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Made with only 5 ingredients, this Chile de Arbol Salsa is the perfect taco salsa. It’s spicy, goes well with Mexican favorites like tacos, tostadas, and gorditas, and is freezer friendly!
This Chile de Arbol Salsa recipe is my family’s version of the quintessential Mexican taco salsa.
It’s the salsa that’s always on the table when we’re serving tacos, tostadas, flautas, sopes, and gorditas. It’s my dad’s number one favorite condiment and will forever remind me of my family.
If you’re not a fan of spicy food, this salsa probably isn’t for you. Instead, you may want to try making my homemade salsa or this easy salsa verde.
But if you love spicy food as much as I do, this recipe is for you!
What is Chile de Arbol?
Chile de Arbol is a type of red chile that’s commonly used in Mexican cuisine. The chiles themselves are quite small, but they’re very spicy, ranging from 15,000-30,000 on the Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) scale.
For reference, the average jalapeño pepper ranges between 2,500-8,000 SHU.
How to Make Chile de Arbol Salsa
- In a medium pot, add the arbol chiles and enough water to cover them completely. Bring to a boil over high heat, remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let the chiles soak for 10 minutes to soften.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the softened chiles to a blender. Add ¾ cup of fresh water, the tomatoes, garlic, and salt. Blend until completely smooth. Taste and add more salt as needed.
Tips and Tricks
- This salsa is meant to be spicy. That being said, if it’s way too spicy for you, add one or two more plum tomatoes to the blender and puree until smooth.
- This salsa should be fairly smooth. Depending on the power of your blender, it can take anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes of blending time.
Ways to Use Chile de Arbol Salsa
Aside from eating this salsa with homemade tortilla chips (which I love), here are a few of my favorite ways to eat it.
- drizzle it on easy chicken tacos, breakfast tacos, or ground beef tacos
- have it with your chorizo and eggs for breakfast
- mix it into soups like chicken tortilla soup, black bean soup, and pozole rojo to add a little spice
If you’re anything like my dad and absolutely LOVE spicy food (the spicier, the better), then you may want to completely omit the tomatoes.
I modified this recipe to my taste, but when my dad makes it, he doesn’t ever add tomatoes! So if that’s you, go for it! You can always add in more tomatoes later.
Storing and Freezing
To store: Transfer the salsa to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for 1 to 2 months.
To freeze: Let the salsa come to room temperature. Place it in a freezer-safe storage bag or container and freeze it for up 6 months. When ready to eat, remove the salsa from the freezer a day before and thaw it in the fridge.
More Mexican Salsas
Chile de Arbol Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 ounce árbol chiles, rinsed and stemmed
- water, as needed
- 2 large plum tomatoes, halved
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- In a medium pot, add the chiles de arbol and enough water to completely cover them. Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let the chiles soak for 10 minutes to soften.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the softened chiles to a blender. Add ¾ cup of fresh water, the tomatoes, garlic, and salt. Blend until completely smooth.
- Taste and add more salt as needed.
Video
Notes
- Spice level: This salsa is meant to be very spicy. If it’s way too spicy for your liking, add in an extra tomato or two to help dilute the heat.
- Storage: This salsa will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 1 week.
- Freezing: To freeze, let the salsa come to room temperature. Place it in a freezer-safe storage bag or container and freeze it for up to 6 months. When ready to eat, remove the salsa from the freezer a day before and thaw it in the fridge.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious!
Absolutely delicious. Easy to make and very authentic. All of my friends from Mexico love it! Great salsa with chips and as a condiment for Posole!
So question on the Tomatoes. Did you peel the tomatoes or core them?
Hi Walter! For this recipe you don’t have to.
Can I use fresh Arbol peppers?
Yes, you can!
Hello,
Are the tomatoes suppose to be boiled as well?
Hi Alexsis! You do not have to boil the tomatoes for this recipe.
This is way too spicy for a salsa and this is coming from someone that eats some sort of spicy hot sauce/salsa all the time. It really depends on how spicy the Chile de Árbol peppers are. I had to add way more tomatoes and some olive oil to emulsify it and cool it down, then strain to get any seeds and skins out and turn it more into a hot sauce than a salsa. It was delicious but I recommend you either test your Peppers before using 1 Oz.
Hi,
This salsa looks great. Do you leave the seeds in the chiles? if so, is it very spicy?
Yes, you can leave in the seeds if you prefer. But the seeds make it extra spicy. Chile de arbol peppers are fairly spicy on their own, so even without the seeds it’s spicy. I recommend only leaving in the seeds if you want the salsa extra spicy.
I’ve been looking for an easy Chile de Arbol recipe, but mine turned out bitter. What should I add or what do you think I did wrong? This is my first time making any kind of salsa.
Hi Baillie! That can happen when the chiles are soaked or cooked for too long! We suggest soaking them until just softened.
How many Chile’s did you use? You look as though you have more than one ounce.
I used 1 ounce of dried arbol chiles. The bag I used said it weighed 1 ounce, so I used the entire bag.
HELP!!! Okay so I made your toasted red chili salsa recipe and I think the tomatillos I got were too big, because the tanginess is overbearing. Do you have a suggestion of what to add to help balance the flavor? Thank you
Hi Chris, for the Toasted Red Chile Salsa, you could try adding in a regular plum/roma tomato. That should get rid of some of the tanginess. Or you could always add in more chiles.