Chipotle Salsa (healthy, vegan, gluten-free)

Chipotle Salsa recipe with step by step photos. Smoky, authentic, delicious, and fresh homemade chipotle salsa, the kind you would find in Mexico. It’s so good and takes just 20 minutes to make.

Mexican food is my most favorite cuisine, even more than Indian food. It’s just something about all those fresh flavors that makes me wanna eat it nonstop and wash it down with a margarita.

On my recent pre-COVID trip to Los Cabos with Mr. Honey, I happened to shamelessly ask our waiter how they make their delicious salsa. Our waiter was kind enough to share a general recipe with me and mentioned the key is to roast or grill the veggies. Ahhhhhh… but, of course! I quickly wrote down everything he said in my iPhone Notepad, and I’m finally attempting this recipe months later. I miss Mexican food in Mexico, it’s so good and authentic.

For my version, I added chipotle peppers and adobo sauce for that extra kick and smoky flavor. It’s AMAZING! And Mr. Honey loved it too, although he did complain about the spice level, but I already knew that he would.

How to make Homemade Chipotle Salsa from scratch?

There are two ways of making salsa.

The Easy Way – grab the main ingredients, throw them in a food processor, and pulse away. You’ll be left with salsa that tastes good with no wow-factor.

The Authentic Way – grill the veggies over a cast-iron skillet for ten minutes, once browned, pulse away. The end result will be delicious, smoky, authentic, and fresh-tasting homemade salsa, the kind of salsa you would find in Mexico.

This recipe takes less than 20 minutes to make, and it’s seriously so good!

What kind of tomatoes shall I use for Homemade Salsa?

Generally speaking, I always aim to buy organic ingredients, especially tomatoes. For this recipe, I used Organic Roma Tomatoes, however plum tomatoes, Campari tomatoes, or beefsteak tomatoes would work too provided they are red and ripe.

How Spicy is this Chipotle Salsa?

Honestly, the Chipotle Salsa is spicy, it has more than just a kick, but it’s bearable. I love spicy food, but I don’t deliver recipes that are overly spicy where you can’t taste anything. I love using spices in a controlled manner if that makes sense.

There are three types of spices in this recipe… jalapeno peppers, serrano peppers, and chipotle peppers. I suggest grilling the jalapeno and serrano peppers as mentioned, however when you’re pulsing, just grill 1 jalapeno pepper and 1 serrano chili at a time. Add the additional serrano pepper if need be – I didn’t add the second serrano pepper. Feel free to control the spice, but don’t skip the jalapeno and chipotle peppers.

Chipotle Salsa is:

Authentic
Flavorful
Delicious
Smoky
Spicy
Homemade
Vegan
Gluten-Free

How to make Chipotle Salsa recipe step by step?

Prep

1. Slice 4 Roma tomatoes in half, 1 jalapeno pepper, 2 serrano peppers, and 1 white onion. You only need 1/2 of a medium white onion – I just roasted the entire onion for leftovers. You’ll also need 4 cloves of garlic with the skin.

Cook

1. Heat up a large castiron skillet on medium heat, once hot, add avocado oil. Make sure it coats the entire pan. Now add the tomatoes, jalapeno, serrano, onion, and garlic cloves with the skin. Cook the veggies for 5 minutes on one side.
2. Flip the veggies. Notice how the veggies get charred. Cook on the other side for 5 minutes. Flip on the other side if you want the veggies more charred. Once done, turn off the stove. This is what you should have. Leave the veggies on the castiron skillet and let it cool for 5 minutes.
3. In the meantime, remove the skin from the garlic cloves.

Blend Salsa

1. In a food processor, add the tomatoes, jalapeno, 1 serrano pepper (not 2, only 1 for now), 1/2 a medium onion, and garlic. 
2. Add cilantro, salt, and fresh lime juice.
3. Pulse the salsa until it’s runny.

4. Now to make the Chipotle Salsa – add 1 tbsp adobo sauce.
5. 1/2 a chipotle pepper – as shown. 
6. Pulse again until runny. Taste. If you want the salsa spicier, add the remianing serrano pepper. Your salsa is ready. 

Serve Chipotle Salsa cold with Chips and a Margarita!

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Chipotle Salsa

Smoky, authentic, delicious, and fresh homemade chipotle salsa, the kind you would find in Mexico. This recipe makes 2 bowls of salsa.

5 from 16 votes

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time20 mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Mexican

Diet Vegan, Gluten-Free, Healthy.

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 47kcal

Equipment

Lodge 12"

Food Processor 11-Cup

Ingredients

Grill the Veggies

• 1 tbsp avocado oil
• 4 organic roma tomatoes sliced in half
• 1/2 medium white onion sliced in half
• 1 jalepeno pepper sliced in half
• 2 serrano peppers, pulse 1, add more if need be sliced in half
• 4 cloves garlic with skin

Blend the Salsa

• all grilled vegetables
• 1 cup fresh cilantro
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp adobo sauce
• 1/2 chipotle pepper

Instructions

Prep

• Slice 4 Roma tomatoes in half, 1 jalapeno pepper, 2 serrano peppers, and 1 white onion. You only need 1/2 of a medium white onion - I just roasted the entire onion for leftovers. You'll also need 4 cloves of garlic with the skin.

Cook

• Heat up a large castiron on medium heat, once hot, add avocado oil. Make sure it coats the entire pan. Now add the tomatoes, jalapeno, serrano, onion, and garlic cloves with the skin. Cook the veggies for 5 minutes on one side.
• Flip the veggies. Notice how the veggies get charred. Cook on the other side for 5 minutes. Flip on the other side if you want the veggies more charred. Once done, turn off the stove. This is what you should have. Leave the veggies on the castiron skillet and let it cool for 5 minutes.
• In the meantime, remove the skin from the garlic cloves.

Blend Salsa

• In a food processor, add the tomatoes, jalapeno, 1 serrano pepper (not 2, just 1 for now), 1/2 a medium onion, and garlic.
• Add cilantro, salt, and fresh lime juice.
• Pulse the salsa until it's runny.
• Now to make the Chipotle Salsa - add 1 tbsp adobo sauce.
• 1/2 a chipotle pepper - as shown.
• Pulse again until runny. Taste the salsa. If you want the salsa more spicy, add the remaining serrano pepper and pulse some more. Your salsa is ready.

Nutrition

Calories: 47kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 810mg | Potassium: 139mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 568IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg