1 July, 2014
Clean Version of Chipotle Adobo Sauce: Oil Free and Gluten Free
If your like me and try to cut out processed food with unnecessary poor quality ingredients, then you may be shocked at this store bought sauce.
Chipotle adobo sauce is made from dried smoked jalapeños in a tomato vinegar sauce. If you have ever read the ingredient list of one of these cans of adobo then you may find ingredients like soybean oil, vegetable oil, or even wheat flour. If you are trying to avoid gluten, GMOs, or refined oils then this could be bad news for you. I should not be surprised by now at the horrible ingredients that are being used to create foods we buy, but I still am from time to time.
I really wanted to recreate a creamy chipotle sauce that I had on a recent trip but couldn’t find a clean, real food chipotle sauce to save my life. So when life gives me junk food I go straight into my kitchen to create a version for myself.
This recipe is not only oil free and gluten free, but it is also super easy to make. I made a large batch so I scooped one tablespoonful rounds onto a lined baking tray and frozen the rest for later. I have pre-portioned chipotle sauce anytime I need it and I can feel good about all the ingredients that went into making it. Hurray!
Ingredients
- 10 dried chipotle peppers break off stems
- 2 cans 7 oz each tomato paste
- 1 medium onion peeled and sliced
- 4 large garlic cloves peeled
- 3 dates pitted
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1-1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper ground
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp allspice
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
Instructions
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Place all the ingredients into a medium size sauce pan. I started with 1 cup of water.
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Mix everything together.
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Cover with lid.
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Over medium-low heat cook mixture until the peppers are soft, about 30 min. More as needed. Stir every 10 min.
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Add the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Add more water if needed or to desired consistency.
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Store in airtight container in the fridge for about one week or freeze. Drop one Tbsp mixture onto lined baking sheet to freeze. Once frozen place the adobo in airtight container and freeze until needed.
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Makes about 3 cups.
Recipe Notes
*choose organic ingredients when possible.
14 Comments
Very excited to try this!
I made this sauce pretty much as directed. I did go up to almost 2 cups of water and even at that it was quite thick. I also added an extra 1/4t salt. I then pureed a can of chipotle peppers in adobo that I had and did a side by side comparison. The canned version came out smoother, very tangy, and much spicier. I’m going to let this version sit in the refrigerator tonight to see what that does, but it definitely needs more heat. Maybe only one can of tomato paste and a bit of cayenne or habanero powder might do the trick. I do want to stop using the canned version since the ingredients and the cans themselves are quite suspect, but for me this didn’t quite make the grade. I’m ordering some powdered chipotle (organic) to see if that will help with the texture.
I find that it is difficult to recreate processed foods to taste exactly the same at home. I find a recipe to be successful if you can come pretty close. It has been a long time since I had store bought adobo so i was trying to go off memory. It does sound like you have some great ideas on how to improve this recipe to be more your liking which is fantastic. If I can give you a good starting off point then I consider that a success. Enjoy!
I am excited to try this recipe! I am a little confused though, shouldn’t the actual peppers be left whole just like the canned version? Thanks!
You can leave them whole if you want to but I normally would just chop them up anyway to put in recipes so blending the peppers makes a smooth consistency. Works well in recipes either way.
What spices and herbs should organic?
All of them if you can get it. I explain why in this post…https://theorganicdietitian.com/spice-up-your-life-spiced-quinoa-with-butternut-squash/
Adding an Organic Adobe spice from Frontier Co-Op would probably help make the flavor more authentic: http://www.shoporganic.com/product/Frontier-organic-adobo-seasoning/spice_blends_and_toppings
can’t wait to change my eating habits and get clean!
It is never to late to start. One of the best things you can do for your health!
Hello, Sara,
Great site packed with lots of wonderful recipes. I came across your chipotle recipe and wanted to let you know that the proteins in tomatoes naturally reduce the impact of heat spice. Thus, the more paste you add, the weaker the heat index. I only use one jar of organic, whole peeled tomatoes that I add to the blender, per 50 chipotles. Yep, it’s spicy, but can be reduced, as needed by adding more. Also, once I’ve done the initial softening of the chipotles, I let them sit for two days, adding more hot water as needed. This reconstitutes them them to nice plump, mostly smooth smooth peppers and aids in the making on the adobe sauce. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the tip.
Is there a substitute for apple cider vinegar? Or how would it affect things if that were removed? Thank you.
any vinegar would work.