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Chipotle Hot Salsa, a tomatillo and red chili salsa based on Chipotleโs famous version, puts a little fire on your burritos, tacos, and salads. Break open that bag of tortilla chips; this salsa is ready to dip in just under twenty minutes.
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Red chili salsa is the spiciest salsa that Chipotle offers. But if you like it even hotter, you can add a bit of chile de รกrbol to nudge the Scoville units up to where you want them. Either way, itโs a delicious tomatillo-based salsa thatโs full of bright, spicy flavor.
Recipe ingredients:
Some recipes out there add tomatoes to this salsa, but Chipotleโs ingredient label doesnโt include any.
- Tomatillos: Even though they look like small green tomatoes, they are not.ย When shopping for tomatillos, look for firm, shiny, green fruit under the papery shell. Stay away from any with brown or soft spots. Itโs absolutely fine that they feel sticky to the touch under the huskโitโs a natural insect repellent that the plant makes! Donโt worry, it rinses off easily.
- New Mexican chiles: Vibrant red New Mexican peppers have a moderate heat level, and theyโre often used in enchiladas. Theyโre what give this salsa a bright red color. You can use my tutorial on homemade ancho chile powder for more information on grinding chiles.
- Tabasco sauce: Former employees of the restaurant tell me that this is an important ingredient, and we have to believe them. Chipotle lists vinegar in the salsa, which Tabasco definitely has.
- Garlic and cumin
- Lime zest and juice
- Salt and pepper
Step-by-step instructions:
- Place the tomatillos and the crushed garlic on the baking sheet and broil until the tomatillos begin to char. Occasionally, flip the tomatillos to make sure they char evenly. The whole process should take about 12 minutes.
- Next, to a food processor or blender, add the garlic, charred tomatillos, ground red chilies, cumin, lime zest and juice, and some salt and pepper to the bowl of the food processor. Process until smooth, then adjust the seasoning with Tabasco sauce, plus more salt and pepper if needed. If the salsa is a little too thick, drizzle in a bit of water to thin it out.
Recipe tips and variations:
- Yield: This recipe makes about 3 cups of salsa.
- Tomatoes: Canโt find tomatillos? Substitute an equal amount of tomatoes. It wonโt taste the same, but it will still be delicious.
- Too thick: For a looser salsa, gradually drizzle water in until you like the consistency.
- Spicy: Substitute guajillo or chiles de arbol for a fiery salsa.
- Make your own chips:ย My in-depth recipe for Homemade Tortilla Chips uses thin corn tortillas and an option to oven-bake or fry, depending on how wild you want to get.
- Chipotle Guacamole: Nothing goes with Chipotleโs hot salsa like their guacamole!
More Chipotle recipes:
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Chipotle Hot Salsa (Copycat)
Chipotle Hot Salsa, a tomatillo and red chili salsa based on Chipotle's famous version, puts a little fire on your burritos, tacos, and salads. Break open that bag of tortilla chips; this salsa is ready to dip in just under twenty minutes.
Ingredientsย
- 16 medium tomatillos husks removed and rinsed (see note 1)
- 6 cloves garlic unpeeled and lightly crushed
- 3 tablespoons ground chiles such as New Mexico (see note 2)
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons lime zest from 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- Tabasco sauce to taste (see note 3)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- tortilla chips for serving
Instructionsย
- Preheat oven to broil and set oven rack 6 inches from broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.ย
- Place the tomatillos and crushed garlic on the baking sheet and place in oven. Broil until charred, about 12 minutes, flipping halfway through. Peel garlic.
- In a food processor, combine tomatillos, garlic, ground red chiles, cumin, lime zest and juice, 1 teaspoon salt, and ยผ teaspoon pepper. Process until the mixture is smooth. Season to taste with Tabasco.
- Add 1-2 teaspoons extra ground chiles if you would like it a bit more spicy. Adjust seasoning to taste. Serve with tortilla chips.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Tomatillos: Even though they look like small green tomatoes, they are not.ย When shopping for tomatillos, look for firm, shiny, green fruit under the papery shell. Stay away from any with brown or soft spots. Itโs absolutely fine that they feel sticky to the touch under the huskโitโs a natural insect repellent that the plant makes! Donโt worry, it rinses off easily.
