How to Make Red Chile de Árbol Salsa Taquera

Name: How to Make Red Chile de Árbol Salsa Taquera
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Ingredients: 6-12 dried chile de árbol, stems removed; 3 tomato⁣es; ¼ of a white onion⁣; 1 clove of garlic⁣; Pinch of cumin⁣; Salt, to taste⁣

Jump to Recipe

BEWARE: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART

…jk. You can totally adjust this recipe for Chile de Árbol Salsa if you prefer less heat! 😀

If you’d prefer less heat, add less dried chilies and more tomato! Want a very hot chili sauce? Omit the tomato and use only chilies – it will yield less sauce but have so much more heat that you’ll use it a lot more sparingly (and it’ll last a lot longer in the fridge without the tomato!).

Feel free to play around with the types of chilies you use and feel free to use fresh chilies too if that’s what you have! The steps are essentially all the same no matter what you do, so use this recipe as a guide, taste the salsa before serving and adjust as needed.

This recipe is so easy, requires very few ingredients and goes well on just about anything (ESPECIALLY tacos). Make a huge batch and gift some to your spice-loving friends and family! It’s also super inexpensive in comparison to buying this pre-packaged at the store.

Having trouble finding these dried chilies? Head over to your local Latin Market – a huge 6 oz. bag will run you about $4 and will be enough for over 20 batches of salsa. Seriously!

I’ll sometimes make a huge batch of this ahead of the week and use it on everythinggggg 🤤⁣

Sometimes I’ll also make the recipe without tomato and add twice the amount of dried chilies—making a chili sauce that’s super spicy and one that I use more sparingly. This version also stores well for about 1-2 weeks in the fridge since you’re using less fresh ingredients.

Hope you enjoy!

Salsa taquera ingredients ready to go into the pot of boiling water

Let’s talk heat—

This salsa taquera recipe calls for 6-15 chile de árbol, with 6 chilies giving you a pretty mild sauce and 15 chilies giving you a very spicy sauce. I prefer making mine with about 10 chilies! Sometimes I’ll use 12-15 chilies but use it a lot more sparingly (adding this to my soups or as I’m cooking), but feel free to play around with the heat level on this one!

Consider this portion of the recipe as a choose-your-own-adventure—choose wisely 😎🔥

For context, chile de árbol usually ranges from about 15,000-30,000 Scoville units, which is more than a jalapeño (2,500-8,000 Scoville units) but less than a cayenne pepper (30,000-50,000).

Dried chilies going into the pot of boiling water

How to Make This Chile de Árbol Salsa Taquera:

Bring a small pot of water to a boil, then add the chilies, tomato and onion to the pot and lower to a simmer. Allow them to simmer for about 15-20 minutes, then remove the pot from the heat.
You’ll probably notice the tomato skin begin to peel off—completely remove the skin from the tomato and the stems from the chilies, and transfer the tomato, chilies and onion to a blender cup to cool down. Reserve about a cup of the cooking water. ⁣
After the blender contents are completely cooled, about 45 minutes, add in some of the reserved cooking water (I’d say about 2 tablespoons to start) and the clove of garlic to the blender, then blend on high speed until everything has been blended thoroughly. Continue adding some of the cooking water as needed to thin out the salsa.
Transfer the salsa to a bowl, add the pinch of cumin and salt to taste. Give it a good stir and you’re all set!⁣

All the salsa taquera ingredients in the pot of boiling water

Chile de Árbol Salsa Taquera – Tips & Tricks

Do you prefer a more mild sauce? Use less chile de árbol and more tomato!
If you’d prefer more heat (and would prefer it to last longer in the fridge) omit the tomato and use only chilies. This will make the salsa more of a chili sauce, but it’s still so delicious. Also, the less fresh ingredients you use, the longer it will last in the fridge.
This salsa will keep in the fridge for about 1 month, however, you’re also able to freeze this! Let it come to room temperature and freeze the salsa for up to 6 months. When you’re ready to use, simply let it defrost in the fridge for 1-2 days or defrost it in a pot of hot water.

Other recipes to prep you for Taco Tuesday—

Salsa Verde

Pickled Red Onions (Cebolla Curtida)

Escabeche (Spicy Pickled Jalapeños and Carrots)

Chunky Spicy Guacamole

Chicken Birria (Birria de Pollo)

Chicken Quesabirria Tacos

All the boiled salsa taquera ingredients ready to be blended

If you make this Chile de Árbol Salsa Taquera, tag me on Instagram! Seeing you whip up my recipes makes me the happiest little bee!