New Mexican red chile sauce
New Mexican red chile sauce is a smooth, cooked sauce of dried red chile, thickened with a little flour and loosened with water, and used to coat enchiladas and to build chile con carne.
New Mexican green chile sauce
green chile sauce · green chili sauce
New Mexican green chile sauce is a cooked sauce of roasted fresh green chile, onion and garlic, thickened with a little flour and a 15-minute simmer in stock.
What it is
New Mexican green chile sauce is made from roasted fresh green chile, not dried pods. It is cooked with onion and garlic and loosened with stock until it is pourable. Its fresh, roasted pepper flavour is the reason it is kept separate from the dried red chile sauce.
The sauce is served warm over food, and it is an essential base in many New Mexican dishes according to the state tourism source.
Sources for this section
Why it is green
Green sauce depends on fresh pods. The state tourism source notes that green sauces were less common before freezers existed, because the chile had to be available out of season. Frozen roasted chile made the sauce possible year round, and the source says New Mexico now arguably favours green over red chile.
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How the sauce is made
The onion and garlic are softened in oil over medium heat. Flour is cooked into the softened onion for a minute or two, which begins to thicken the sauce. The chopped roasted chile goes in next, then the stock is poured in while stirring, and the salt follows.
The mixture boils and then simmers for about 15 minutes, until it thickens but still pours. The thickening comes from the flour and from the reduction of the liquid during the simmer.
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Keeping and variations
The state tourism source says the sauce keeps about three days in the refrigerator and freezes well. Some versions omit flour and rely on the simmer alone to thicken, as one stock-based recipe does. The research does not establish a canning procedure for this flour-thickened sauce, and it should not be treated as a preserved product.
Sources for this section
History
The state tourism source says green sauces were less common before freezers existed, and that New Mexico now arguably favours green over red chile. The source gives no dated origin for the sauce.
Ingredients
Yield 4 cups · Scaling: follow the recipe as written; the source gives 4 cups.
Vegetable oil
30 mL2 tbsp as recorded
OnionChop fine.
½ medium
½ to 1 medium onionGarlicMince.
2 cloves
2 to 3 clovesAll-purpose flour
15 mL1 tbsp as recorded
Roasted New Mexican green chileChop; fresh or thawed frozen. Mild to medium-hot.
473 mL2 cup as recorded
Chicken or beef stock
473 mL2 cup as recorded
Salt
2.5 mL½ tsp as recorded
More to tasteMethod
- Warm the oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the flour and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
- Mix in the chopped chile. Immediately pour in the stock while stirring, then add the salt.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer and cook about 15 minutes, until thickened but still very pourable. Serve warm or refrigerate for later.
Conditions
Yield4 cups
Active time25 min
Places
New Mexico
Documented preparation · Region evidenceThe state tourism recipe documents a New Mexican preparation; it does not date the sauce.
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Sources
New Mexico Tourism (newmexico.org)Method · History · Uses
Green Chile SauceRecipe: 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1/2 to 1 onion, 2 to 3 garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon flour, 2 cups chopped roasted green chile, 2 cups stock, 1/2 teaspoon salt; yields 4 cups; simmer about 15 minutes; keeps about 3 days refrigerated and freezes well.
Green sauces were less common before freezers; New Mexico arguably favours green over red.
Cited in: What it is; Why it is green; How the sauce is made; Keeping and variations
Fiery Foods CentralMethod
Classic New Mexico Green Chile SauceA stock-based green chile sauce that simmers until it thickens, with the flour version not required.
Cited in: Keeping and variations