Made with a dried piquin chiles, garlic cloves, tomatoes, and onion, this chili pequin salsa recipe is as delicious as it is easy to make. Grind all the ingredients in a molcajete for a super spicy twist on a classic salsa to serve with grilled pork or just tortilla chips.
Without a doubt, homemade salsa is, by far, superior to store bought. I love creating the perfect combination of sour, spicy and sweet depending on my mood or whether I’m drizzling it over arroz con pollo or serving as a dip.
Over the years I’ve shared many, many salsa recipes with you (25 to be exact) and today I have a new one to add to the list. It’s fiery, complex, and simply irresistible. I have the recipe memorized (there are only 6 ingredients after all) and make it year-round to go with everything from chicken avocado jicama wraps to slow roasted pork shoulder.
Today’s recipe features chile pequin (more on them below) and is made in a molcajete. A molcajete is like a mortar and pestle but is made of volcanic rock so the sides are rough, making grinding ingredients into salsa fairly easy.
The molcajete makes it more chunky than a hot sauce so if you want this really smooth, like salsa ranchera, I suggest blending everything in a blender instead.
Why You Must Try This Chili Pequin Salsa Recipe
- If you love spicy food, you’ll flip for this spicy salsa. You should also definitely try my pollo a la diabla too.
- Chile Piquin peppers have a complex fruity-fiery flavor like arbol chiles, but spicier.
- Totally adaptable; add cilantro, lime juice, Mexican oregano, more cloves garlic—make it your own.
- A 6-ingredient salsa, just like my tomatillo pico de gallo.
- Discover a new chile to love.
What Are Chile Piquin?
Chili pequins are hot peppers that also go by the name chile de monte, pequin chile, and piquín chile. These small peppers pack a lot of heat, they are 5-8 times hotter than jalapeño peppers on the Scoville scale.
According to Larousse Cocina, these chiles are used fresh and dried throughout Mexico to flavor stews, in various salsas, or ground and sold as chili powder.
They look very similar to chile tepin (aka chiltepin), the round, pea-sized chiles that we used to garnish our pozole blanco. Chile piquin however are oval shaped and the dried chiles look like rusty red pine nuts.
Look for them at your local Latin market or purchase them online.
Overview: How to Make Dried Chile Piquin Salsa
Homemade chile piquin salsa recipes are incredibly simple to make. There’s just a few steps before you have a delicious home-style salsa on your hands!
- Fry the vegetables. Saute the tomatoes, onions, and garlic in oil until very soft and caramelized.
- Add the chile peppers and continue cooking until they are softened.
- Transfer to the molcajete (or blender).
- Grind into as smooth or chunky of a salsa as you’d like.
- Season with salt to taste.
- Serve or store. Use this post as your guide to salsa storage.
Using A Molcajete
My favorite thing about this chile piquin salsa recipe is it is made in a molcajete which gives it a distinct texture that is the perfect combo of smooth but not too smooth. And honestly you can make it as smooth as chile morita salsa or chunky as salsa macha.
When using a molcajete don’t be afraid to get a little bit messy! The best salsas made in a molcajete often involve some ingredients sticking to the sides. Just scrape them back down and keep grinding for maximum flavor.
The molcajete I use is from Masienda who partnered with artisan Don Enrique of San Salvador El Seco, Puebla to create a handmade lava rock molcajete that not only looks great but works marvelously to grind down ingredients into delicious salsas.
One bite of this fresh salsa and you’ll wonder why you haven’t made it sooner!
More Salsa Recipes
- Spiked Mango Margarita Salsa
- Pomegranate Salsa
- Fresh Mango Salsa
- Salsa de Cacahuate {Peanut and Arbol Chile Salsa}
- Fruity Pico de Gallo
- Grilled Pineapple Salsa
- Cilantro Mango Habanero Salsa
And 20 more spicy food recipes if that’s your thing.
Chile Piquin Salsa
Made with a dried piquin chiles, garlic cloves, tomatoes, and onion, this chili pequin salsa recipe is as delicious as it is easy to make. Grind all the ingredients in a molcajete for a super spicy twist on a classic salsa to serve with grilled pork or just tortilla chips.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 Roma tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
- 1 white onion, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 tablespoons (1 .25 ounce package) dried Chile pequin
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Heat the 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium-low heat in a large frying pan. Add the 3 chopped tomatoes and let cook until softened.
- Add the chopped onion and continue to cook letting the vegetables get soft and start to caramelize, but not burn. Add a little water if they are getting too dark.
- Add the 2 cloves garlic and the 2 tablespoons chile pequin and stir occasionally until the garlic starts to soften. Again, add a little water if the mixture is starting to burn. Once all the ingredients are soft enough to easily be crushed by the back of a wooden spoon, remove from the heat.
- Transfer mixture to a molcajete and grind to your desired consistency. Stir in salt and taste.
Notes
- Molcajete magic: Grinding the salsa in a molcajete gives it an authentic texture and flavor. If you don't have a molcajete, you can use a food processor or blender, but pulse it carefully to avoid over-processing.
- Storage: Store leftover salsa in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Fresh vs. dried chiles: This recipe uses dried chile pequin, but you can also use fresh ones. If using fresh, you may need to adjust the amount to achieve your desired spice level.
- Citrus boost: Add a squeeze of lime juice for extra brightness and acidity.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 6Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 80mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 0g
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