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You guys have BEGGED 🙏 and here it is. My Salsa Macha recipe is finally here! This one is near and dear to my heart, if you can’t tell by how much I use it in my recipes! I was planning on producing and selling this because it’s just that good, but I just cannot find the time and I feel bad keeping it from you any longer. I have been perfecting this recipe for years and I have it up to my standards – PERFECTION, where just the right amount of classic meets the Chef Nadia Twist 🌪️ So I am officially rolling out the red carpet and ready to premiere my prized possession. So without further ado, Nadia’s Salsa Macha! 💃
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love Salsa Macha
Where can I even start with this Salsa Macha recipe? If you have followed me for any time at all, you know how I feel about it. It truly goes on EVERYTHING. This is my #1 topping for everything I make! Around my house, I make it by the boatload and it NEVER disappoints. It is slightly smoky, garlicky, crunchy and perfectly spicy 🌶️. Just trust me when I say give it a try. I would really LOVE to know how what you think in the comments!
How To Prepare
🧄 Preheat a pan with avocado oil for 2 minutes. I love to use my All Clad for this. Lower your stove to low heat and add your garlic slices. Make sure to watch them very closely so you DO NOT burn them. Roast them on the stove top until they crisp up. Once they are a very light gold, pull them out of the oil.
🥜 Blend or process your chiles. Once pretty small, add in peanuts and pulse roughly. Do not over pulse, you don’t want it to turn into a peanut paste.
🌶️ Add the blended chiles and peanuts to the hot oil with the other spices and sesame seeds. Toast for 2-3 more minutes on medium low. Also make sure this doesn’t burn. Add your vinegar and tamari, then turn off the heat.
💃 Chop the garlic into pretty small pieces and add it to the salsa. Add olive oil to the salsa until everything is covered and you have reached your desired consistency. I like it not too thick and not too runny, it needs to be JUST RIGHT 👌 The best way I can describe it is it needs to be spoonable.
🫙 Store your salsa macha an airtight jar inside the fridge and it can last up to 2 weeks. You can freeze the extra, but it will change the consistency a bit. Or if you’re like me and use it all up, you can extend it’s life by adding a little bit more olive oil to the bottom of the jar if you have some chiles and peanuts left over on the bottom.
🫶 And that is it, subscribe for more!
Substitutions
- Use dried chipotles instead of chili morita if you can’t find them.
- The tamari is optional but I really do recommend it!
- If you are short on time and just need something that truly isn’t as good but is very convenient, I always recommend the Chili Crisps.
🔥Chef Nadia’s Tips🔥
- Make sure that you do not burn the garlic! Remove it when it becomes pale golden and don’t wait too long.
- If you are almost out but you have some chiles and peanuts in the bottom, adding a bit of oil will extend the life of it.
The Perfect Pairings
I honestly put this Salsa Macha on SO many of my recipes. It is a staple in my house at all times. Some of my favorites are Spicy Butter Scallops, Spicy Ramen, I love topping any eggs with them but my Spicy Heavy Cream Eggs are especially great, Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad is one of my most popular recipes on here and another one that is great to add it to. I could go on.
Salsa Macha: Questions Answered
Not too thick and not too runny. It needs to be JUSSST right. The best way I can describe it is it needs to be spoonable.
You can put in it an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.
A good quality olive oil is always optimal. I use Cobram Estate Classic but your olive oil of choice will work!
You absolutely can. It will change the consistency a bit, but the taste will still be wonderful! But if you’re like my family, you won’t have any over left to freeze!!!
Salsa Macha
Equipment
- blender
- pan
Ingredients
- 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 ½ cup chile morita
- 6 chiles de arbol, leave seeds for more spice or remove seeds for less
- 2 chile guajillo
- ½ cup peanuts
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp mexican oregano
- ⅓ cup toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp white vinegar, or red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp tamari, optional but recommended
- ⅓ cup avocado oil for frying
- Olive oil, enough to cover everything and adjust for desired consistency
Instructions
- Preheat a pan with avocado oil for 2 minutes. Add garlic slices and crisp them up on low heat, watching closely to not burn. Once they are a very light gold, pull them out of the oil and set on a plate, leave the oil.
- Blend or process your chile morita, chiles de arbol and chile guajillo. Once pretty small, add the peanuts and pulse roughly. You don’t want it to turn into a peanut paste so don't over-do it.
- Add the blended Chile mixture to the hot oil along with the brown sugar, smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, salt and sesame seeds. Toast for 2-3 minutes on medium low. Make sure it doesn’t burn. Add vinegar and tamari and turn off the heat.
- Chop the garlic into pretty small pieces and add it back into the salsa. Add olive oil to the salsa macha. You need enough to cover everything and adjust as needed until you reach your desired consistency.
- Let cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This may be a dumb question but I’m in Toronto, Canada where fresh Mexican ingredients can be tricky to find…but the chilies used in this recipe are whole dried chilies, aren’t they??
Thanks so much!
Hey Susan, That’s not a dumb question at all! They are all dried chilies. I hope that means you can find them!
Thank you so much for this recipe! It is sooooooo good! It made a ton too! I now see why you always add it to everything!
Nadia, could you possible make a video for this recipe? Mine did not come out at all like what is pictured. It was quite chunky. I think my issue came in the dried chile phase. I cut all the chilies open and took the seeds out (despite this, the sauce is pretty darn hot). I pulsed them in the food processor but they really didn’t end up in small pieces. So, I soaked them in hot water thinking this would reconstitute them, then I added peanuts…but I pulsed quite a lot and the peanuts still were in big chunks. Can you provide more detail/guidance on the processing of the dried peppers so they are in the right form for this recipe? Thanks so much!!
Hey Elaine, salsa macha is generally spicy. You can leave out the chiles de arbol or just do 1-2 but definitely seed them if you’re not looking for a lot of spice. Maybe try blending instead of pulsing? My food processor leaves them pretty small so I’ve never had problem with them not being small enough. Try doing the same thing with the peanuts but be careful because it can easily turn into peanut paste. With the chilies, do not soak them, you don’t want them reconstituted, you want them in their dry state. It might help to throw them in the blender and just keep going until pretty smooth and then remove them and do the same with your peanuts. I’m in the process of actually trying to sell my salsa macha so if I do get there I’ll post it on the website and you can just get it first hand! Hopefully this helps!
Hi Nadia, I saw you rub this on the cauliflower for the roasted cauliflower recipe, which looks amazing. It looks to me like the main ingredient is the dried chile morita, which will be HOT. Is there a milder chile I could use? I like flavor and some moderate warmth but I’m thinking if this is too hot we won’t enjoy the dish. THANK YOU I am so excited to make the cauliflower.
Never mind. I saw you don’t use that much of this salsa mâcha in the roasted cauliflower recipe, but I appreciate you making me aware of a salsa I never heard of.
Hey Marie, It isn’t super spicy to me but everyone is different spice levels and the chilis can sometimes be spicier than other times. But like you said, it actually isn’t a lot that you add into the cauliflower recipe. If you are worried about it, the chili crisps that I buy from Amazon aren’t that spicy so you may want to just buy those. You can always add less and taste till you reach the flavor/heat point that you’re happy with. You can also just omit that ingredient completely and it will still be delicious! Let me know how you like the cauliflower!