Green chile sauce is one of my favorite things to put on top of just about anything. It’s perfect for smothering burritos, tamales, chile rellenos or even tater tots. This homemade version is full or flavor and gets a serious kick from the chiles I used. I never quite know how spicy it will be each time I make it since I use a combination of mild and medium chiles. If you aren’t a big fan of super spicy things make sure you get mild green chiles. The best time of year to get fire roasted Hatch Green Chiles is late summer to early fall, but I like to get a big box and freeze them in smaller bags so that I can make green chile sauce year round.
Green Chile Sauce
Vegetarian green chile sauce that is thick enough to eat like a stew
Servings 30 ounces
Ingredients
- 2 cups diced fire roasted green chiles
- 1 can rotel
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1/3 cup flour
- 3 cups water
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp cumin
Instructions
- Prepare the chiles by removing the majority of the charred skin, cutting off the steam and seed pocket, and then cut down the middle of the chile to remove the seeds inside. If you want an extra spicy green chile sauce you can add in some of the seeds. I also like to keep a little of the charred skin to add flavor. Then slice the chile length wise into 1/2 cm strips and then cut width wise into small pieces.
- Dice the onion and add to a pan over medium heat with the olive oil. Cook for 5 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the diced green chiles. Drain the can of rotel and then add to the pan, stir everything to combine.
- Sprinkle the flour over the chiles, onion, and tomatoes. Stir until the flour is all absorbed roughly 1 minute. Slowly add a little water and stir until it makes a smooth paste. Add the remaining water and stir until all the flour is dissolved.
- Simmer sauce over low-medium heat for 1 hour being sure to stir every now and then.
- Add the garlic salt, salt, and cumin. Using a slotted spoon transfer half the green chile sauce to a food processor. Pulse until all smooth and then return to the pot. Stir until everything is combined.
- Use right away to top your favorite dish or transfer to a container to keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze half the sauce to save for later.
Tips:
- Traditional green chile sauce and our family recipe is made with pork. You can certainly add pork to this in the beginning. You would want to first cook the cubed pork in the pan before adding the onion. You would skip adding the oil and just leave 1 Tbsp of fat from the pork in the pan. You would then follow all the remaining steps, but would probably skip putting half the sauce in the food processor. You could still do that, but would just want to make sure you don’t get any pork to puree.
- I seriously think one of the best smells in the world is fresh roasted green chiles. I have found a lot of garden centers roast green chiles and sometimes even Whole Foods does as well. I typically get a whole bushel of roasted chiles and like to get half mild and then half medium Big Jims. The level of heat can certainly vary and I’ve found even year to year the same chiles bought from the same place can vary. Especially with having a mixture of different types each batch of green chile sauce is a bit like Russian roulette, where you never quite know how hot it’s going to be.
- I typically freeze about 20-25 chiles in a bag so that I can make a batch of green chile sauce and then have some additional ones to make chile rellenos or use in other recipes.
