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Home » Salsa~Salsa » How To Prepare Homemade Chamoy!

How To Prepare Homemade Chamoy!

June 27, 20179 Comments

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https://animoto.com/play/ds587FwYvm2C6hKOPN5ZBg

The simple, and very familiar ingredients(to many of us), are all it takes to prepare a tasty homemade chamoy sauce. Who knew? I have enjoyed chamoy sauce all my life, but never really put much thought into what it was made of. Judging from the neon red/orange color that some of the chamoy sauce varieties come in, I still not sure what’s in them, lol! I love this stuff though and I don’t know why I waited this long to prepare the homemade version.

Pinterest image of chamoy in bowl with header

No More Bottled Chamoy!

No more preservatives, food colorings and ingredients that we can’t pronounce!

Chamoy in small bowl with plate of cucumbers seasoned with chamoy and chile limon

Choose Fresh!

 In some recipes, they add apricot preserves and chile powder, but I wanted something more from scratch.  In others, they add dried apricots, but why not fresh apricots with whole dried chiles? The chile limon powder is a must for the recipe. It adds that tart, spicy and deep red color to the already colorful sauce.   

Ingredients for chamoy

What is Chamoy?

For those of you who don’t know what chamoy is or what it’s used for, here is my best description. It is a Mexican condiment, mostly used on snack foods, like fruit, chips, pork rinds and even in cocktails. It’s a mix of fruit, spices, chiles, dried hibiscus and acid in some form or another. If you have ever enjoyed a sweet and sour sauce on Asian food, well something like that, but maybe not as sweet. My version has little sugar compared to some others, but if you like it sweeter, that’s up to you. I prefer mine more on the savory and spicy side. 

Collage of recipes I use chamoy in

Piña Loca  , Mangonada,  Mangonada Margarita, Mango Margarita On the Rocks and Sangrita 

Homemade Chamoy in Pot with Spoon

Chamoy in pot with a plate of cucumbers and strawberries

Cucumbers and strawberries drizzled with chamoy and sprikled with chile limon

Chamoy in small bowl for dipping  durritos

What is your favorite fruit?

The great thing about this recipe is that you could switch out the fruit. Fruits like mango, pineapple, plums, nectarines and more. Look for fruit that is sweet and tart. 

Ingredients for for homemade chamoy

There were only 2 apricots left for the second batch, so I added 1 tart plum. Tasty!

Ingredients for chamoy with pineapple

Chamoy is fruit friendly!

Various fruits can be used to prepare chamoy. Apricots, both in the dried and fresh form is popular to use. I have also tried it with pineapple, plums and peaches.

How To Prepare Homemade Chamoy

After the 3rd day, the chamoy sauce was so much more flavorful!

How To Prepare Homemade Chamoy

I took some of my Pulparindo candy, placed it in between plastic and rolled it to thin it out. I tehn wrapped it around some room temperature plums and small cucumbers. I rolled them in chile limon powder.

How To Prepare Homemade Chamoy

A little goes a long way, but if you like a lot, then go ahead! 

The plums were the perfect sweet tart and not too soft. Perfect for wrapping with Pulparindo. The Pulparindo candy I order through Mex Grocer online.

How To Prepare Homemade Chamoy

Preparing Homemade Chamoy

How To Prepare Homemade Chamoy

4.50 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Salsa/Sauces
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
Resting Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 Cups

