For hundreds of years New Mexican have converted dried red chile pods into a unique New Mexico red chile sauce. This sauce is used to smother anything from eggs to pork, as well as the enchilada sauce for red chile enchiladas.
Remember those fresh red chile ristras from my Red or Green? post? It doesn’t take long under the New Mexico sun for them to become dried red chile. Once dry, they are ground into red chile powder, chile flakes, or turned into a New Mexico red chile sauce (recipe below). Continue reading for more information on New Mexico Red Chile.
Even though I LOVE New Mexico chile – red and green – I do have a favorite and it’s the red. There is just something very unique and special about a spicy red chile sauce. Every year we purchase a bag of dried red chiles. You can buy a ristra and hang it in the backyard to dry; however, always ask if the chiles can be used. Some people spray the ristra to make them look prettier. Also, if you let them hang for too long, you have to deal with insects that get inside the pods; therefore, it’s best to buy a bag of chile if you can.
For the dried chiles, I break off the stems, shake out the seeds, and make several big batches of red chile sauce throughout the year. Most of each batch is frozen in small containers for future use, but I always reserve some to use immediately to smother a few dishes.
Below is my recipe for New Mexico Red Chile Sauce. For the heat level, I try to buy “medium” when I have a choice, but most of the time, the only choice is hot – but we like it hot.
If you don’t have or can’t find red chile pods, you can always make a red chile from powder.
New Mexico Red Chile Sauce
This is my recipe for New Mexico Red Chile Sauce. There are several red chile variations, but this is the one my family and I love and have been making for many years.
"*" See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
- 6-8 ounces dried red chile pods* – About 20 – 30 pods
- 3 large cloves garlic smashed
- ½ small onion coarsely chopped
- 1 dried chipotle chile pods, stems and seeds removed (optional)
- 3 – 4 cups water or stock* (Just enough to cover the chile when pushed down into the pot.)
- ½ tsp. cumin seed* toasted (optional)
- ½ tsp. dried oregano (Mexican oregano if you have it)
- 1 tsp. salt
WARNING! Wear a mask and gloves! The particles emitted from breaking the dried chile pods are spicy and could be very irritating to eyes and throat. Handling of the pods could cause your hands to burn depending on the heat of the chile.
Break off the stems of the chile pods and shake out the seeds. If using pods from a ristra* , check for mold on the inside of the pods. Discard pods with mold. Wash pods and transfer to a pot. (I use a small stock pot.)
Transfer all ingredients to the pot with the chile. Bring the water to a boil and reduce heat for a simmer. Cover and simmer for about 15 – 20 minutes until the pods are rehydrated (see picture below). Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for another 10 – 30 minutes. (You might want to run the stovetop vent to keep the spiciness of the cook from filling the kitchen.)
Once cool enough to handle, process using one of the following blender methods.
Method 1: – Fill a blender with about 1/3 of the rehydrated chile, some of the other ingredients (onion, garlic, spices), and about 1 cup of the water. (You might need to scoop to the bottom of the pot to get to the spices.)
Purée until you have a smooth texture. Add more water if you need to. Once you get a smooth texture, pour into a bowl and repeat with the rest of the chile in two batches.
To get a even smoother sauce, blend again after the sauce sits for 20 minutes.
Method 2: Ladlle out 1 cup of liquid and reserve. Using an emersion blender, blend the chile and other ingredients to a smooth texture. If you need more liquid, use some of the reserve liquid. Just be careful not to get it too thin.
If you want a really smooth texture, the strain the sauce through a colander. See Kitchen Notes for detailed instructions.
Divide the sauce into 1 to 2 cup servings. Freeze what you can’t use in 3 to 4 days.*
Red Chile Pods – It’s best NOT to use pods from a ristra because ristras tend to draw bugs and do absorb moisture, creating mold. However, if that is what you have, just rinse thoroughly, cut the pods open lengthwise and check for mold. Discard any pieces with mold.
Liquid – Chicken stock can be used in place of water or you could use both water and stock. Personally, I prefer to use just water, but many people use stock.
