Salsa Roja

For a top-notch salsa roja, we triple down on the chiles.

YIELD 6

TIME 45 minutes

Gather Your Ingredients

Key Equipment

Before You Begin

*

Chiles vary in heat level, so adjust the amount of chipotle to your taste. This salsa is great with chips, tacos, fried or scrambled eggs, quesadillas, or grilled meat.

Instructions

1.

Process ancho pieces in blender until finely chopped, about 20 seconds. Add one-quarter of tomatoes and 1 teaspoon chipotle. Process on low speed, scraping down sides of blender jar if necessary, until tomatoes are finely chopped and ancho pieces are moistened, about 45 seconds. Let mixture sit for 15 minutes.

2.

Meanwhile, line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Adjust oven rack 4 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Place remaining tomatoes skin side down on prepared sheet. Add onion and jalapeño and broil until onion and jalapeño are blackened and tomatoes are beginning to turn spotty brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Flip onion and jalapeño, add garlic, and broil until all vegetables are blackened, 3 to 4 minutes.

3.

Transfer jalapeño and garlic to cutting board; let cool. When cool enough to handle, peel garlic. Without peeling, stem and seed jalapeño. Add tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, garlic, cilantro, and salt to blender and process until smooth, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and up to 2 teaspoons additional chipotle to taste; process until smooth. Transfer to serving bowl or squeeze bottle. If desired, stir in water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to loosen to drizzling consistency. (Leftover salsa may be refrigerated for up to 1 week.)

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