Guajillo Sauce is my favorite to make chilaquiles rojos. This Chile Colorado, aka, Red Chili Sauce brings many memories of the big round table at my abuelita’s home. Where we would have menudo, barbacoa, or chilaquiles for Sunday’s breakfast. Salsa de Guajillo is the base sauce of many Mexican recipes! This is the salsa you will use to make Mexican traditional meals such as Pozole rojo, menudo, chilaquiles rojos, and Tamales, even Huevos Ahogados!
Chile colorado is very popular in the north of Mexico, especially in Durango and Chihuahua which is very desertic, and in the old times, people relayed on dried products to cook, such as guajillo pepper!
This guajillo chile salsa is also the base to make red enchilada sauce although you will need to add a couple of chilies anchos to make it more on the sweet side, that is another recipe! Check out my authentic enchilada sauce.
I must tell you that this salsa is used in Mexico for cooking or enhancing the flavor of many soups and traditional recipes, it is not the kind of salsa that you will be dipping your tortilla chips in it.
If you are looking for salsas for Tacos, burritos, or tortilla chips I have a great selection of authentic Mexican sauces.
- Serrano Salsa with avocado
- Mexican Red Sauce
- Salsa Taquera
- Mexican Avocado Salsa
- Molcajete Sauce
- The best Authentic Mexican Sauces
The secret to a good sauce when you are using dried guajillo chilies is to toast them a little bit before hydrating them. It kind of works the same way it does with seeds. Have you ever toasted sesame seeds or almonds and can tell how different the flavor is? same with dried chilies! if you want to skip this step is perfectly fine the sauce will still have a great flavor.
Ingredients to make guajillo sauce recipe
- 2 ½ cups of water
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon oregano.
- 4 oz guajillo
How to make guajillo sauce?
- Start by cutting off the chile stems and if the seeds come out that is great, but do not worry we are going to pass it through a sieve at the end of the process to get rid of the seeds.
- Warm up a griddle and then place the chilies on top. Press for a few seconds with the cooking shovel and flip them over and press for another couple of seconds. The chiles will start smelling. Be very careful not to burn them or they will bitter the sauce. If they burn is better to throw them away and use new ones.
- Submerge the peppers in hot water. You do not need to cook them, all you need to do is to rehydrate them. The chili will float so my secret is to place a bowl on top so I can keep the guajillos underwater. Let them stand in the water for 8 to 10 minutes.
- In the blender add 2 ½ cups of water, ½ teaspoon cummin, 2 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon oregano, and the guajillo.
- Liquify.
- Place a sieve on top of a pot and now pour the salsa and make sure the chile seed and skin stay in the sieve. Taste and add salt to taste and more cummin or oregano as you like it.
- Now boil the sauce for 5 to 8 minutes stirring once in a while to make sure it does not stick in the bottom. You can add more water if you want to make it thinner.
- Your Guajillo Sauce is ready to be used!
Here are some recipes that use this sauce and I am sure you will love it!
- Mexican Chili Beans
- Chilaquiles Rojos (Red)
- Healthy Pozole
- Birria Tacos
- Authentic Barbacoa
- Homemade Chorizo
Important Tip!
It depends on the family recipe of every home but I will definitely not miss the sieve step to get rid of the guajillo skin or seed or you can end up with a guajillo skin piece stock on a tooth the same way cilantro does! not exactly the sexiest smile…
Have you seen my Authentic Mexican Sauce recipes?
- Mole Sauce
- Enchiladas Rojas Sauce
- Enchiladas Verdes Sauce
- Barbacoa Sauce
- Chilaquiles Rojos Sauce
- Chilaquiles Verdes Sauce
Equipment
- 1 Blender
- 1 sieve
- 1 Pot
- 1 Griddle
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ cups water
- 4 oz guajillo chiles
Instructions
- Start by cutting off the chile stems and if the seeds come out that is great, but do not worry we are going to pass it through a sieve at the end of the process to get rid of the seeds.
- Warm up a griddle and then place the chilies on top. Press for a few seconds with the cooking shovel and flip them over and press for another couple of seconds. The chiles will start smelling. Be very careful not to burn them or they will bitter the sauce. If they burn is better to throw them away and use new ones.
- Submerge the peppers in hot water. You do not need to cook them, all you need to do is to rehydrate them. The float so my secret is to place a bowl on top so I can keep the guajillo underwater. Let them stand in the water for 8 to 10 minutes
- In the blender add 2 ½ cups of water, ½ teaspoon cummin, 2 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon oregano, and the guajillo.
- Liquify.
- Place a sieve on top of a pot and now pour the salsa and make sure the chile seed and skin stay in the sieve. Taste and add salt to taste and more cummin or oregano as you like it.
- Now boil the sauce for 5 to 8 minutes stirring once in a while to make sure it does not stick in the bottom. You can add more water if you want to make it thinner.
- Your Guajillo Sauce is ready to be used!
Video
Notes
- Mexican Chili Beans
- Chilaquiles Rojos (Red)
- Healthy Pozole
- Birria Tacos
- Authentic Barbacoa
- Homemade Chorizo
Important Tip!
It depends on the family recipe of every home but I will definitely not miss the sieve step to get rid of the guajillo skin or seed or you can end up with a guajillo skin piece stuck on a tooth the same way cilantro does! Not exactly the sexiest smile…Nutrition
Laura creates content in Spanish and English for a community of over 3 million followers and has been recognized as one of the most influential Latinas in the US, Latinos 40 under 40 in Chicago.
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Laura Muller says
In the north of Mexico we know the guajillo sauce as chile colorado. Chilaquiles rojos are made with this recipe and is the sauce that you add to pozole and menudo to enhance flavor and give that particular red color to so many Mexican recipes.