Cumin – If you’ve looked at a lot of New Mexico red chile sauce recipes, you’ll find cumin, coriander, both cumin and coriander and neither cumin nor coriander. What you use is personal preference. Having made it several ways over the years, I prefer adding a little cumin to my red chile sauce. If you don’t like cumin, then don’t use it. It’s all about the chile anyway.
Straining the Sauce – Some readers have brought it my attention that their blenders are insufficient in creating a really smooth sauce. If you can’t get the texture you desire, then pour the red chile in small batches into a colander. Using a rubber spatula, move the sauce through the holes of the colander. This will extract any of the larger pieces that didn’t blend and create and smoother sauce.
Freezing Red Chile Sauce – This sauce freezes great and last for up to a year or more in the freezer – although I really wouldn’t know for sure because mine never last past 3 months. When I plan to freeze it, I usually make a thicker sauce and transfer to small (1 cup) freezer containers. This takes up less space in the freezer and freezer space is always an issue. You could also freeze the sauce in ice cube trays, then transfer the frozen cubes to a plastic bag.
To use frozen chile sauce, remove frozen chile from the container to a small sauce pan with a little bit of water. Cover, heat on low, stirring as it thaws. You could also “defrost” in your microwave for 3 minutes before transferring it to a sauce pan. Once thawed, whisk to regain the smooth texture. Add more water or stock if needed.
Canning Red Chile Sauce – I’ve never canned red chile sauce, but I did find the following process over at Pepperfool which looks like it might work. This process says “To can: Fill sterilized 1-pint jars, cap, and process in a pressure canner at 15 lbs pressure for 15 minutes.” I have not been able to find any process for using a water-bath to can red chile sauce.
How to Tone Down the Heat of a Red Chile Sauce – Here are a couple of ways:
- Stir in 1 tsp. honey. Taste and add another if needed. Don’t add more than 2 tsp., otherwise it could become too sweet. If it’s still too hot…
- Make a Red Chile Pumpkin Sauce. If you’ve already made the red chile sauce, then just add some pumpkin puree.
Dishes with Red Chile Sauce
Burritos – Smother your favorite burrito (bean, chicken, beef, pork or egg) with red chile sauce. One of our favorites consists of pinto beans, cheese, fresh tomato, chopped onion, lettuce and sour cream or yogurt wrapped in a warm flour tortilla and smothered in red chile sauce.
The typical use of red chile here in New Mexico is to smother something. Here are a variety of dishes Smothered in Red Chile.
Below are even more uses for red chile:
- Huevos Rancheros
- Egg Quesadilla – replace the Jamaican Jerk sauce with red chile sauce.
- Carne Adovada – Pork marinated in red chile sauce and slow roasted in a slow cooker, on the stove top or in the oven.
- Christmas Breakfast with Eggs and Chorizo
- Red Chile Enchiladas – Cheese, chicken or beef enchiladas
- Black Bean and Shiitake Mushroom Enchiladas
- Tamales – A little chile sauce inside and out.
- Roasted Pumpkin and Red Chile Soup
- Shepherd’s Pie, New Mexico Style
- Pinto Beans and Red Chile Sauce
- Southwestern Pileup
- Braised Red Chile Chicken and Vegetables
- Spicy Sweet Red Pepper Soup
- Red Chile Tomato Jam
These are just a few suggestions for using red chile sauce, most of which are pretty common in New Mexico. Many of these recipes and more will be posted on this site in weeks, months, and years to come.
New Mexico Chile Series
During September of 2011 I introduced a series on New Mexico Chile. This post was part of that series; however, I have continued to update this post and the others by adding more links to recipes that use New Mexico chile.
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Just made this sauce !! Amazing and so easy. Followed exactly except for the chipotle pepper.. Can’t wait to make pork tamales with this tomorrow. Thanks for the awesome recipe.
Andrea, thank you so much for your comment. I’m thrilled you enjoyed the red chile. It’s a keeper for sure. Sometimes I omit the chipotle as well, but I do like the smokiness it adds. Enjoy your tamales!
