Chipotle Salsa

One of our favorite salsas is chipotle salsa. The smoky flavor of the chipotle blends so well with the tomato based condiment. When a little jalapeño heat is added, the taste is piquant and delicious. The combination is tasty and low carb and is a staple here in the southwestern United States.

Tortilla chips and salsa are presented with your drink in virtually every Mexican restaurant in the southwest. The crispiness of the corn chip and the heat from the salsa roja is very tempting and also very loaded with carbs. Chipotle salsa itself is not the source of the carbohydrates, it is the corn chip. If you can avoid the corn tortilla chip then salsa is okay. We do find that the taste of homemade salsa compared to the super market products is so superior that it is the only way to go.  Homemade and using fresh ingredients is a must with salsa.

Salsa is the Spanish word for sauce. It is generally a tomato based condiment with onions, chilies, and spices to give the sauce flavor and heat. When you add “chipotles in adobo sauce” to the mix the salsa roja turns a distinctive brown color and the heat becomes smoky and even more delicious.

Blending Tips

For this recipe we used a combination of Cento canned whole tomatoes and sauce, halved cherry tomatoes, and rotel tomatoes with green chilies. We also often boil dated tomatoes in water until mushy and use them for a salsa. In the olden days a mortar and pestle were used to make salsa. Today, the blender does the trick for mixing the ingredients and the pulse button allows you to adjust the chunkiness and taste as you blend. Add more jalapeños for more heat or an extra chipotle or more adobo sauce for increased smokiness.

What is a Chipotle?

A chipotle is a smoked dried jalapeño. It takes ten pounds of the jalapeño to produce one pound of chipotles. The original pepper is green, but it will turn red if left to ripen. The pepper is smoked for days until most of the moisture is gone and it looks like a reddish brown prune. Chipotles in adobo sauce are spicy and distinctly smoky. The adobo sauce is a mixture of paprika, orgegano, salt, garlic and vinegar and it serves as a marinade for the chipotles. It is packed in cans and includes the adobo sauce. It is the key to a smoky salsa.

We use the chipotles and even the adobo sauce by itself as a flavor enhancer in many different sauces. The salsa is also a great topping for fish, chicken, pork, hamburgs, hot dogs, and is simply delicious eaten on a chicharrone. The chicharrone is a great substitute for the corn tortilla chip. Joanie makes a superb oven baked salmon with a chipotle salsa topping. All of the uses of this salsa are Tasty Low Carb!

Chipotle Salsa – Delicious Chipotle in Adobe Sauce!

Make a batch today, enjoy tonight and freeze the rest. We think you will enjoy our “Chipotle Salsa.” Leave us a comment and tell us what you think of this tasty condiment.

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