Happy Sunday, everyone! I just sat down after a day of cooking and I am feeling pretty good. I got some photos for some upcoming recipes (hello, cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting and some realllllly awesome Asian beef skewers), so look out for those posts in the coming weeks. I also prepped some lunches for the week for myself and Aspen (the 13 year old), and Joe got Easy Breakfast Tostadas this morning. The amount of food that happens in my kitchen on weekends is a little bit absurd. It will all get eaten, though, and will make for easy lunches during the week so it is a win-win.
Okay back to the topic of this post – chipotle peppers. I have used Embasa chipotle peppers in some of my recipes for this blog (Slow Cooked Pork Burrito Bowls and Twice Baked Potatoes with Chipotle Sour Cream). I am okay with using store-bought in a pinch, but I prefer to make my own so that I can minimize the sodium. This is especially true for things like the chipotle sour cream (for the twice baked potatoes), which Joe likes to eat gobs of. If I use store-bought, he has to stick to a dollop (sad face). Luckily I found a recipe at Old World Garden Farms that I really like, so I adapted it a bit to make it low sodium and have been using that same recipe consistently for a couple years.
Making your own chipotle peppers in adobo sauce is very easy, so don’t be afraid to try it. I have learned several things since making my own, so let me share that with you. Hopefully that saves you some of the trial and error that I had to go through.
There are different varieties of dried chipotle peppers. There are brown chipotle peppers (like in my pictures below) and there are red (or black) chipotle peppers. The brown are much less spicy and much more smokey. I actually prefer the red/black variety for this recipe, but since I live in a small town, brown is the only variety I can find locally. With the brown ones, I tend to use a lot more in each recipe compared to the red/black. I actually have started throwing in some dried habaneros (I use 3 in addition to the chipotles) to give this similar ooooomph to the canned Embasa peppers.
I like pureeing the entire batch, rather than leaving the peppers whole. When you buy them in a can, they come as whole peppers that you have to slice. I just puree the whole thing and don’t worry about chopping the peppers.
Freezing the peppers in small, flattened Ziplocs is perfect. If you flatten the chipotles in adobo and freeze them, you can open the Ziploc and break off just enough for a recipe. Another option that I have read about (but haven’t tried for myself) is to freeze these in ice cube trays. Then pop out the ice cubes into a separate container. This would make perfect sized portions for many recipes.
I think that’s about it! If you have any questions, comment below or send a message from the Contact Us page.
Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce
SODIUM COUNT: ~0 per serving; 53 mg in the entire recipe.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 12 dehydrated chipotle peppers
- 1 cup tomato sauce ((I used Pomi))
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 medium onion ((thinly sliced))
- 4 large garlic cloves ((peeled and smashed))
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar ((Bragg’s is my favorite,))
- ½ tbsp peppercorns
Instructions
- Boil about four cups of water (enough to cover the peppers).
- Place the dehydrated peppers in a large bowl and cover with the boiled water. Make sure that the peppers are submerged. You can use a plate or other weighty object to hold the peppers under the water. Let soak for 20 minutes; do not discard liquid. Try not to inhale the steam while cooking; the spice from the peppers can be unpleasant.
- Place 4 of the peppers into a blender or food processor with the tomato sauce, honey, and ½ cup of the soaking liquid. Blend until it is a soft paste.
- In a medium saucepan, place the blended mixture along with the onion, garlic, cider vinegar, and peppercorns. Stir in enough of the reserved soaking liquid (or water) so that the onions are nearly submerged. Simmer for about two hours. Periodically check on the mixture and stir if needed. If the liquid becomes too low, add more water. The consistency when everything is done and pureed should be like a soft paste (see photos).
- Once it has simmered for two hours remove from heat. Place the whole mixture into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Be very careful when blending hot liquids; be sure that you don’t seal the lid while blending.
- Can or freeze the peppers in small containers. They will keep for several months.
Notes
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (for the entire recipe)
Sodium: 53.4 mg, Calories: 357.0, Total Fat: 1.2 g, Saturated Fat: 0.2 g, Cholesterol: 0.0 mg, Carbohydrates: 71.9 g, Fiber: 9.9 g, Sugar: 38.1 g, Protein: 14.6 g.
YIELD: Roughly six 8-ounce jars; recipes will call for 2-3 Tablespoons per recipe, which makes the serving size extremely small.
* Recipe adapted from Old World Garden Farms.
Do you blend all of the peppers, 4 at a time, in step 3?
I just blend four of the peppers in step 3. I leave the rest whole until they have simmered for a couple of hours.
Oh ok, so the remaining peppers are added in the pot in step 4? Thank you so much for your quick response. This, and all, of your recipes look great… gives me hope that I don’t have to give up flavor in this new low-sodium journey!
Yup the remaining peppers go back into the pot in step 4. I hope you like the recipes! And that they can help you on your low sodium path. 🙂
thanks for asking this! the recipe didn’t state what to do with the rest of the peppers. i am looking forward to making this. i do love chipotles!
Do you think this would work well as a marinade for grilling?
Not on its own. I sometimes find grilled recipes that ask for canned chipotle peppers and replace them with this homemade, low sodium version. It would go well as a marinade with lime juice/zest, garlic, etc.