- New Mexican chiles: Vibrant red New Mexican peppers have a moderate heat level, and theyโre often used in enchiladas. Theyโre what give this salsa a bright red color. You can use my tutorial on homemade ancho chile powder for more information on grinding chiles.
- Tabasco sauce: Former employees of the restaurant tell me that this is an important ingredient, and we have to believe them. Chipotle lists vinegar in the salsa, which Tabasco definitely has.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 3 c. of salsa.ย
- Tomatoes: Canโt find tomatillos? Substitute an equal amount of tomatoes. It wonโt taste the same, but it will still be delicious.
- Too thick: For a looser salsa, gradually drizzle water in until you like the consistency.
- Spicy: Substitute guajillo or chiles de arbol for a fiery salsa.
- Make your own chips:ย My in-depth recipe for Homemade Tortilla Chips uses thin corn tortillas and an option to oven-bake or fry, depending on how wild you want to get.
- Chipotle Guacamole: Nothing goes with Chipotleโs hot salsa like their guacamole!
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5cupCalories: 61kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 2gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 9mgPotassium: 405mgFiber: 4gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 2070IUVitamin C: 16mgCalcium: 21mgIron: 2mg
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Chipotleโs ingrient list on their website is as follows:
Tomatillos, tomatos, garlic, red chilis, salt, pepper, cumin, and water.
Hi Brad, thank you for writing. They have changed their recipe a bit since I wrote this recipe. Itโs on my list to work on. Take care! โ Meggan
Chipotleโs ingredient list for the tomatillo red salsa includes tomatoes again. I only tried their red salsa for the first time recently so Iโm assuming that this current copycat recipe version wonโt taste like what I had. Do you still have the old copycat recipe that includes tomatoes?
So frustrating! I will search the way back machine and see what I can find, if anything. Beyond that, Iโll get a bunch of their salsa and work on recreating it. Thank you for pointing this out to me, I had no idea! โ Meggan
This is an excellent salsa if you make it with all the ingredients per the recipe. 5/5. Goes great with grilled meats in burritos, tacos, etc.
Thanks for trying the recipe, Mark! Glad you enjoyed it ๐ โ Meggan
I am so hungry for guacamole and salsa, I could eat my cell phone!
Wow, thanks John! Quite the compliment. Take care! โ Meggan
I tried making this tonight. Not sure if I did something wrong but it didnโt turn out right. Looked more of a greeny brown color and didnโt have the flavor I was expecting. It was also a lot thicker than Chipotleโs salsa. That all being said it was very tasty.
Hi Colin, Iโm sorry the color wasnโt right, but Iโm glad it was still tasty! The red color comes from the dried chilies, so itโs possible that the type you used were darker or not as bright red. If you prefer your salsa thinner, you can always add a little water to the food processor to adjust the consistency. Hope this helps! โ Meggan
Delicious! I always run out of Chipotleโs hot salsa before the chips are gone. With this recipe, I have an unlimited supply whenever I want. It took me about 15 minutes. I used ancho chiles, Cholula, an a little extra lime juice. I mixed everything in the Vitamix. So delicious and easy.
Hi Erika! THank you so much for your comment, Iโm so glad you loved it! โ Meggan
Hi Megan , We all LOVE your Recipes! LOVE Your website and canโt wait to try more items! I have tried your Chipotle line with great success!! We are so lucky to have you! ๐
However, with this recipe, I was short on time so I just used the chile powder out of the package, I wish I would have cooked it first or something because it was soooo bitter! I regret not grinding the chiles myself! I had to toss it. I am going to try it again, do you recommend roasting the chiles in the oven beforehand? Or does it matter? Thanks for your help.
Hi B, Iโm so sorry! I love grinding the dried New Mexico (and ancho!) chilies myself, no roasting necessary! I would suggest to remove the stem and seeds before grinding them up. โ Meggan
Can you can this salsa? Have you ever tried to?
Hi Hannah, this recipe has not been tested for canning. I would suggest finding a recipe that has been tested if you are wanting to can it, sorry about that! โ Meggan