How To Make Spicy Arbol Salsa

This is the salsa they bring with chips at the Mexican Restaurant and say, “The red sauce is spicy.” This simple sauce packs a punch with just a few ingredients. The heat of the Arbol Chiles is tempered slightly by 2 Guajillo Chiles. Then garlic rounds out the flavor.

This recipe is naturally gluten free

The Chiles

The chiles in this recipe are fairly common and you can usually find them in a supermarket. A Mexican section would have them or one of our local markets has a dried chile section that sometimes has Guajillos. The chiles in large chain stores are often old and brittle and then lack flavor as a result. We have found much better chiles online form Spices.inc and even Amazon.

Watch a Video

Here is a video of 2 Cooks in the Kitchen making Arbol Salsa:

The Ingredients

• 25 Arbol Chiles
• 2 Guajillo Chies
• 6 Cloves Garlic
• 1 Tbls Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Salt

There are only a few ingredients involved in this salsa; Arbol Chiles, Guajillo Chiles, Garlic, a little Apple Cider Vinegar and Salt. We’ll roast the chiles and garlic to bring out their flavors before blending them together. The vinegar and salt come in at the end to finish things out.

Prepare the Chiles and Garlic

The first thing we need to do is to rinse and take the stems off the Arbol Chiles. You will want to leave the seeds. The Guajillos, on the other hand, need their seeds removed along with the stems. We want to leave the peels on the garlic until it has been cooked.

Toast the Arbol Chiles

Use a dry frying pan on a medium heat and toss in all the abol chiles. Stir them frequently and let them cook until they are fragrant and there is some darkening in color, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Toast the Guajillo Chiles

We will move the arbol chiles to a bowl and put the Guajillo strips in the pan. Push down on them with a wooden spoon and then flip them over. They will change color a little and the skins will bubble. They only need about 30 seconds total so you may want to do this in batches.

Toast the Garlic Cloves

When they are done we can move the Guajillos to the bowl with the Arbols. We’ll put the garlic cloves in the pan and cook for about 15 minutes and then flip them over occasionally. They will get black in spots on the skin and the garlic will get soft. Remove them from the pan, let them cool enough to handle and then peel the garlic.

Soak the Chiles

After you put the garlic in the pan, cover the chiles with warm water. You can use a plate to keep them submerged if you need to. The arbols are light and tend to float on the surface. You want them to soak long enough to soften somewhat.

Blend Chiles and Garlic With Soaking Liquid

When everything is ready we will add the garlic and chiles to the blender along with 1 cup of the soaking liquid. Then you just blend it until you like the consistency. It doesn’t need to be super smooth – a few pieces are nice in this kind of salsa. Transfer to a bowl.

Add Apple Cider Vinegar and Salt

Almost done. We’ll round out the sauce by stirring in a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar and then 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Get your chips and dip in.

Here are some more salsa recipes you can make:

• Pico de Gallo
• Chipotle Ranch Dressing and Dip
• Smoky Four Pepper Salsa
• Salsa Negra
• Morita Salsa

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