Chile today, salsa tomorrow! I love that story, Ha, ha, ha!! What can I say, this girl loves her spicy foods and salsa in particular. This chile cascabel salsa is possible thanks again to shopping dried chiles online! Yay! Could you believe I went to at least 5 markets in Austin and Houston, when I was visiting, and could not find one ounce of chile cascabel. And some of them were full blown Mexican markets with everything I dream of when it come to food ingredients.
What Do I Do When I Have Questions About Mexican Ingredients?
I happened to be chatting with my sweet friend and fabulous Mexican food blogger Mely over at Mexico in My Kitchen that week. She was telling me how she really enjoys preparing chile cascabel salsa so I asked her for her best tips. Thanks Mely! I made sure to order a few bags of this chile, so I would not run out right away. The salsa recipe today has chile de arbol for some and a little roasted garlic for more flavor. This is a must for your favorite Mexican tacos, flautas, eggs, crackers, lol! It’s so good! Go to the end of the post to see the link for Mely’s original Chile Cascabel Salsa on Mexican Food Journal site. There is a lot of delicious food happening over there too! #foodieforlife #chilehead #welovespicy
Cascabel translates to “rattle” because of the noise the seeds make when you shake the pepper.
I cannot say this enough. Make sure you have ventilation when toasting peppers. I did not use the red tomatoes and serrano for this recipe. Just multi tasking, lol!
That moment when you remember that there are homemade totopos(chips)!!!!! Priceless!
Tips~ If you like, you could leave the onions on top and add some chopped cilantro. Nice presentation for serving tacos.
Here are a few new pictures of the Chile Cascabel Salsa! Can you tell I have a new Vitamix blender? Makes a big difference in how smooth your salsa can be!
What a difference a good blender makes!
One of my favorite dishes to prepare with this delicious Chile Cascabel Salsa is a Carne Guisada or Steak Picado with Nopales! Click on the link and follow that recipe. But instead of adding the tomatoes, you will add 3/4 cup of chile cascabel salsa. Then you will slice up the nopalitos and mix them in. https://pinaenlacocina.com/steak-picado-one-skillet-beef-tacos/
Mely’s original Chile Cascabel Salsa as seen on Mexican Food Journal. Click onto picture to see full recipe. Yummy!!
Salsa de Chile Cascabel con Chile de Arbol
Ingredients
- 1 bag of dried chile cascabel 4 oz (about 20 peppers)
- chile de arbol 15-20 peppers(I like it spicy)
- tomatillo 6 large, husk removed and rinsed
- garlic 3-4 cloves, skins on
- You Will Also Need
- 1 cup water
- sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup diced white onion
Instructions
Directions
- Remove the stems and seeds from the peppers. On a preheated comal or skillet at medium heat, dry roast the chiles, tomatillos and garlic. I would suggest roasting the dried chiles first, since they require your full attention. Toast them just until they become aromatic and change color slightly. This only takes a few minutes.
- Using a metal spatula, press the peppers to help them roast a little faster. As soon as they become aromatic, transfer them to a pot of simmering water. Simmer for 10 minutes and let sit in water until cool.
- On that same comal, dry roast the tomatillos and garlic for 15 minutes, turning as needed. Let cool for a minute, then remove the skins from garlic.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chile cascabel to the blender. Add all of the chile de arbol. Add 1 cup of water with salt to taste. Blend on high until very smooth. I blend for almost 1 minute, twice.
- Add the garlic and tomatillos to the blender. Again pulse to blend, then blend on high until smooth. Season as needed.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of grapeseed oil to medium heat. After a few minutes, add the salsa from the blender. Reduce heat to a slow simmer and cook for 7-10 minutes. Transfer to serving bowl and fold in the diced onions.