Just tried this recipe today as I was able to get dried hot red hatch chilies at my local grocery when fresh green hatch chilies were available (of course bought several pounds of those to roast as well). This recipe is so good that I was eating it by the spoonful when it was done. However, I started by soaking the peppers in hot water first then scraping the flesh off the skins. This was a little tedious, but then I was able to skip the straining part. I then followed the rest of the recipe pretty much exactly. Wonderful sauce! Is it good fresh though for only 3-4 days? Thanks!
Aisha, thank you so much for your comment!!! Trilled that you enjoyed the recipe. Yes, the sauce keeps great in the refrigerator actually for up to a week. Just freeze after that, thaw when needed and use immediately. I bet it was tedious scraping the skin off. 🙂 Cheers, MJ
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I don’t make a lot of Red Chile, but I make Green Chile almost weekly. I think one MUST strain the sauce. It helps with bitterness and with texture. It’s super easy with a decent strainer over a large bowl and use a round bottomed ladle. Takes no time and effort at all.
I made this with the Guallijos and Anchos that I had handy. Definitely a dark red, almost brown chile, and very earthy. It’s going on some braised chicken tonight. Love the site, and all things enchanted. Thank you.
Thanks so much Steve! I have to say that a few years back, I joined the straining team. It just makes such a smoother sauce and since my blender is getting old, it doesn’t puree as well as it used to. In fact, now I just use an immersion blender in the pot and then stain. Less messy. The Guallijos and Anchos sound like they made a wonderfully rich sauce! Will have to try that next time. I like mixing things up and adding different chiles for different flavors. It’s fun.
Thank you so much for your comments and I’m thrilled that you enjoy my recipes. Hope the braised chicken was a hit. Cheers, MJ
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Great info on the NM chili recipes. We just returned from Colorado where they
had chili roasters drying the gems. I remember enjoying the homemade sauce with these fat flour tortillas;
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/221902/chef-johns-flour-tortillas/
Topped with seasoned beef:
Ingredients:
2 pounds 80/20good quality ground beef
1 medium brown onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs salt
1 tbs ground New Mexico chili
1 chipotle chili from a can of chipotle en adobo, minced
1 tbs adobo sauce from the chipotle can
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp thyme
Technique:
Mince the onion, garlic and chipotle very fine.
Saute’ the beef to brown in a hot, dry skillet. When the fat starts to render add the onion, garlic and chipotle, and stir to distribute. When the meat is about half browned, rub the oregano and thyme to crumble them, then add them along with the remaining spices to the browning meat and stir to distribute. Continue to cook the meat until all surfaces are browned, reduce heat and cook through if necessary. Drain off any extra fat. Taste and adjust seasonings. (cheftalk.com)
Thanks for sharing.
This sounds really good! I’ll give it a try. I know what you mean about tortillas and red chile. It’s like chips and dip. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I’m re-reading this post in anticipation of canning some Red Chile Sauce once my crop matures this fall. Although I use a pressure canner, I add one ounce of Lemon or Lime juice per pint to acidify the puree. I have found that this helps to preserve the sauce and doesn’t noticeably alter the flavor. I will be using freshly roasted Chiles from my garden and will not have to deal with the skins. I also dry some chiles for later.
I also use an ounce of Lemon or Lime juice per pint when canning Apples. The acid converts some of the Sucrose to Glucose during the canning process and produces an invert syrup, which is sweeter.
I’ve never tried canning it. I usually freeze it, but canning sounds like a great idea. Like the idea of using the lime/lemon. I love to add lime to beans and red chile, but have never added directly into the chile. When I used to can apples and peaches, I would also toss the slices in lemon. Didn’t know the chemistry of it, but it did help to maintain the color, I do know that. Thanks for the information Bill! Have fun!
I have two apple trees and need to can or freeze the surplus. I core, peel and slice the apples and then put them in a small bucket of water with Lemon and Ascorbic acid to keep them from browning. Since my apples are Red and Gold Delicious, they are not really suitable for cooking. They usually hold their shape through canning, but will easily turn to applesauce.
