It’s very common to be offered a small bowl of salsa with some tortilla chips (tortillas cut into pieces and fried) when you’re sitting in a Mexican restaurant. Here in the United States, some restaurants use canned tomatoes for this, but using fresh tomatoes will always make the best salsa.
My mom almost always has this sauce ready, since you can use it for many things, such as the famous Huevos Rancheros, scrambled eggs with sauce, entomatadas, or to add to the many typical Mexican foods that we call “antojitos”.
When it comes to salsas, the combinations are endless: they can be as simple as raw serrano chile salsa, or a bit more complex with more flavor, like a piquin chile salsa. Tomatoes (or tomatillos), onions, garlic, and chiles are the heart of a delicious salsa, but not all salsas are spicy and hot.
Sometimes we use a sauce to add a little spice to a meal, while other times it constitutes an essential part of the dish, as with Shrimp Empanadas in Guajillo sauce.
Salsas are a part of our daily lives, and you’ll almost always find a homemade salsa on every Mexican dining table. Which brings me to this last point: we also call them “Salsas de Mesa” (Table Salsas), since they’re placed on the table when food is served. What’s your favorite salsa?
Fried Red Sauce Recipe
Salsas are part of our daily lives, and you’ll almost always find a homemade salsa on every Mexican dining table. Which brings me to this last point: we also call them “Salsas de Mesa” (Table Salsas), since they’re placed on the table when food is served.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Type of Dish: Sauces
Kitchen: Mexican
Portions: 1 Cup
Calories: 158 kcal
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Medium tomatoes | 2 |
| Serrano chiles | 2 |
| Garlic clove | 1 |
| Medium‑sized white onion | ¼ |
| Vegetable oil | 2 tablespoons |
| Salt | to taste |
Instructions
- Chop the tomatoes, serrano peppers, garlic clove, and onion.
- Place them in the blender with ¼ cup of water, and blend until the mixture is smooth (or slightly chunky, if you prefer).
- Heat the oil in a medium‑sized frying pan over medium‑high heat, then pour in the sauce and stir.
- Once the sauce comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 13‑15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the ingredients are cooked through. If needed, add more water; this will depend on how juicy the tomatoes are.
- Once this is done, season with salt and serve.
- This sauce will keep well for about 3 days in your refrigerator.
- Serve with warm tortillas or use tacos, fried eggs, tostadas, etc.
Grades (Notes)
- If you don’t have Serrano peppers available, use 1 jalapeño pepper.
- You can add cilantro. If you’re going to use it, use about ¼ cup of chopped cilantro and add it to the rest of the ingredients in the blender.
Nutrition
| Nutrient | Amount | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 158 kcal | 8% |
| Carbohydrates | 9 g | 3% |
| Protein | 2 g | 4% |
| Fat | 14 g | 22% |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g | 69% |
| Polyunsaturated fats | 1 g | |
| Monounsaturated fat | 2 g | |
| Sodium | 1172 mg | 51% |
| Potassium | 383 mg | 11% |
| Fiber | 2 g | 8% |
| Sugar | 5 g | 6% |
| Vitamin A | 1146 IU | 23% |
| Vitamin C | 25 mg | 30% |
| Calcium | 26 mg | 3% |
| Iron | 1 mg | 6% |