I love keeping dried chiles on hand to make spicy sauces and salsas. It’s the easiest way to get that authentic restaurant style taste, and budget friendly to boot. My salsa roja uses guajillo and chiles de arbol to give it a smoky flavor that doesn’t hold back on the heat. It’s a heat that builds, keeping you going back for more, no matter how on fire your mouth is. This salsa is great on its own served with chips, for tacos, or even as a base for braising meat. Jarred salsa be damned!

Salsa Roja

Ingredients:

1 14.5 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes

1 C onion, roughly chopped

8 cloves garlic, unpeeled

6 dried chiles de arbol

1 large dried guajillo chile aproximatley 5-6” long

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C reserved tomato juice

2 Tbsp lime juice

1 C packed cilantro leaves

Drain tomatoes, reserving liquid in a small bowl. Add strained tomatoes to an oven safe skillet with onions and garlic. Broil on high for 10 minutes, or until the garlic skins have browned and the onion and tomatoes have charred in spots. Let cool completely, and peel garlic.

In a pan over medium high heat, heat dried chiles until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cool completely, and remove stems and seeds.

In a food processor add roasted tomatoes, onion, garlic, chiles, lime, salt, tomato juice, and cilantro. Puree until smooth.