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Chipotles in Adobo Sauce are essential for making many Latin dishes. It’s fun and easy to make them at home. The flavor is so such better than the canned version.

Jar of chipotle in adobo sauce with white bowl of adobo.

What are Chipotles in Adobo Sauce?

Adobo is based on the Spanish word adobar, meaning to marinate. It’s a great marinade for chicken, pork, seafood and beef

Chipotles are red, ripe jalapenos that have been smoked and dried. The adobo sauce is a pepper and vinegar based sauce that takes on the flavor of the smoky peppers.

Learn how to make chipotles from the peppers in your garden, here.

Jar and bowl of chipotle in adobo with silver spoon.

What to do with them?

This sauce is great to add to lots of dishes. You can use it as a replacement for hot sauces, when you run out. It is great added to salsas, sauces, soups, dips and a beautiful marinade for meats or fish. It makes a delicious enchilada sauce, and is great added to burgers or meatballs.

Chipotle salsa
Chipotle aioli
Smoky chipotle turkey burgers
Add it to soups like taco soup or chicken posole
Use it in chili
Flavor Spanish rice
Delicious basted on pork chops

What do you need?

Mexican oregano – you can use regular oregano but Mexican oregano has a more floral flavor
onion – yellow or white onion
vinegar – apple cider vinegar
cumin
tomato – whole fresh tomato
whole cloves
black peppercorns
kosher salt or sea salt
cloves garlic
brown sugar
dried chipotle peppers (ripe jalapeños) or any other dried chiles

Ingredients for chipotle in adobo- oregano, onion, viegar, cumin, chipotle peppers, tomato, clove, peppercorns, salt, garlic, brown sugar.

How to make it

Place tomato on rimmed baking sheet.
Roast tomato in 400°F oven for 20-30 minutes. Tomato can also be roasted in a hot, dry, cast iron skillet.
Soak dried peppers in water for 30 minutes, or longer, if needed, until soft.
Meanwhile, place the onions, garlic, vinegar and spices in blender container.
Once peppers are softened, remove from water.
Save 8-9 whole peppers and place aside. Remove stems and seeds from the remainder of the peppers.
Add peppers and tomato to the food processor.
Process to a smooth paste. Add water or the soaking liquid to thin. *See notes in recipe.
Add the puree and the whole peppers to a medium pot.
Cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes, to allow flavors to mingle.

tomato on roasting pan. Charred tomato. Soaking peppers. Ingredients added to food processor. Rehydrated peppers. Deseeded peppers. Peppers added to food processor. Paste in container. Whole peppers added. Finished chipotle in adobo.

Store sauce and peppers in a canning jar, or airtight container in the refrigerator for at least a month.

For longer storage, place in plastic bags and freeze. Then break a piece off and use it in your favorite recipes.

Do you have to use chipotle peppers?

Depending on the heat level of your jalapenos, and then, once smoked, the chipotles, this sauce can be very hot. This year was hot and dry, so my peppers were hotter than normal.

If you would prefer the sauce more mild, use a more mild dried pepper, like guajillo chiles, dried ancho chiles or pasilla chiles for the sauce and the chipotles for the whole peppers in the sauce.

Technically any hot pepper can work in this sauce.

Hand scooping chipotle out of bowl with spoon.

Tools I use

If you are interested in growing your own peppers, my series on How to Plant a Vegetable Garden may help you.

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I hope you enjoyed the recipe today!

Enjoy. And have fun cooking!

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