Ancho Chili Sauce is so easy to make and is a total flavor powerhouse! It's essential for both Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine. This authentic homemade recipe features the best key ingredient - lightly toasted ancho peppers. Perfect for enchiladas, chilaquiles, tacos and so much more.
Ancho Chili Sauce
OK, my friends. It's time you started cooking with ancho peppers. If you've never cooked with these wonderful dried peppers, you are in for the flavor experience of your life. Ancho peppers are dried poblano peppers, and where poblanos have a deep, earthy flavor, ancho peppers take that depth and earthiness to a whole new level.
You might not think sauces made from dried pepper pods could achieve flavors that transcend fresh pepper sauces, but dried peppers achieve a quality you can't get with fresh peppers.
I wouldn't argue that one is superior to the other, but for me, both are essential in building big, bold flavors. It all depends on the dish. I believe food should speak, and speak LOUDLY. This sauce surely does.
Your taste buds will hear this one!
Ingredients in Ancho Chili Sauce
- Ancho chili peppers
- Vegetable oil
- White onion
- Red onion
- Garlic
- Roma tomato
- Red wine vinegar
- Ground cumin
- Mexican oregano
- Salt and pepper
- Honey
- Soaking water or stock for thinning
How to Make Ancho Chili Sauce - Step by Step Recipe
Dry toast the peppers. Heat a pan to medium-high heat and add your ancho peppers. Do not use any oil or liquid. You want to dry toast them. Toast them a couple minutes per side. The peppers will puff slightly and the skins will begin to turn red.
Soak the peppers. Set them into a large pot of boiling water and remove from heat. Let them soak covered in water for 30 minutes.
Chop the peppers. The ancho peppers will begin to leech into the water, darkening it in color. This soaking water has a lot of nutrients in it, so do not throw it away for now. Remove the stems and coarsely chop the anchos. Reserve that valuable soaking liquid. Set the chopped anchos into a food processor.
Blend the ingredients together. Heat the oil in a pan to medium heat and cook down the onion, garlic, and tomato, then add them to the food processor along with the vinegar, cumin, oregano and a bit of salt and pepper along with about 1 cup of the soaking liquid. Process until it smooths out.
Do a taste test. You can adjust with salt and pepper and this point, and if you feel it needs a touch of sweetness, add the honey and process a bit more.
Strain the sauce. Press the sauce through a coarse strainer into a bowl.
Variations to Try
This deeply red chili sauce, frankly, will knock your socks off. This is great stuff, my friends! I am IN LOVE with this sauce, both version - with and without extra tomato sauce added in. You can easily add in other flavors that you prefer. I recommend trying this with fresh cilantro.
Truly, amazing. If you'd like a creamier version, add crema our sour cream. So, so good.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Create the best consistency. After blending, the sauce will be thick. You can add more soaking liquid to achieve your desired consistency. Or, you thin out your sauce with tomato sauce for more of a tomato flavor. You will still get the powerful ancho flavor.
- Toast the peppers. You CAN make this recipe without lightly toasting the peppers, but I urge you not to skip this step, as the dry toasting loosens up the oils in the peppers, resulting in richer flavors.
- Properly strain it. I use a wooden spoon to push the sauce through the strainer. This removes the solids and bits of rough ancho skin that didn't get processed.
TRY SOME OF MY OTHER POPULAR SAUCE RECIPES
Storage
You can store your ancho sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks!
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
I hope you love it as much as I do! Enjoy!
Can't find ancho peppers near you? Here's a link (affiliate!) where you can purchase them at Amazon. Very inexpensive: Dried Chile Ancho - Sweet & Smoky Flavor, 16-Ounce Bag
Ancho Chili Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 ancho chili peppers
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ cup chopped white onion
- ½ cup chopped red onion
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 Roma tomato chopped
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 tablespoons honey optional
- Soaking water or stock for thinning
Instructions
- Dry roast the ancho peppers on a hot pan about 1-2 minutes per side. The peppers will puff slightly and the skins will begin to turn red.
- Set them into a large pot of boiling water and remove from heat. Let them soak covered in water for 30 minutes.
- Remove the stems and coarsely chop the anchos. Reserve the soaking liquid.
- Set the chopped anchos into a food processor.
- Heat the oil in a pan to medium heat and add the onion. Cook about 5 minutes to soften.
- Add the garlic and tomato and cook another minute or so, until you can smell the garlic. Add them to the food processor.
- Add the vinegar, cumin, oregano and a bit of salt and pepper along with about 1 cup of the soaking liquid. Process until it smooths out.
- The sauce will be thick at this point. You can add more soaking liquid to achieve your desired consistency.
- Give it a taste. You can adjust with salt and pepper and this point, and if you feel it needs a touch of sweetness, add the honey and process a bit more.
- Press the sauce through a coarse strainer into a bowl. I use a wooden spoon to push it through.
- Store in the fridge in an airtight container.