You just answered a question I’ve always had about delicious apples. I’ve never been a fan of them because I love tart, sweet and crisp and have always wondered if delicious would hold up to canning. Apparently not. Applesauce sounds like a good solution.
I can golden delicious apples whenever I have a crop. They make beautiful applesauce. I do add lemon juice to keep the color from darkening. My kids and grandkids love this applesauce and eat it all winter with cheese crisps. Red delicious are not good to can.
Don’t put cumin or oregano in New Mexican red chile! That marks it as Texan, which is fine but a little optional garlic and chicken broth are all you need for that pure earthy taste from good New Mexican chile pods.
Tim, Thanks for your comment! As to whether or not to use cumin or oregano is a matter of taste IMO. I’ve been making red chile for 40 years and have made many variations, with and without cumin or oregano and water vs. chicken stock, with and without chipotle. The recipe I provide here is the recipe my family loves most, as well as many of my friends and readers (based on comments I’ve received). If I change it, they know it. 🙂 Every family here in New Mexico has their “traditional” recipe. This is mine. With red chile, as with ALL recipes, I tend to make it the way my family and I like it.
Thank you again for your comment. This isn’t the first time I’ve had this conversation and I’m sure it won’t be the last. 🙂
Hola! I’ve been reading your website for some time now and finally got
the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Lubbock Tx!
Just wanted to tell you keep up the good work!
Thank you so much Allie! So glad you are enjoying me site and it’s great to hear from you.
Hi!
I have a bunch of frozen chopped red chiles, do you think I could just substitute them for the dried ones?
Thank you
Ali
Using the frozen red chiles would yield a different flavor and texture. Your sauce would be sweeter and probably more soup like than sauce like. However, it should still be quite tasty, just different. Do you have some red chile powder? If so, you could add some of it to bring in some of the flavor of dried red chile or just make a batch of red chile sauce from powder. Hope this helps.
Mine is really bitter, what can I do to tone this down?
First, strain it if you haven’t already. Sometimes the outer peel that doesn’t rehydrate well can be bitter. Then you could add a touch of honey or sugar (start with 1 Tbsp) and, if it’s still too bitter, about 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar. Hope this works.
I just bought a Ristra of chiles in New Mexico some are not dried out and I cut it open to find mold inside??? What to do? Please thanks for your help surely they are not all bad.
Hey Hunter. Unfortunately, any chiles with mold on the inside do need to be tossed. However, just because one chile has it doesn’t mean they all do. Sounds like you need to get these dried ASAP. Do you live in a dry climate with lots of sun? If so, just go through the peppers one by one and check for mold. Remove the stems and seeds and lay the good ones on trays out the direct sun to dry. If it’s mot sunny, then place in the oven on 200 – 250F until dry, turning a couple of times to dry quicker. Hope this helps.
Would like to know what type of blender you use. I’m having to strain the chile, repeating the process of staining and would like to eliminate this step.
I use an Oster 2-speed beehive blender. I do have to blend twice but it’s better than straining which is a pain. The blender is loud but does a good job. Good luck!
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Just finished making this with NM chile pods and a few dried Morita pods to add a wonderful smoke background. I used 2/3 low sodium chicken stock and 1/3 filtered water. Can’t wait to try it on enchiladas and huevos.
I love adding a few morita pods to this sauce! I make it so often that it’s a nice variation and tastes great! Hope you enjoyed the results as much as we do. Now you have me craving for some huevos. 🙂 Thanks so much for leaving a comment Rusty! Please let me know how your enchiladas and huevos turn out.
My husband is from La Luz – we live out in NC and needless to say, he misses the red chile which is used on everything. Of course HATCH is his favorite chile.
I am able to get the powder and I wanted to know if you could give me a recipe for using the powder and not the pods. Next time I am able to order the pods from hatch I will get some and use this recipe.
