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This molcajete salsa is juicy and spicy, so delicious and a must at any mexican home. Salsa de molcajete mean is made in a mexican mortar very popular in the country.
Is not easy to find a good molcajete these days but if you want to make this sauce you cal also use a regular mortar and pestle or even a blender.
Salsa de molcajete can be made with many type of chillies and tomatoes. There are tomatillo sauce, tomate sauce and plain chilli sauce. But today I’d like to introduce to this sauce my grandma and mother used to make almost every-single-day. They loved this sauce with frijoles de la olla and queso fresco and actually that’s one of my favourite ways to enjoy it aswell :)
There are two ways to cook the ingredients in a mexican hot sauce, one is boiling them and the other is roasting them in a comal. I love the second one and I always go for it every time I can. If you don’t have a comal at home no worries, you can roast ingredientes in the oven or use a grill on the stove.
Ingredients for molcajete salsa | aka roasted tomato sauce
TOMATOES. Use ripe tomatoes, the ones that are very soft to tact and also very bright in color.
CHILLIES. You can use any kind or color of chillies but they need to be fresh. This sauce is hot, extremely hot, but if you don’t like it this way just discard seeds and veins from your chillies.
CILANTRO. Many people doesn’t like the taste of cilantro, but for me, this is a must, specially for this kind of sauce. If you don’t have fresh cilantro you can also use dry one. Add one or two teaspoons to the mixture.
ONIONS. Some for roasting and making the sauce and some fresh for garnish.
GARLIC. Garlic is the all you need to add a bit of flavour to this sauce, roasting brings it to the next level, try it and let me know.
SALT. Sea salt, kosher salt, himalaya salt or my favourite: Cuyutlán salt.
Our recipe for molcajete salsa
Wash tomatoes and chillies, cut off the steams of chillies.
Heat a comal or a cast iron pan over high heat. Roast ingredients turning them frequently until cooked and charred. Start with tomatoes, then add onions and last add chillies and garlic.
In a molcajete or mortar add garlic (peeled) and one teaspoon of ground salt. Grind until mixture is almost pastelike. Add chillies and grind for a bit more until combined. Add tomatoes one by one and grind slowly until you reach the desired consistency, I like to leave some chunks here and there. Leave the mixture to cool until room temperature.
Chop the remaining onions and cilantro and add to the sauce. Mix, taste and add more salt if needed. Serve.
Using a blender
You can use a regular blender to make this molcajete salsa. Just try to not blend too much if you want to achieve a “rustic” consistency.
Place first garlic, a few chillies, salt and one or two tomatoes. Blend for 20 seconds at medium speed. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse two or three times to achieve a mashed/chopped consistency. Serve as suggested.
How to store
This sauce stores nicely in the fridge for about 3-4 days. Getting even better in taste as days pass (imho).
If you want to freeze it be sure to do it before adding the chopped onion and cilantro at the end as those are better to add as you’re about to eat it.
These recipes are great for roasted tomato sauce:
Salsa de molcajete | mexican roasted sauce
Ingredients
- 500 gr ripe tomatoes
- 100 gr fresh chillies
- 100 gr white onions / halved
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- Salt
For garnish:
- Fresh cilantro / or 2 tsp dry cilantro
- 50 gr white onions / chopped
Instructions
- Wash tomatoes and chillies, cut off the steams of chillies. Peel onions for sauce.
- Heat a comal or a cast iron pan over high heat. Roast ingredients turning them frequently until cooked and charred. Start with tomatoes, then add halved onions and last add chillies and garlic.
- In a molcajete or mortar add garlic (peeled) and one teaspoon of ground salt. Grind until mixture is almost pastelike.
- Add chillies and grind for a bit more until combined. Add tomatoes one by one and grinding slowly until you reach the desired consistency, I like to leave some chunks here and there. Leave the mixture to cool until room temperature.
- Chop the remaining onions and cilantro and add to the sauce. Mix, taste and add more salt if needed. Serve.
Never heard of cuyutlán salt, I’m very curious to hear that is your favorite, any chance where I can find it in the USA? I used it to spread into the bread and for me was def a 5 start sauce! I think I will try it in more things like meat and chicken, thanks!
There goes my diet that looks delicious and I’m gonna try it thanks.
this looks good!