Guajillo sauce is a staple in Mexican cuisine. The simple recipe is made with just a few ingredients and has a mildly spicy flavor, this salsa is used to make countless dishes or to enjoy drizzled on tacos, quesadillas, and sopes.
About
Guajillo sauce is a basic Mexican recipe made of dried guajillo chiles, tomatoes, onions, and spices. It has a bright red color and an earthy flavor with a mild spicy kick.
This flavorful salsa is used in many Mexican recipes, from moles like this tesmole soup, to birria de pollo, and even for making enchiladas. The recipe for this chili sauce allows you to simplify many other recipes, especially if you make a large batch and freeze it.
Salsa guajillo can be also used as a marinade for chicken, pork, or other types of meat. But also for flavoring your tamales dough, or just as a simple appetizer along with tortilla chips.
What Are Guajillo Chiles?
Guajillo chiles are mild spicer peppers native to Mexico. They are the dried version of mirasol chilies and their heat range is 2,500 to 5,000 on Scoville Heat Scale.
The dried chilies are used in many Mexican recipes, for making marinades, and sauces, to use as garnish, and even to prepare marmalades. To bring out its fruity flavor and aroma, guajillo chilies are often toasted on a comal or a cast-iron skillet.
And in order to make them easier to blend into sauces, they are normally soaked in water for a couple of minutes to soften them a bit.
Guajillo chilies are a type of pepper that contains a small amount of capsaicin, this component not only is what gives the spiciness to chili peppers but is also considered an anti-inflammatory.
Ingredients
- Guajillo chili peppers: This type of chili pepper is easily available online, but you can also find them at many Latin American and Mexican grocery stores, and some supermarkets like Walmart or Kroger also have them available in the international aisle. Read below for tips when buying them.
- Onion & tomatoes: To tone down the spiciness of the chiles, use those two ingredients.
- Spices: You will need garlic cloves, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, and oregano. Feel free to swap for powdered spices if you don’t have whole spices.
Tips for buying guajillo peppers
- Look for peppers that have an evenly dark-ish red color. The brighter the color, the newer the chiles are.
- The guajillo chilies should have a leathery texture, if it cracks when lightly bent, then means the chilies have been stored for a long period and lack flavor.
How To Make Chile Guajillo Sauce
Use gloves to prevent irritations on your hands when you clean the chilies.
First, remove the stem of each piece. Then, using kitchen shears, cut a chile longwise and open it.
The seeds will naturally fall down if you shake the chili peppers, so make sure you discard them all or use the tips of the shears to scrape the seeds.
If you want to remove some spiciness, cut the membranes as well, this is up to you.
Heat a cast-iron skillet or a comal over medium-low heat. Toast the chilies slightly, until fragrant (about 10 seconds per side).
Place toasted guajillo peppers in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
Next, cut tomatoes into quarters and place them in a small pan. Add about 1 cup of water, just enough to cover slightly the tomatoes. Cover the pan and allow to simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
Once the tomatoes have cooled down, place them in a blender with the cooking water.
Add onions, drain chilies and add to the blender as well. Add peppercorns, garlic, cumin seeds, oregano, and salt.
Blend until smooth or your desired consistency. The longer you blend, the smoother the guajillo chile sauce will be.
Adjust salt taste, then transfer the guajillo salsa to a bowl and serve, or store for later uses as suggested below.
How To Use
- APPETIZER: For dipping corn chips, bread, or raw vegetables.
- SOUPS: Add a few dollops in your sopita de fideo or in this pasta shell soup for an earthy kick.
- STEWS: Use it to make nopales with pork, or queso con chile rojo.
- TOPPING: Bring your tacos dorados to the next level with this guajillo sauce, or drizzle it over chicken sopes.
How To Store
This guajillo chili sauce can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days nicely stored in an airtight container or a jar.
If you want to make a large batch for your prep meals, here’s what you can do:
- Divide the sauce into zip bags, or freeze-proof containers. Label them and freeze them for up to 6 months.
- Or, pour the guajillo sauce into ice cube molds. Once the sauce has frozen, unmold and transfer the cubes to freezer bags.
FAQ
What is a good substitute for guajillo chiles?
You can use dried Anaheim or Hatch chili peppers that are very similar in flavor and spiciness.
My hands burn after cleaning the chilies, what can I do?
Wash them with neutral soap, dry them, and then gently rub your hands with vegetable oil. Leave the oil for 10 minutes then wash them with running cold water and soap.
Can I use guajillo peppers that are a bit old?
Yes, you can. As long as they’re not rotten, old guajillos can still be used even though their flavor maybe have faded and your salsa won’t be as flavored.
Similar Recipes
Watch Guajillo Chili Sauce Video
Guajillo Sauce
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 10 guajillo chili peppers (stem and seeds removed)
- 2 medium tomatoes (cut into quarters)
- 1 small onion (halved)
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 Tablespoon oregano
- salt (taste)
Instructions
- Heat a cast-iron skillet or a comal over medium-low heat.
- Toast the guajillo chilies slightly, until fragrant (about 10 seconds per side).
- Place toasted guajillos in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let them soak for 10 minutes.
- Add tomatoes to a small pan and pour 1 cup of water. Cover the pan and allow to simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
- Once the tomatoes have cooled down, place them in a blender with the cooking water.
- Add drained chilies, onions, garlic, cumin seeds, oregano, and 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Blend until smooth. The longer you blend, the smoother the sauce will be.
- Adjust salt to taste, then transfer salsa to a bowl and serve.
Notes
- When buying guajillo peppers, look for peppers that have an evenly dark-ish red color. The brighter the color, the newer the chiles are. The chilies should have a leathery texture, if it cracks when lightly bent, then means the chilies have been stored for a long period and lack flavor.
- This sauce stores for up to 5 days in the refrigerator and up to 5-6 months in the freezer.
Nutrition Information
IF YOU LIKED THIS GUAJILLO SAUCE RECIPE – Please, don’t forget to rate it and leave a comment below. And remember that you can share it and follow this blog on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, and YOUTUBE.
Loved this guajillo sauce recipe! It was very easy to make and the spiciness is just right to my taste. I ended with a little bit less than 3 cups, maybe because the chilies I used were too small and the ones in your video look larger. However it was delicious and perfect for me and my family. Thank you!
definitely trying trying this sauce. Thank you.
Question, would this sauce work for making chili beans instead of using dried chili powder?
Yes, you can use this guajillo sauce to make chili, soups, and other recipes.
Best guajillo sauce recipe ever! I even made it simpler by cooking the tomatoes and guajillo chilies together. Anyway, the taste is amazing and not overly spicy, perfect to enjoy with tacos or chips.
Delicious! Everyone loved it. I used roasted canned tomatoes, fresh ground pepper and a little cilantro as well.
The chili sauce looks amazing, love the bright color, and since I had a bunch of guajillo chilies sitting in my pantry I made it. I added a few arbol chilies to make it spicier and oh boy! It-was-good!