Chipotle Hot Salsa (Copycat Recipe)

This Chipotle hot salsa tastes just like the real deal! It combines a blend of savory seasonings, crushed garlic, chiles, and Tabasco sauce with fresh tomato puree. The result is a fresh, slightly spicy, and flavorful salsa that everyone will love!

The Best Chipotle Hot Salsa

If there's one thing about Chipotle, it's that they know how to bring the flavor. And every time I go there, I just have to get a serving of their hot salsa. It's so delicious on everything from Nachos to burrito bowls and just as a dipping sauce with tortilla chips.

I just love it so much but hate the long lines and wait times at Chipotle, so I had to make a copycat recipe for the tomatillo red chili salsa.

It has that perfect thin consistency and an explosion of spicy flavors from the blend of chile powder, cumin, salt, and Tabasco sauce.

Trust me, it tastes like the real deal, so if you love Salsa with a spicy kick, this spicy salsa recipe is for you!

Plus, this homemade tomatillo red chili salsa recipe is so simple to make! It only takes 5 minutes of active work and about 10 minutes of active cooking. So if you've never made salsa from scratch before, this is the perfect recipe to start with.

Oh, and since the salsa is so easy to make, you'll have no problem whipping up these air fryer tortilla chips to dip in the salsa or this Chipotle steak and Chipotle cilantro lime rice to make a burrito bowl.

Ingredients

This Chipotle hot salsa recipe is made with a handful of fresh ingredients and seasonings. You probably have a majority of them already, and if not, they're all common grocery store finds. 

Anyway, here are the Chipotle tomatillo red chili salsa ingredients:

• 10 medium tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 tbsp ground chiles 
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 ½ tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 ½ tsp lime zest
• Few drops of Tabasco sauce, to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Tortilla chips, to serve with

Simple stuff, right?!

Now, for this Chipotle salsa recipe, you can use the Chipotle hot sauce instead of the Tabasco sauce or any other hot sauce you'd prefer. And for the ground chiles, feel free to use Mexican chiles or ground red chilies instead.

By the way, if you're looking for the tomatillo green chili salsa from Chipotle, I have an incredible recipe for that, too, so check out this tomatillo green chili salsa recipe next! This tomatillo red chili salsa is Chipotle's spiciest salsa, so if you want something a little milder, the tomatillo green chili salsa is an excellent choice.  

How To Make Chipotle Hot Salsa

Alright, so I mentioned earlier that this Chipotle tomatillo red chili salsa recipe is so easy to make, and I wasn't kidding. 

Essentially, you'll broil the tomatillos, combine tomatillos with the rest of the ingredients, blend until smooth, and serve. Yes, it's that simple!

So, let's not waste any more time and get started!

Step 1: Broil Tomatillos

First things first, preheat the oven to broil and position your rack 6 inches from the broiler.  Then you can line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Now, you'll want to peel the husks from the tomatillos, cut them in half, and place them on a baking sheet. Then you can add the garlic cloves around the tomatillos. If you want to disperse the garlic more evenly, feel free to chop the cloves in half.

Anyway, now you can broil the tomatillos and garlic for 12 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Step 2: Make The Salsa

Next, you'll want to let the tomatillos cool briefly before you place them into a food processor or blender.

Then you can add the garlic, ground chiles, lime juice, lime zest, Tabasco, salt, and pepper, to the blender with the tomatillos in it. Now go ahead and blend all the salsa ingredients until they're smooth. 

Once you get a thin consistency, you can transfer the Chipotle salsa to a serving bowl and serve it with tortilla chips or on top of anything you want.

Enjoy!

How To Store Chipotle Hot Salsa

This recipe for Chipotle hot salsa makes 4 servings, so you may find yourself with some leftover salsa.

If you do have some leftovers, you can store the leftover salsa in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

And if you want to keep the salsa for longer, you can store it in an airtight container or glass jar for up to 2 months. If you choose to freeze the tomatillo red chili salsa, you'll need to thaw it before you serve it again. So just let it sit in the fridge overnight or until it's thoroughly thawed.

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's how to make Chipotle hot salsa.

If you like spicy salsa, this homemade salsa recipe is definitely better than any store-bought salsa, and it might be even better than Chipotle's.

You really won't find a better tomatillo red chili salsa recipe than this one. It's a delicious salsa with spicy ground chiles, tomatillos, and the perfect ratio of seasonings and fresh lime juice.

Anyway, I hope you love this hot Chipotle salsa recipe as much as I do. As always, if you give this recipe a try, let me know how it goes in the comments below.

More Copycat Chipotle Recipes

If you're looking for some more delicious Chipotle copycat recipes, we have a ton on the blog that you can try next!

Here are some reader favorites:

• Chipotle corn salsa
• Chipotle black beans
• Chipotle fajita veggies
• Chipotle barbacoa
• Chipotle carnitas