Chipotle Hot Sauce

4.59 from 31 votes

Here's a super easy recipe for some homemade Chipotle Hot Sauce. It's a smoky, fiery delight and you'll only need a few drops to spice up your life! (Note: these instructions are not meant for long term canning or preserving.)

Prep Time20

Servings:

Calories: 4kcal

Author: Patrick Calhoun | Mexican Please

Ingredients

7-8 chipotles in adobo
1/4 small onion
1 garlic clove
juice of 1/2 orange
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup water
pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon sugar (optional)
olive oil

Instructions

Peel and roughly chop 1/4 small onion. Saute the onion in some oil along with a peeled, roughly chopped garlic clove. Giving it 5-7 minutes over medium heat will sweeten up the onion and bring out some additional flavors.
De-stem and de-seed 7-8 chipotles in adobo. I usually cut off the stems and then make a slit lengthwise on the chipotles, then peeling them open and discarding the inner veins and seeds. It's not crucial to get rid of all the seeds but I usually discard most of them.
Add the chipotles to a blender or food processor along with the onion-garlic mixture and 1/3 cup white vinegar, 1/3 cup water, the juice of 1/2 orange, a pinch of salt, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, and 3/4 teaspoon Mexican oregano. Blend until completely liquefied.
Take a taste for sweetness. You can optionally add 1/4 teaspoon of sugar at this point (or more) but I did not add any additional sweetness to this batch. If you started with less chipotles you can always add more at this point if you want additional heat.
Pour hot sauce into a 5 oz. bottle (I find it easiest to use a small funnel). Store in the fridge where it will keep for about a month.

Notes

Don't have Mexican oregano? You can just omit it and still get a good result, but here's the skinny on Mexican oregano and why you should get some.

This recipe will make 1 cup of hot sauce that will fill a 5 oz. bottle (standard sized).

More info on working with chipotles in adobo.

Nutrition