Anna, Thank you so much for your comment! I can definitely understand your husband missed smothering everything in red chile. I do have a red chile sauce from powder. Just click on this link. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks Again.
When I prepare my red chile sauce, I only soak it. I don’t find it necessary to boil. My Mom makes it that way but I find it’s not nessesary. I season and simmer it when I am ready to use it. No need to cook twice. Also, we always strain. Easier on the stomach. To tone down, we add milk while its simmering. We make a yearly trip to Hatch and buy enough green and red to last all year.
Thanks for your comments Sylvia! Red Chile is such a staple here in NM and has been made for so many generations that there are hundreds of recipes and just as many methods. I know people that roast then soak and some that roast then simmer. I have found that by boiling, simmering and soaking, the chile softens to a point that a really good blend at the end keeps me from having to strain it. However, with that said, I was going to strain the batch I make Friday just to see if it makes that much of a difference. I’ve never had any problems physically by not straining, so I never considered it necessary, but I’ll try it out of curiosity. 🙂 Thanks again!
😘
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I boiled my dried New Mexico Chilis for 10 minutes and then let them sit for 20 minutes. I pureed half with a cup of the soaking water and half with a cup of chicken broth. Then I added sauteed onion, garlic, cumin, and mexican oregano. My sauce had no flavor.It was literally bland. What do you think happened? What can I do differently. My friend suggested I just steep the chilis instead of boiling them.
Thank you.
WOW – I’m not sure what happened. How old were the dried chiles? Were they certified New Mexico chiles? Did you use mild, medium or hot or a combination of heat? Were the chiles still a dark red color?
I usually add all the ingredients to the pot and simmer them together for 10 minutes rather than separate the chiles from the onion and seasoning, but that still shouldn’t have lead to a bland sauce. Also, I only bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes, then steep for 10. You might just bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover and steep. Wish I could provide a definitive answer. Hope you give it another try. Please let me know if you do.
Thanks for finally talking about > New Mexico
Red Chile | MJ’s Kitchen < Loved it!
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Giving this a go now, using a mix of NM red (green) chile and chile piquin… I’ve never used chicken stock before but i am going to try just a cup vs two cups of water. I like mr red sauce exceptionally smooth so i always use a strainer.
I find that when i strain it, the pulp left over can be reconstituted with a little more water and reprocessed so you can eek out a little more sauce. I too, have had to deal with bitter sauce so i only use fresh water and just a pinch of sugar to take the edge off. Thank you for the recipe!
Hey Dan, thanks for your comments! Glad that you’ll be trying this red chile sauce. I too will be making it next week as a marinade for carne adovada. Normally, I do make it with water or like what you are doing with a mix of water and stock. However, for an adovada or other dish in which this would be used with meat, one could use all stock. Hope you like it! I never would have thought that one could get enough from reconstituting the strained pulp. Good to know. Thanks!
Hi! I made a red chili sauce (using another recipe, but one that was very similar to this one; it called for using the water that the chills were boiling in vs. chicken stock), and it came out very bitter (I used a 2oz bag of guajillo peppers, with one ancho added for kicks). Any idea what happened? I ended up adding a teaspoon of sugar, and half a can of tomato sauce just to make it edible.
Hi Jane! Thanks for your question. I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to answer it, but here goes. I usually use water as well when I’m making a freezer batch and then stock when I’m making a batch for a specific “meat” purpose. So using the water that you boil the pods in, should not make it bitter. The guajillo chile is also a relatively mild, sweet chile so it probably wasn’t what caused the bitterness either, unless they were old, then that could have caused it. Also, seeds and veins can add a little bitterness, so once you remove and discard the stems, you need to remove as many of the seeds as possible. Removing the veins in dried chile is a tedious task so I never do it. However, I do remove most of the seeds. The same thing goes for the ancho chile. I personally have never used guajillo chile to make a sauce, but I found no reason why you couldn’t. I’m sorry your sauce ended up bitter. Adding the sugar (or honey) was a good idea. Tomato is acidic, so it doesn’t really counteract a bitter flavor. Maybe a little more salt and oregano or sweet onion. They won’t eliminate the bitter taste, but they would help to hide it. Hope this helps! Thanks again for your question.