Notes
Reader Interactions
Comments
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[…] Featured in this short gallery are a few recipes I prepared once I prepared the Chile Cascabel Salsa. Steak Huevos Rancheros, Chile Rellenos de Picadillo, Carne Guisada Con Nopalitos and Tacos de Camaron. You can find recipes on “how to” for the Chiles Rellenos and Steak Huevos Rancheros on site. The other two I will be adding to the site soon and will update this post accordingly. Thank you so much for following along! https://pinaenlacocina.com/chile-cascabel-salsa/ […]
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[…] Chile Cascabel Salsahttps://pinaenlacocina.com/chile-cascabel-salsa/ […]
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[…] queso oaxaca, chile cascabel salsa, onion and cilantro. Click link to see chile cascabel salsa. https://pinaenlacocina.com/chile-cascabel-salsa/Agua de Jamaica. Click link to see full recipe. […]
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where in denver colo.would you suggest i can find this chili cascabel?
I really am not sure where you could find them in Colorado Colene Typically they can be found at Mexican markets. I ordered mine thru Lupita’s Brand out of Houston, Texas. I hope you can find some in your area.
I have ordered them online thru Walmart.com
Sorry , my recipe didn’ nt say how many Cascascabell peppers to use, and do I toast them & soak them, also?
I am sorry Yolanda, I stated 4 0z bag for the chiles, which was about 20 peppers. I added this to the instructions as well as the estimated time for toasting and soaking the peppers. Thanks.
Colene…Try a Savory Spice Shop in your area. I bought mine a year or so ago there. Not cheap! Shows them available on their website but I don’t know about independent locations. Also available on Amazon, too. Can’t say that I’ve seen them at HMart, but I wasn’t looking specifically for them lately. I get my de Arbil chilea there or Walmart. Can’t wait to try this salsa!
I was wondering why the salsa had to be fried after it’s been made in the blender? I’ve seen many cooks do this step as well. Does it round out the flavor??
Yvette, you don’t really have to add any oil if you absolutely don’t want to. You can still cook the salsa for 10-12 minutes. This will ensure that all the remaining raw flavors cook out. The oil gives the salsa a nice finish without changing the flavor. I only started doing this a few years ago, but don’t let that stop yu from preparing it. Enjoy!
I LOVE the spicy flavor of chile cascabel! Sadly, I’ve never been able to find them in our small town. But whenever we travel to nearby Zacatecas, I always stock up on the dried chiles I can’t find like cascabel, pasilla, and dried chipotles.
Gorgeous salsa, Sonia!
Thank you sweet friend! I used to be able to find it here in New York. Not sure sure why it’s so hard to find. I do love it though. Thank you so much!
I did find them on Walmart.com because stores out here in the San Joaquin Valley didn’t have them.
Sonia, just stumbled onto your blog and am loving it. I was raised in Peru, married a Cuban, and lived many years in Baja Arizona. I’m a blended cook. Now they call it fusion! At any rate, being a criollo cook, I love flavorful chiles. I raise chiltepin in my garden here in Oregon and they taste like a hotter variety of cascabel. So, easy to grow. You can also buy cascabel powder at myspicesage.com https://www.myspicesage.com/cascabel-chile-peppers-p-403.html
Hi! I am familiar with chiltepin and piquin peppers. My abuelo grew the chile piquin on his rancho in Higueras, Mexico. Now my cousins own it and still harvest the chile. I can only get the fresh when I find it in Texas. I found a source for Mexican dried chiles out of Laredo, Tx. The get the chiles directly from Mexico for packaging and so far the quality has been the best ones online. They are a little more, but very fresh. When I visit family in Texas, I always ship boxes of peppers home too, lol! I have ordered from my spice age actually and liked their products. The name of the company out of Laredo is Ole Mission.
Excellent salsa. The flavor is complex and balanced. It has a strong initial flavor of citrus, then the heat spreads throughout your mouth. The aftertaste is sweet/hot. It makes about 1 quart. I found the cascabel peppers on Amazon and they were here in 1 day.
Thank you Tony! I really appreciate you taking the time to write. I love that chile cascabel is more readily available these days. I do enjoy cooking with it! Thank you for all your support over the years!
Excellent salsa! you can’t go wrong with this flavorful, Hot, aromatic salsa! El mejor!
Thank You Robert!!
Hi Sonia,
Just one thing am wondering. The 6 cup batch should be 3 cups of water. Do you use the water that you simmered the peppers in? I’m making a triple batch and I’m thinking that i should probably use that water?