Earthy, rich, and smoky with a slightly sweet flavor and a spicy kick from the chiles, our adobo sauce recipe is going to excite your taste buds in ways they’ve never been excited before.
Our recipe makes a sauce with a complex flavor profile with medium heat that makes it perfect as a condiment or marinade. Did I mention it’s delicious?
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With a reddish brown color and the consistency of a chunky, thick barbecue sauce, our Adobo sauce is bursting with flavor and is a staple of Mexican cuisine. Try it with our Chicken Adobo; it takes chicken to a whole new level of deliciousness.
The name “adobo” comes from the Spanish word adobar, which translates to marinate in English. Our delicious homemade adobo sauce has many uses and can be used to marinate chicken, pork, and beef.
It also makes a flavorful condiment for burgers, grilled chicken, and pulled pork. Mix it with mayo, sour cream, and a squeeze of lime juice for a subtly smoky crema sauce, and drizzle it over nachos and tacos.
If you enjoy making spicy homemade sauces, try our chipotle pepper sauce and honey sriracha sauce recipes.
Ingredients to make Adobo Sauce
Start by gathering the ingredients needed to make our homemade Adobo Sauce recipe. In culinary terms, this is called the Mise en Place, which translates into “Everything in its Place.”
Setting up your ingredients not only helps speed up the cooking process but also helps ensure you have all of the ingredients on hand to make the recipe.
What Type of Chiles Should I Use?
The two types of dried chiles we used to make our Adobo sauce are ancho and guajillo peppers. Some recipes also include arbol chiles, but use these chili peppers carefully.
Guajillo chiles have mild to medium heat and have a mild smokey flavor with a sweet berry toned heat.
Ancho chiles are dried poblano chiles with a mild heat signature and sweet, earthy, rich flavor. Ancho peppers add complexity and flavor to the sauce without adding too much heat.
Arbol chiles have a higher heat rating than both of the other chiles and can be very spicy. If you want to kick up the heat a bit, add one arbol chili to the recipe. If you really enjoy heat, add two.
Chipotle chilies can be used in place of the Ancho peppers to make our adobo recipe. Chipotle are dried jalapeño peppers and can be as spicy as jalapeños. Canned chipotle peppers are packed in an adobo sauce.
Where to Find Ingredients for Adobo Sauce
Most of the ingredients in this recipe are readily available at most grocery stores. However, some areas have smaller grocers or limited inventory.
If you’re having trouble finding the chiles for this recipe, look for local Mexican markets or Asian grocers. You can also find them online on Amazon.
Remove the Seeds from the Peppers
- The seeds contain most of the heat in the peppers, so they need to be removed from the chilies before using. The seeds will make the sauce too hot and basically inedible.
*Make sure to wear gloves for this process. - Start by cutting the tops off of the chilies with a sharp knife or kitchen shears. Next, cut the chilies along one edge and open them like a book to expose the seeds inside.
- Scrape out all of the seeds and carefully dispose of them.
- Remove the gloves and thoroughly wash your hands.
How to make Mexican Adobo Sauce
- Chop the Roma tomatoes.
- Destem and deseed the dried chiles.
*Wear gloves during this process. - Add 2 cups of water to the pot and bring to a boil.
- Add the peppers to a dry skillet (no oils) over medium heat and dry toast them for 1-2 minutes on each side.
- Turn the heat off and place the toasted peppers in the pot with the boiling water. Cover the pan with a lid and let the peppers soak for 20 minutes until they are very soft.
- While the dried peppers are soaking, add the olive oil to the frying pan (the one you used to toast the peppers) over medium-high heat. Add the onions to the pan and saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Until they begin to caramelize lightly
- Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes until it becomes fragrant.
- Add the Roma tomatoes, tomato paste, cinnamon, cumin, dried Mexican oregano, and brown sugar to the pan.
- Stir to combine and cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
- Add the salt and black pepper to the pan.
- Stir to combine.
- Drain the peppers and reserve the soaking liquid.