My sister taught me that a little baking soda counteracts bitterness in sauces like enchilada or spaghetti sauce.
Thanks for the advice! I’ll have to try it next time I have bitterness in my sauce.
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OK, I’m making this one this week! I’m really excited. I just need to go shopping for dried red chiles!!
Yay! So glad that you’re going to make this red chile! If you can’t find any red chiles in your area, you can always order online. Just check out my list of chile product suppliers on the chile vs. chili page.
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Oh, wow…does that look good to me! I love it. Sounds like a really good red chile sauce…smoking hot is right! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Jodee! Definitely smoking hot! 🙂
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Thanks for finally writing about > New Mexico Red Chile | MJ’s
Kitchen < Liked it!
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I had always heard one must run the sauce through a Foley Food Mill to separate out the skin. But you don’t seem to do this. Or did I miss something?
Elisabeth, thank you for leaving a comment. Some people do choose to strain the sauce but I don’t find a need to after double blending the sauce.
prepared this today…. my husband loved it veryyyyyy much… thanks for the authentic recipe
Thanks so much for sharing this with me! I’m so glad your husband enjoyed it!
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I found a great way to freeze my red chile sauce. I use silicone muffin pans. I have two sizes, both with rectangular “wells.” One is 1/3 cup and one is 1/2 cup per block. I freeze the chile in these, then transfer the little blocks to a freezer bag which I mark with the date, the volume (cups) per block, and any special ingredient I included in the batch.
Great idea Yar!
New Mexico Red Chile | MJ’s Kitchen
MJ, you must be from NM! Maybe you can help me. I want to can my red chile. I do wet, not dry and am having no success in finding processing times etc for pressure canning it. Also checked the NMSU website. Any suggestions?
Hello LaDonna! Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I am from New Mexico. Have lived here for almost 40 years now and wouldn’t live anywhere else. 🙂 I’ve canned a lot of things, but never chiles. From your comments, it sounds like you want to can fresh, roasted red chiles. I would assume that the process is exactly like canning fresh, roasted green chiles. I have found a couple of pretty detailed articles that show how to can green chiles, which should be the same process for fresh, roasted red. I read through the processes and they appear like they would work and produce a safe product. One of the articles even makes adjustments for altitude. Here are the links:
Canning Green chile by Pepper Fool and How to Can Green Chile at eHow. I hope this helps! Thanks again for your comment and hope to see you again. Cheers, MJ
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It’s amazing to pay a quick visit this web site and reading the views of all mates about this paragraph, while I am also eager of getting experience.
Hi! Found this recipe when searching for what to do with a bag full of dried red chiles I got from my sister in New Mexico. This will be my sauce for eggplant-stuffed chicken enchiladas tomorrow — I usually use corn tortillas for enchiladas, but sometimes I just want more veggies, so I scoop out some of the inside of an eggplant, use a mixture of chicken and the scooped-out eggplant, and then use the eggplant hollow as the “tortilla”. I also painted some pictures of my dried chiles, see here http://labontegami.com/2013/06/21/a-peck-of-painted-peppers/. More fanciful than realistic of course!
Thanks so much for dropping by Alison and for the trackback from your post! Your eggplant-stuffed chicken enchiladas sounds awesome! Once we start getting some decent looking eggplant, I will given this a try. I love your red chile etegami postcards!
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bought some red chili in a red onion sack have moths are the chili pods bad
Richard No – they are not bad. Just wash them before using. Snap the stems off and open up the pods. If you see black spots on the insides, just remove the spots and keep the rest. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!
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I love making my own sauces. I love hot sauces and this looks so good. Pinning this to make it!! And I’m adding it to ideas for holiday gifts from the kitchen this year 🙂
I’ve never had red chile sauce before, but I was just reading about a very similar sauce in the Muy Bueno Cookbook and I’m fascinated. The color is incredible and the texture is just so smooth and silky. Thanks so much for sharing, MJ, and I hope you’re having a great Monday!
