Adobo sauce is best known for being the sweetly earthy sauce that bathes canned chipotle peppers. It’s an authentic and ridiculously versatile Mexican staple that’s easy to DIY. Here’s how to make it at home.
Adobo sauce is an authentic, earthy, rich, velvety, and not particularly tongue-tingling Mexican sauce made from dried chile peppers. It’s typically made from dried ancho chile peppers but our recipe also offers an easier riff that relies on pure ancho powder rather than dried ancho chiles in pepper form. How brilliant is that?!–Renee Schettler
How to Use Adobo Sauce
We’re all probably most familiar with adobo sauce as the sweetly earthy sauce that bathes canned chipotle peppers. But it boasts far, far more uses than that…
Use it as a marinade for fish, scallops, shrimp, chicken or pork destined for the grill or skillet.
Stir a little into rice as it cooks.
Mix with ground pork for a quick substitute for Mexican chorizo.
Add to pretty much any brothy soup for depth and interest.
Season sautéed greens or potatoes.
Use in a simple vinaigrette to drizzle over a salad.
Dribble over your morning (or evening) eggs.
Adobo Sauce
Ingredients
Email Grocery ListDirections
*How to Make Adobo Sauce with Whole Dried Ancho Chiles
- If you prefer to work with whole dried ancho chiles rather than ancho powder, simply remove the stems and seeds from 4 medium dried ancho chiles and toast them in a dry skillet over medium heat for a minute or so, until very aromatic. Transfer to a plate to cool and then tear the chiles into small pieces, scoop into a blender, and proceed with the recipe, blending the dried chiles instead of the chile powder with the boiling water as directed and then adding the remaining ingredients.
Recipe Testers Reviews
I swear that condiments speak to me. My fridge is proof! I've never found an unusual condiment I could resist. One taste and you'll hear it, too. it's shouting to be used with tomatoes in shakshuka or ranchero sauce, begging to be mopped over pork chops or flank steak, talking its way into your baked beans, even cozying up to your squirt of ketchup or mayo on your sandwich. Think I'm crazy? Take a taste! This adobo sauce recipe is easier than most—it's largely a dump-and-blend situation.
We added about 3 tablespoons of the adobo sauce to a pot of rice pilaf with shrimp and were rewarded with a rich garlic and chile flavor without any heat.
My only gripe is that I'm directed to boil water on the stove. Next time I'll boil the 1 1/4 cups water in the microwave in a Pyrex, dump it over the chile powder, then throw the garlic in the empty Pyrex, add water to cover, and put it back in the microwave.
This quick red chile adobo sauce was easy to prepare and could be used for quite a few things. I made it into a vinaigrette and served it over salad. I added it to plain Greek yogurt and used it as a quick veggie dip. I marinated some pork chops in it with good results. And I also used some to spice up a pot of chili.
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Melissa Maedgen
This adobo sauce recipe is exactly as advertised. Quick, easy, and delicious.
I don't really think that dried anchos are mysterious or hard to find (in fact, they're probably easier to find than ground ancho powder), but using the ground chiles really does shorten the prep time as there's no soaking to deal with. And the boiling water technique works well to produce a smooth sauce. The adobo sauce makes a great marinade.
Vegetarians, take note: you can freeze some tofu and then thaw it and pulse in a food processor until coarsely ground. Sauté the ground tofu with some of this adobo, and you will have a vegetarian chorizo that tastes much, much better than the soy-based chorizos you can buy in the store.