How to Make Chipotles in Adobo Sauce at home.
Want to learn how to make Chipotles in Adobo Sauce in your kitchen? You can do it using either store-bought or homemade Chipotle Peppers.
So now that I’ve pickled, smoked, dried and jellied this summer’s bounty of chili peppers, it’s time to make one of my absolute favorite condiments, Chipotles in Adobo sauce.
I always have a store-bought can of Chipotles in Adobo sauce in the pantry since it’s one of my go-to ingredients for making tacos, chili, soups, dips, you name it.
Why not make homemade Chipotles in Adobo?
Since I just smoked and dried a bagful of jalapeno peppers to make my own Chipotle Peppers, I figured it would be fun to make my own Chipotles in Adobo. I found a few adobo sauce recipes on-line and and took the elements I liked to create my own version.
Sure, chipotle in adobo are easy enough to buy and are pretty cheap. But we make lots of stuff at home just for the fun of it. Also, if you have a garden or farm share and have a bounty of peppers, this is a great way to preserve them.
The recipe is actually super easy to make. Of course, you can certainly use store bought chipotle peppers instead of the homemade.
I would say the most time consuming part is rehydrating the peppers. The rest of the sauce comes together very quickly.
Scroll through the step by step process photos to see exactly how to make chipotles in adobo at home:
I made a batch of Chipotles in Adobo about 3 weeks ago and put it into a canning jar that I keep in the refrigerator. The flavor of the peppers has just gotten better over the last few weeks and I’m really happy with the flavor of the sauce. To be honest, I kind of winged it with the sauce recipe, but it’s a keeper!
If you love this recipe as much as I do, please consider giving it 5 stars.
Chipotles in Adobo Sauce
Ingredients
- 18-20 dried Chipotle Peppers (stems removed)
- 1 cup tomato puree or chopped canned tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion (chopped)
- 3 garlic cloves (minced or pressed through garlic press)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¼ cup cider vinegar
Instructions
- Place chipotle peppers in a bowl and cover the peppers with boiling water. Place a pot lid or plate on the surface to keep the peppers submerged. Leave them soak for 20 minutes. Drain the peppers, reserving 1 cup of the soaking liquid.
- Combine 4-5 chipotles, 1 cup soaking liquid, tomato puree and honey in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Set Aside.
- Heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Saute the onions, garlic, salt, pepper and spices until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree and the remaining whole chipotle peppers to the pan.
- Add the vinegar and cook for another 5-10 minutes until the sauce has the consistency of a thick tomato sauce. If the sauce is too thick add a little more water, if the sauce is too thin cook a little longer.
- Chipotles in Adobo will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator and the flavors will continue to develop or they can be frozen for long term storage.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
You might also like:
The jalapenos from my garden are smaller than the jumbo jalapenos you see in the store. Do you have an idea of the weight of the chipotle peppers in this recipe? or the size of them?
I didn’t weigh them at the time, but I would estimate the each jalapeno was about 3″ long before drying.
Can you freeze any remaining sauce for a later time?
Absolutely!
Are the peppers in the sauce in this recipe cannable for long term storage. Just wondering if water bath safe or pressure cooker safe. Time needed for canning
Hi Karen. The cider vinegar in the sauce gives this recipe plenty of acidity, so it would be safe for water bath canning. I would process the jars for 15 minutes.
I have a basket of pablano peppers from my garden, andI had full intention of smoking them and drying them. I never thought about making my own adobo sauce. Why not! Of course. So it’ll be a weekend project. Thanks Eileen.
That’s great, Kim. The adobo sauce has just been getting better over the last few weeks.