Yum! I love red chile sauce! Looks fantastic!
I was raised in AZ and grew up eating red and green chilis from New Mexico, I currently live in Maine and there are none of my beloved chilis anywhere around here, any suggestions??
I have never purchased a ristra – how fun! I love the idea of making my own chile sauce so I could tailor it to my tastes. I’m glad you included a list of recipes. I have been wanting to try a new enchilada recipe.
What a gorgeous colour your Red Chile sauce is! It sounds delicious too. It’s wonderful that it freezes, and it would be so much better for you than commercial sauces (not to mention it must taste so much better!).
This is so great! And so perfect for my pepper blog hop 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up! Pinned!
We’ve always bought our chili sauce in the past. As I make my way through ridding ourselves of prepackaged products, this would be next on the list. I just love chili sauce. Do you think if you fermented it it would last longer in the fridge?
I’m hosting Whole Food Wednesdays at beyondthepeel.net. I hope you’ll swing by and even share if you like. Have a great rest of your week.
France – thanks for stopping by! I hope you do try this chile sauce. I don’t know about fermenting it, but it freezes quite well. Whenever I make a batch, I divide it up into little containers and freeze it. That way I can enjoy it for weeks to come!
Thanks for linking your great post to FAT TUESDAY. This was very interesting! Hope to see you next week!
Be sure to visit RealFoodForager.com on Sunday for Sunday Snippets – your post from Fat Tuesday may be featured there!
http://realfoodforager.com/fat-tuesday-january-24-2012
Share your great fermented food recipes at my Probiotic Food Linky – open through Februray 6, 2012.
http://realfoodforager.com/probiotic-food-challenge-linky/
We have chili for almost every meal, depends on the menu, but I prefer red most of the time!!!!
Where to begin.I love it so much I cheat before dinner and heat up a tortilla just to sop it up..slurp up the sauce like its soup. .. Last night for dinner I made Carne Adovada. This morning I had it again with eggs. Tonight with the leftover sauce. I am making red chile enchiladas. Yesterday and today, my fav color is red.
I love green chile I miss it since I moved away.Would love to have some.
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What a neat giveaway! I’d make your red sauce, of course!!!
My husband and I just returned last week from our first trip to New Mexico. We made a figure eight starting in Albuquerque, Alamogordo (White Sands), Ruidoso (Billy the Kid By-way), Sandia Tram, Turquoise Trail, Santa Fe, Taos, Enchanted Circle, Los Alamos, Jemez Springs, Bernalillo & back to Albuquerque. We saw a lot of wonderful sights in your beautiful state and ate lots & lots of wonderful foods (many new to us) with green, red & Christmas. Once we were back in Georgia, we started a quest to find the best source of your wonderful peppers so that I could start to experiment with duplicating those dishes at home. We thought we loved the food at our local Mexican restaurant, until we ate our way thru New Mexico. Our list of things to try at home (with peppers) include breakfast burritos, enchilidas, and those wonderful tacos.
What a great loop! You definitely got to see the diversity of our landscape and why we’re called the Land of Enchantment. Sounds like you also got addicted to our wonderful chile and cuisine! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
I’m a hot pepper junkie! I would make these chilies into this salsa and can them up (I’m new to canning so can’t wait to try this out! ) http://www.theyummylife.com/recipes/180/Roasted+Salsa+for+Canning
Your red chili sauce looks so good! It must be spicy! I did not realized people do use chilis from the ristras for cooking. I thought they were decorative. I bought a string when I visited NM and kept it for several years until they fell off.
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I would use it in enchiladas and so much more!! YUM!
Oh look at those peppers! This sauce sounds amazing and the possibilities are endless of it’s use!
I bought my first ristra while we were in NM last week. I hung it in my kitchen – so pretty! I thought I’d only use it for decoration, but I suppose I could use it to make this too. I tend to buy bags of various dried chiles – from pasillo to guajillo, ancho, chipotle, and anything else I can get my hands on. Love to make chile sauces like this as a base for a good pot of Texas Red in the winter. Yum.
