The fully ripened New Mexico chile, dried and blended to a puree and cooked with garlic, salt and oregano into the red chile sauce behind carne adovada, enchiladas and posole.

New Mexico red chile is the fully ripened green chile pepper: it turns orange and then red as it ripens, and for the pepper to be enjoyed it must first be dried and blended to a puree. The puree is cooked with garlic and salt, and sometimes oregano, into red chile sauce, and discerning New Mexicans prefer sun dried to oven dried chile. It is the sauce in carne adovada, which the James Beard Foundation credited to Mary and Tito's in 2010. El Pinto cooks with Hatch red chile, Sadie's serves red chile on its plates, and Cervantes sells sun dried red chile sauce.

Where to eat Red chile sauce in Albuquerque

4 editor picks for Red chile sauce in Albuquerque, ranked by editorial score. All Albuquerque signature dishes · Red chile sauce across every city.

Make it at home

Serves 345 minEasy

Ingredients

  • 15 dried New Mexico red chile pods, stemmed and seeded
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon neutral oil
  • 4 cups water

Method

  1. Toast the dried chiles in a dry skillet 30 seconds per side until fragrant. Watch carefully; burnt chile turns bitter.
  2. Place toasted chiles in a saucepan with 4 cups water. Simmer 15 minutes until soft.
  3. Transfer chiles and 2 cups of the cooking water to a blender. Add garlic, oregano, cumin, salt and oil.
  4. Blend on high until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
  5. Strain through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Simmer 5 more minutes to meld flavors.
  6. Use immediately on enchiladas, in carne adovada or as a finishing sauce on breakfast burritos.

Editor tip. Mild Chimayo and hot Hatch dried red chile pods produce different sauces. Blend them 50/50 for a balanced everyday red. Avoid pre-ground commercial chile powder; it tastes muddy.