- As a tasty variation, add up to 15 ounces (1 can) of tomato sauce while cooking, or after you strain the ancho chili sauce to simmer. It makes for an outstanding final sauce. Or, swirl in anywhere from 1 tablespoon to a cup of the ancho chili sauce to tomato sauce to liven up any dish.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Masako says
This is a really fantastic recipe, I've used it a bunch of times to season beef or chicken to include in tacos. I love recipes that are simple to execute and don't have any unnecessary ingredients or steps. Most importantly it is delicious. Thank you very much for posting!
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome! Thanks so much, Masako! Very happy you enjoyed it.
Sharon says
I don't have any dried ancho chilis but I have a jar of Penzeys dried ancho chili powder. How much powder would equal 5 chilis?
Mike Hultquist says
Sharon, figure 3-4 tablespoons of powder, but you can adjust from there.
ana says
Hi! I just wanted to know how long can this sit in an unopened sterilized jar if I add the can of tomato?
It looks great btw and I am trying it out soon, thanks!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Ana, I would do so within a week probably.
Lisa says
Thank you so much for Sharing your recipe. I'm not sure why mine looks different but it's not red at all...its more of a brown color but the taste is amazing!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Brown is pretty normal, Lisa. Flavor is still great!
Thomas says
Great recipe - Thankyou! Question; can this suace also be used to marinade and bbq a whole chicken? Any suggested modifications?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Thomas. Yes, you can use this as a marinade. I would thin it out with other liquids to use as a marinade, such as vinegar, water, soy sauce, juice, etc. Let me know how it goes for you.
Matt W says
Thank you for putting this recipe on the internet. I followed it pretty tightly with one exception; I grilled fresh Poblano peppers and then let them sit in a covered bowl for 30 minutes to soften. Once cooled I stemed/seeded them and then continued with the recipe as written. This way also didn't require any thinning at all, and it's green, not red. Initially I used about half the volume and froze the rest. I've since thawed the frozen part and it's just as good as day one. I put this sauce on tacos, enchiladas, in or on burritos, etc... It's excellent, savory, and unique enough to warrant making it many more times in the future.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Sounds awesome, Matt!!
Mysaëlle says
Hello! Since dried chiles are hard to find where I live, I could only find dried guajillo chiles. I'm pretty sure guajillos are hotter than anchos. How many guajillo chiles should I use to equal the spiciness of the 5 ancho chiles in this recipe?
Thanks for your help!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Mysaëlle, use the same amount of guajillos for anchos. Sizes can vary with any pepper, but they are fairly close in size in general. Enjoy!
Peter Atkinson says
Hi Michael, lovely recipe thank you - I'm on my third batch. Can I ask why there's the need to strain? I'm happy keeping a less liquid sauxe if the flavour isn't ruined... what do you thank.
Many thanks
Pete
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Peter! I appreciate it. Glad you enjoy it. Straining isn't 100% necessary, but some people prefer it to remove any solid bits that might affect texture, and can also be a touch bitter. It's really personal choice. Thanks!
MrF says
I followed the recipe loosely leaving out cumin and substituting with Romanian paprika and using red wine because I didn’t have wine vinegar. And added homemade pineapple cider instead of sugar. My family loved it! Amazing.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent! Glad to hear it!
Bob says
Been searching for a nice enchilada and tamale sauce and this is it! Love it. I did add honey and more vinegar and what a pleasant surprise. I’m a wannabe cook but this made me feel success and so happy something turned out edible!!! Thank You
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent! Super happy you found it and enjoyed it, Bob! We definitely love this one. I make versions of this recipe all the time. Very versatile!
Arm says
I never leave a comment on anything, let alone recipes. But this was possibly the best recipe I’ve ever tried. As someone else suggested in the comments, I added a little chipotle canned in adobo, and it tasted amazing. I used it as a marinade for tacos al pastor, and set some out as a salsa to eat with chips or top the tacos. It made our quarantine day more enjoyable. Thank you!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks so much, Arm. I greatly appreciate the comments and rating, and am very happy you enjoyed it. I love this recipe. I keep different batches of this in the house all the time for the same reasons. So good! Have a great day.
Anne kelly says
Yet to make the recipe, the reviews are positive so can’t wait to try it out! Before I start a quick question, can I preserve this sauce in jars with a water bath I’m looking at long term storage as we grow our own ancho chillies?
Mike Hultquist says
Anne, you'll likely need more acidity to preserve with a water bath. I did not measure this, but you can add more vinegar if needed. Shoot for a pH of 3.5 or lower for home preserving. Otherwise, if freezes perfectly.
Christine says
This is a great sauce! I used maple syrup instead of honey, which added an interesting flavour note. So far I’ve used it to cook red kidney beans for a taco filling, as a base for mexican style pizza (sooo good!!!), and drizzled on top of avocado toast...all scrumptious!!! Can’t wait to try it in many more applications. Thanks for sharing!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent! Great to hear it, Christine! I love this sauce. SO good, and very versatile.