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried hibiscus flowers
  • 3-5 fresh apricots large, remove pits and slice in half
  • 1 large chile ancho or mulato stem and seeds removed
  • 6-12 chile de arbol or japones stems removed
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins
  • 1 cup cooking water from cooking fruit with chiles
  • 2 cups hibiscus water from cooking hibiscus
  • 1/3 cup or more of chile limon powder tajin, trechas…
  • 2 tablespoons sugar or to taste
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  • Add the dried hibiscus to a small sauce pan and cover with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool at room temperature.
  • Once hibiscus has cooled, strain out the liquid. Reserve the hibiscus water. Transfer cooked hibiscus into a wire mesh strainer and carefully submerge into a bowl of water until hibiscus floats. Let sit for at least 20 minutes, stirring now and then. Doing this helps remove any of the remaining grit that is in the hibiscus flowers. The texture is like dirt and you don’t want to chew on that.
  • While the hibiscus soaks, in another sauce pan, add the apricots, chile mulato, chile de arbol and cranberries. Cover with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and continue cooking until apricots are very soft.
  • Using a slotted spoon, transfer the ingredients to the blender. Add 1 cup of the water that the ingredients cooked in to the blender. Drain the hibiscus and add to the blender as well. Blend on high for 35-45 seconds. Scrape down the sides and blend again. Using a wire mesh strainer, strain into a bowl, pushing with a spatula to get all of the pulp.
  • Add the strained mix into a saucepan and heat to medium. Add 1 cup of reserved hibiscus water, 1/3 cup chile limon powder, sugar, lime juice and salt to taste. When it comes to a boil, reduce heat and cook for another 10-12 minutes. Taste for salt and sugar. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes

Tips~ The second batch I made, I substituted 2 tart plums.  You cam also use fresh pineapple, about 1 1/4 cups. All very tasty! I used half and half each of the Trechas chile powder and Tajin
Tried this recipe?Mention @pinaenlacocina or tag #pinaenlacocina!
Chamoy in glass jars

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Filed Under: Antojitos, Salsa~Salsa, Sauces Tagged With: antojitos, Chamoy Sauce, Hibiscus, Salsa, Traditional Mexican Recipes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marie

    May 23, 2021 at 8:18 pm

    How long does it last for? Ok to freeze?

    Reply
    • Sonia

      May 24, 2021 at 7:51 am

      Marie, this chamoy recipe will last forever! Lol! Obviously, it’s best eaten in a few months, but I did freeze mine for more than 6 months and it was still delicious!

      Reply
  2. Faith

    June 13, 2023 at 5:31 pm

    I made this recipe today, and I made a few substitutions. Peaches instead of apricots (I figured a stone fruit-stone fruit substitution was fine), raisins, chile japones, and some off-brand chile limon powder that I found before I saw the Tajin. I ended up adding more sugar, as I found out while making it that’s the type of chamoy we prefer. I didn’t even bother adding more salt, as the Tajin is plenty salty.

    I will say, this recipe is time-consuming– but at the same time, today I looked at the ingredients of a bottle of chamoy at the grocery store, and I decided the effort is well worth it to not ingest the science experiment on the shelf.

    Reply
    • Sonia

      June 13, 2023 at 5:34 pm

      Hi Faith, yes, most things prepared from scratch, especially something like chamoy can be time consuming. I don’t prefer all those chemicals and mystery ingredients in the store bought products. If you prepare enough of it, it can be frozen to preserve it even longer. I have tested it. It last a really long time. Happy you gave the recipe your own spin. I encourage my followers to do that all the time.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Steaks & Chops~ Cast Iron Cooking | La Piña en la Cocina says:
    June 29, 2017 at 2:07 pm

    […] https://pinaenlacocina.com/how-to-prepare-homemade-chamoy/ […]

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  2. Churritos de Maiz (Durritos) | La Piña en la Cocina says:
    December 12, 2017 at 9:22 am

    […] How To Prepare Homemade Chamoy! […]

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  3. Mangonada- Paletas with Mango and Chamoy - La Piña en la Cocina says:
    July 18, 2018 at 8:47 pm

    […] lime and chamoy. Last summer I prepared a homemade chamoy sauce and it turned out sooo good! Click chamoy to see full recipe. And also every summer, I enjoy preparing paletas using different fruits and […]

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  4. Piña Loca! Pineapple! Antojitos! - La Piña en la Cocina says:
    June 23, 2019 at 12:48 pm

    […] https://pinaenlacocina.com/how-to-prepare-homemade-chamoy/ […]

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  5. What Does Chamoy Taste Like? – Grocery Store Dive says:
    January 7, 2022 at 4:14 am

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Welcome!

Hi, my name is Sonia Mendez Garcia. My parents Ramiro and Blanca Mendez moved to the United States from Monterrey, Mexico in 1963. I am first generation Mexican American born in Los Angeles, California. Cooking has always been one of my passions in life. This is my journey and I can't wait to see what the future holds. Read More…

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