- Add the apple cider vinegar and ½ cup of the reserved soaking liquid into the skillet. Stir to combine and simmer for 5-7 minutes until the liquid has reduced.
- Place the softened peppers and the tomato-onion mixture to the bowl of a food processor.
*Make sure to scrape all the brown, crunchy pieces out of the bottom of the skillet, adding them to the food processor. - Pulse the ingredients until smooth and creamy.
*If the adobo paste is too thick, add more of the reserved pepper water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to get your desired consistency.
You are going to love the subtly spicy flavor of our Mexican-style adobo sauce.
Store refrigerated in a glass jar or airtight container for up to 2 weeks. It can also be frozen for up to two months.
To freeze adobo sauce, divide it into portions using ice cube trays and then freeze the sauce solid. Pop out the cubes and place them in a freezer-safe ziplock bag, removing as much air as possible. When ready to use, remove as many cubes as needed and let them thaw overnight in the fridge. Use thawed adobo sauce within 2-3 days.
Recipe FAQ’s
Adobo sauce has a deep, earthy, smoky flavor, that’s tangy and slightly sweet. The spice level can range from mild to hot, depending on the types of chilies used to make the sauce.
Adobo sauce and chipotle sauce are not the same thing.
Some adobo sauce recipes call for chipotle peppers, and you can always add them if you wish. Chipotle sauce usually refers to any variety of sauces that contain chipotle peppers and adobo sauce is a specifically seasoned and prepared sauce with explicit ingredients and bases.
Mexican adobo sauce is a tomato-based sauce made with dried chiles. Filipino adobo is made with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and spices. No dried chiles are used.
Although they share the same name, they are quite different.
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Adobo Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 guajillo peppers stems and seeds removed
- 6 ancho peppers stems and seeds removed
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- 2 cups boiling water
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup sweet onion chopped
- 2 tablespoon garlic finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt or ¼ teaspoon table salt
- ½ teaspoon crackled black pepper or ¼ teaspoon table grind black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- table salt and pepper -to taste
Instructions
- Chop the Roma tomatoes.
- Destem and deseed the peppers.*Wear gloves during this process.
- Add 2 cups of water to a skillet and bring to a boil.
- Add the peppers to a frying pan over medium heat and toast for 1-2 minutes on each side.
- Turn the heat off and place the toasted peppers in the pan with the boiling water. Cover the pan with a lid and let the peppers soak for 20 minutes until they are very soft.
- While the peppers are soaking, add the olive oil to the frying pan (the one you used to toast the peppers) over medium-high heat.
- Add the onions to the pan and saute for 10 minutes stirring frequently. until they begin to lightly caramelize
- Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes until it becomes fragrant
- Add the Roma tomatoes, tomato paste, cinnamon, cumin, dried oregano, and brown sugar to the pan.
- Stir to combine and cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
- Add the salt and pepper to the pan. Stir to combine.
- After 20 minutes, drain the peppers and reserve the liquid.
- Add the apple cider vinegar and ½ cup of the reserved pepper liquid into the skillet. Stir to combine and simmer for 5-7 minutes until the liquid has reduced.
- Place the soaked peppers and the tomato-onion mixture into the bowl of a food processor.*Make sure to scrape all the brown crunchy pieces out of the bottom of the skillet before adding them to the food processor.
- Pulse the ingredients until smooth and creamy.*If the adobo is too thick, add more of the reserved pepper water, 1 tablespoon at a time to get your desired consistency.
Notes
- The seeds contain most of the heat in the peppers so they need to be removed from the chilies before using. The seeds will make the sauce too hot and basically inedible.
*Make sure to wear gloves for this process. - Start by cutting the tops off of the chilies with a sharp knife or kitchen shears. Next, cut the chilies along one edge and open them like a book to expose the seeds inside.
- Scrape out all of the seeds and carefully dispose of them.
- Remove the gloves and thoroughly wash your hands.
Henry T says
Great sauce used it for barbecuing some chicken! This got added to my mexican favorites recipes!
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m happy to hear you liked the sauce, its good on just about any meat roasted or grilled.