Simple and Spicy Chipotle Crema

Marc — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 17:43:41 +0000

I have long loved a good fish or shrimp taco. And after ordering so many of them, I noticed that a lot of those dishes were served drizzled with a creamy red-orange sauce. Eventually, I learned that was a chipotle crema, used to pack a punch of creamy, sweet, smoky flavor with a hint of lingering spice.

I love a simple recipe, and this one is hard to beat. Toss everything in a blender or food processor and let it rip. I tend to use my Nutribullet because it has smaller attachments that are a perfect fit for this.

Just make sure to let it blend until it is smooth.

Don’t worry too much about the spiciness of the peppers. The crema helps tame the heat a bit and shifts the focus to the flavor of the peppers more than anything.

Fun fact – jalapeño peppers turn red when left on the plant to ripen. I found that out when I grew them myself for the first time and wasn’t super vigilant in picking them while they were still green. But it turns out that was a fairly fortuitous discovery.

What are Chipotle’s in Adobo?

First of all, chipotle itself is a jalapeño pepper that had been smoked and dried. This gives it that unique smoky flavor that I love. I use ground chipotle powder all the time in my cooking. It adds a little bit of heat and a whole lot of smoky flavor to any dish.

The smoked and dried peppers are then stewed in adobo sauce and canned or jarred. Adobo is a vinegar and ground pepper/paprika-based sauce. It adds another depth of flavor, and usually even more smokiness to the mix.

For this chipotle crema, you will need less than one can from the store. I like to store any leftovers in a Ziploc in the freezer to use in later recipes.

Once you open the can, you’ll see the small peppers in a deep red sauce. We will use both the peppers and the sauce from the can for this crema.

Note – I have even tried my own hand at this whole process. I let my jalapeños stay on the plant long enough to turn red. Then I used my Traeger grill to smoke them. And finally made a homemade adobo sauce to put them in.

Unfortunately, I did not have a dehydrator. But it was a very fun process that I will have to try again someday.

Using Your Chipotle Crema

Chipotle crema is typically paired with Mexican or Tex-Mex dishes. Use it as a dip, a drizzle, or a sauce. But try it on or with anything that could use a punch of smoky flavor and a bit of heat.

Try it with tacos, nachos, tostadas, chilaquiles, or fajitas.

I like to use it with the following recipes:

I find that it pairs especially well with seafood. Any shrimp and white fish will pair well – especially with it drizzled as a taco topping.

Even use it as a dip for fries. Or use it as a dip for what is currently the most popular recipe on the site: fried potato and onion strings. Or use it in place of tartar sauce as a dip for fish and chips!

Basically, I think you could use it on anything. But you can make it yourself to test out the flavor and let me know what you think pairs with it best.