Looks like we have some chile lovers out there! 🙂 Thanks for your comments and entries!
I love learning about these chiles. And you’ve got some GREAT recipes on how to use them. The colors are so vibrant! Just beautiful!
I love Huevos Rancheros with rice and refried beans with red sauce in large quantity. Makes my mouth water just to think about it.
I just made red sauce last week. Yummy!
I follow you on twitter! I don’t know why I haven’t been! Thanks!
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MJ, this is GREAT! The pictures of the chilies are incredible and – to be honest – I’ve never worked with the chillies! …but I know exactly what I’d do!
I’d take some of them and grind up for chili flakes
the rest I’d make your chili sauce.
Your red chile is the kind of authentic New Mexican recipe that I love. Too often I see red chile sauces diluted with tomato sauce and other unnecessary ingredients. The chiles take center stage in this recipe and nothing gets in the way of their great flavor. Love it!
Oh – my husband LOVES green chile stew with pork. I would make him a huge pot with these chiles.
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Love the red or green article… We had some green chiles roasted right before leaving!! Wish we had one of those big roasters!!
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Arrrg!!!!! Love this giveaway!!! My husband and I love NM. We went this summer to Santa Fe for the Indian Market. We had a great time… That was our 4th trip to the area. A few things we would make…. chicken enchiladas with green chile or maybe carne adovado. Thanks for the chance to win..
Hi MJ, Beautiful job on the chili sauce, bet they’d go great with some nachos. 🙂
I have a whole bag of dried red chili’s and now I know what I can do with them. This sauce looks great and I love spicey, great with a bean burrito. Thanks!
Suzi
I love enchiladas, so it would be great to make some homemade red chile enchilada sauce.
I LOVE spicy!!! hehehe Thank you so much for sharing the recipe of such a great sauce MJ!!! The next time I am in the US, I will have to visit NM… I am sure I will love all that food!!!
Oooo spicy. Just the way I like it! I do believe your red chili sauce will wake up my saturday morning chilaquiles. Yum!
I would make this chile sauce with the red chile and then make enchiladas with the green chile.
Hey, MJ. Great series on chile. Two suggestions.
Tell folks to WASH THEIR HANDS!! after handling red chile pods.
Do you want to jump into the fray about why we spell it “chile” in NM instead of “chili”?
Good point to make Anna! Although I have found that even washing the hands doesn’t help the burn if I’ve been handling hot chile! It’s already soaked in, but I still wash. It I have gloves, I’ll wear them. I mentioned the “e” thing, but didn’t explain why. I’ll add that to my next post on New Mexico Green Chile. Thanks for the idea!
I love chili sauce but the redness of your sauce tells me it’s too much for me…but my husband is gonna love this!
Don’t let the rich color scare you off. This particular batch was actually “mild” because that’s the only chile that was left at the market. Even with heat – the flavor is worth it! 🙂
OMG! This soup is soooo red, and it must be sooooo hot! Great!
Giulia – Actually it is a sauce and yes – it can be quite HOT!!!! I do know some people that would eat this as a soup – my BIL for one – but I add it to dishes or pour over burritos, tacos, and such. Just eating a bowl of red chile sauce is a little over the top for me. 🙂
I wrote soup for sauce… today I’m out of my mind (and I have to work tonight O___O)!
A chile soup would be too much for -almost- everyone 😛
Sounds like you need a strong cup of espresso!
Hi mj, My husband and I are frequent visitors from Texas to Hatch N.M. where the best Chile is grown,the place we visit and purchase is Hatch Chile Sales,(P.O. Box 323),265 W. Hall St,Hatch N.M. 87937.The owners are very nice people and will help you with your needs and can answer any questions you may have about their products. Phone & Fax (575) 621-3246.
Olga, Thanks so much for commenting! I wasn’t familiar with Hatch Chile Sales. I’ll check them out.