Authentic Salsa Macha: Mexican Chile Oil Salsa

If Taco Tuesday is a regular occurrence at your house, Salsa Macha is a requirement if you love lots of spice and heat!

Salsa Macha is essentially a chili oil from Veracruz. It is more of an infused oil than your traditional salsa consistency.

Salsa Macha is often added to soups and stews. However it is also drizzled in burritos, tacos, quesadillas and so much more.

Chiles de Arbol is required, however any type of additional red chillies can be added for more complex flavor profiles. Pasilla, Guajillo, Ancho, Costeno, Negro and Morita Chiles are a few other dried red chillies that can also be used.

This Mexican chile oil is very spicy, however, you can temper the chiles some by removing the seeds from them prior to placing them in the oil. You can also add the fried tortilla variation detailed below.

• Salsa Macha Verde – Fresh green chillies like jalapenos and serrano chili peppers are used instead of dried red chillies. Sometimes avocado is also added.
• Nuts and Seeds – Other nuts and seeds can be added like sesame seeds, sunflower seeds or almonds.
• Fried Tortilla – For a milder version, a fried corn tortilla can be added to the blender when making macha sauce.

The variety of ways you can use salsa macha are wide and varied. Since it is so hot and spicy, it is great when balanced with milder flavors.

Some of the ways you can utilize Salsa Macha include:

• on sandwiches
• drizzled in tacos, burritos quesadillas
• added to soups and stews
• Nachos Bar Ideas (or Taco Bar Ideas)
• Avocado Toast

Some people make it simple and use only chile de arbol. However, I find using different chilies gives it a more complex flavor as different chillies have different flavors.

The Scoville meter is the standard used to measure chili pepper heat, so you can judge which peppers you might want to use more of, depending on your chile pepper tolerance.

• Chile De Arbol – One of the hottest chile peppers – about 15000-30000 on the Scoville meter. These are sweet and spicy!
• Chile Costeno – These chile peppers have a sweet fruity taste with a medium heat level, registering around 5000-15000 on the Scoville meter.
• Ancho Chile – Smoky with a mild heat level. These dried and smoked poblano peppers add the smokiness without too much spice, registering only about 1500 on the Scoville meter. Due to the smokiness in these peppers, there is no reason to add any additional spices.

Now, let’s go over the ingredients you are going to need to make Authentic Salsa Macha Recipe.

• vegetable oil (or any other neutral flavored oil)
• garlic
• peanuts
• pumpkin seeds
• chilies de arbol
• chili costeno
• ancho chile
• Mexican salt – Mexico has the largest salt factory in the world. Their sea salt is rich in minerals. Use any sea salt, if Mexican salt is not available.

• In a large saucepan (or a large skillet), fry the garlic, peanuts and pumpkin seeds separately in the oil until golden brown.

• Now add peppers in the same oil until they soften a bit.

• Leave everything to cool.
• Grind the garlic, peanuts and pepitas in the food processor.
• Process everything in the blender or food processor with the oil and the salt.

• Store in an airtight jar for up to a month.

This hot oil will immediately add flavor to anything you add it to. Boring food just became delicious and droolworthy once you add some Salsa Macha to it!

This flavorful salsa can be added to so many delicious recipes like:

• Fish Tacos
• Breakfast Tostada
• Enchiladas Verde
• Mexican Goat Stew
• Pozole Verde
• Chiles Relleno
• Goat Birria Consome

However, a Nacho Bar at your next party is incomplete without Salsa Macha.

Salsa Macha with tortilla chips might be too spicy on its own. However, once you load up your Nachos with Salsa Verde, Mayan Pepitas Salsa (recipe coming soon), guacamole, pickled jicama, shredded cabbage, onions, cilantro and cheese, Salsa Macha is the best compliment to loaded Nachos!

These nachos are absolutely delicious with all the flavors going on!

Need more culinary inspiration? Check out the Recipe Index with over 1500 Recipes from Around the World with lots of Vegetarian 🥕🍆🍅and Gluten Free Recipes!