsa roja is very simple and requires few ingredients. A delicious mexican stew that can be enjoy with beans and warm corn tortillas.

chicharron en salsa roja (pork cracklings in red spicy sauce) served with beans and corn tortillas.

Mexican chicharrones

Mexican chicharrones are deep-fried pork skins know as pork rinds or cracklings in english. They’re crunchy and truly delicious!

There are also a few ways of making chicharrones in Mexico, even vegan (chicharrones de harina/ flour chicharrones). They can be made only with the skin or also with some meat on it.

Chicharrones can be eat simple as they are in tacos or as a snack, but it’s also pretty common to make them simmered in a sauce (chicharrones con chile), can be any type of sauce like green tomatillo sauce or red sauce.

The sauce can be as spicy as you’d like because you can control the spiciness with the amount of chillies you add.

How to serve

There is definitely a way to serve chicharron en salsa roja and it could not be otherwise than alongside with corn tortillas or flour tortillas, beans (frijoles de la olla) or refried beans or you can also serve it over a bowl of mexican white rice, is so delicious!

But not only that, this dish can also be served in tacos (of course!). Here is a quick recipe to make the most delicious tacos of chicharron en salsa roja:

Best chicharron tacos

The stew has to be a little dry, it means is better if you make these tacos the day after with your chicharron leftovers

Heat a little bit of oil in a frying pan and fry lightly some corn tortillas (don’t need to be crispy, but soft). Spread on every tortilla a tablespoon of frijoles refritos (refried beans) then place a tablespoon or two of the chicharrones in red sauce.

Fold the tortilla and place it into a container lined with some parchment paper to keep them warm. Close the container and cover with some kitchen towels; tacos will keep warm for about 3 hours so you can even bring them for a picnic or a gathering!

Serve with a fake guacamole sauce, green tomatillo sauce or any other spicy mexican sauce you like.

Ingredients for chicharrones en salsa roja

PORK CRACKLING (CHICHARRONES). Besides the mexican or latinoamerican stores and supermarkets, you can find them at almost every south-asian food stores because they are very popular in the Filipino cuisine too.

TOMATOES. Use very red and ripe tomatoes or you can use a can of plain tomato sauce. Sometimes, if the tomatoes I have on had are not too red I like to add a teaspoon of tomato paste, it adds a little more color and flavour.

RED SPICY CHILLIES. In this chicharron en salsa roja recipe I have used dried chile de arbol and some Guajillo peppers, but you can also use some other type of hot red chillies, for example Chinese chili, Italian chili pepper (peperoncino), red thai chilies, etc. Other less spicy types of chillies can be added to make the red sauce, for example pasilla chilli. The spiciness will depend on the type and amount of chillies you add.

ONIONS. I used white onions, but actually you can use any kind of onion you have on hand or you can completely skip it if you don’t like the taste.

PORK LARD. It gives a very nice flavour and I use it in many of my mexican recipes because that’s how my mom taught me to cook mexican food. But, of course you can use other type of oil if you want, like olive or canola oil.

GARLIC AND SALT. Those two enhancers are the only ones I need for this chicharron en salsa roja. Pay attention to salt as the pork crackling are already salty so you don’t really need much more for the recipe.

Chicharron en salsa roja recipe

Place the tomatoes and chillies in a pot. Cover with water and boil until the chillies are soft and the tomatoes begin to peel (about 10 minutes).

Let tomatoes and chillies to cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a blender. Add two or three cups of the cooking water, the onion and the garlic. Blend for 10 seconds or more (SEE NOTES).

In a saucepan, heat the pork lard over medium heat. Add the sauce that you just prepared and a pinch of salt. Mix and cook for 5 minutes.

When the sauce starts to simmer, add the pork cracklings then with a spoon push them down so that they begin to soak up the sauce.

Simmer for 15-20 minutes with the pan covered, always checking that there is a little sauce and the cracklings do not dry out (see video).

When the sauce has thickened and chicharrones are soft, adjust salt to taste, turn off the heat and let chicharrones en salsa roja sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe notes

If you don’t want the red sauce to be too spicy, you can use less chillies peppers or use other types to add color; for example guajillo or pasilla.
The consistency of the sauce depends on how much you blend it. If you want a very smooth sauce, just blend it for a bit longer.
You can also use a minipimer and blend the sauce directly in the pot where you cooked the tomatoes.
The type of pork cracklings that I have used absorbs a lot of liquid, which is why I have added more water to the sauce. You can also add chicken bouillon if you want.
Pork crackling I used are normally salty so you don’t need to add a lot of salt. Always adjust the salt only at the end of cooking, about 2 minutes before turning off the heat.
You can prepare the sauce without cooking the chilies and tomatoes beforehand. Just add everything raw to the blender and then cook the sauce for 5 minutes longer before adding the cracklings.