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Red chile adobo is a pasty marinade used to season and tenderize meats in Latin dishes.  Having adobo in your refrigerator as a staple is a great shortcut for creating some well known traditional Mexican dishes such as care adobada and pescado adobado.  By having red chile adobo on hand, you’ve already completed 75% of the  meal prep process.  All you have to do is find the protein or vegetables you want to marinate or lightly season and that’s it. Red chile adobo is great for marinating flank steak, roasted chicken, pork, fish, potato wedges, zucchini and even tofu steaks.  The meat and vegetables can be grilled, baked or pan fried.  It’s such a versatile ingredient and a must in every kitchen.  The process is simple.  If you don’t own a molcajete to grind up the spices, you can use a mortar and pestle or a handheld coffee bean and nut grinder to prepare the paste. The heat level for your adobo is up to you.  You can select mild dried red chiles such as guajillo, pasilla and morita or add a couple of dried chiles from the spicier variety such as pequin or chile de arbol. This particular adobo is mild but smoky and full of flavor.  Adobo has a long shelf life, approximately 4-6 weeks if stored properly.  Simply store it in a jar with a tight lid and keep refrigerated. Stay tuned because I’ll be sharing with you a few recipes that include this adobo.  I’m starting to include it in just about all my dishes lately and we just can’t get enough of it. Print
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Red Chile Adobo

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  • Yield: Makes 2 cups 1x
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Ingredients

Scale
  • 8 garlic cloves
  • ¾ cup yellow onion, sliced in large pieces
  • 5 dried pasilla ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed
  • 10 dried guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon dried coriander seed
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin (or cumin seeds)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Lightly roast garlic cloves and onion pieces and set aside.
  2. Roast dried chile skins on skillet for 3-5 seconds on each side and set aside.
  3. Place roasted chile skins on a saucepan with enough hot water to cover. Boil for 3 minutes and remove from stove. Leave chile skins in water to soak.
  4. Place bay leaf, black pepper, coriander, cumin and oregano in a molcajete or mortar and pestle, grind into very small pieces.
  5. Drain chile skins and place in blender container, add ground spices, apple cider vinegar and salt. Blend until a paste forms. If paste is too thick, add a few teaspoons of olive oil. Transfer adobo to a jar with lid and refrigerate between uses.

Notes

This adobo can last up to 6 weeks if refrigerated.