Use creamy chipotle lime sauce to add smoky and spicy flavor to meals like tacos, burrito bowls, and salad recipes. It also makes a great dipping sauce for sweet potato fries, crispy cauliflower bites, and chicken tenders.
What is Chipotle Lime Sauce?
Chipotle sauce is a flavorful condiment made from blended chipotle peppers, fresh lime juice, and other simple ingredients to create a smoky, tangy, slightly spicy sauce.
What is Chipotle Sauce Made of?
- Chipotle Peppers: Include one can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. You can adjust the spice level by reducing the amount of peppers and adobo sauce you include.
- Cilantro: Include fresh cilantro leaves to balance the heat of the creamy sauce.
- Garlic: I use three fresh garlic cloves, but measure with your heart.
- Mayonnaise: Thicken the sauce with full-fat mayonnaise, like Duke’s or Hellman’s. Use plain Greek yogurt for a lighter option.
- Sour Cream: Sour cream adds tanginess and creates a smooth texture.
- Lime Juice: Flavor the chipotle lime sauce with fresh lime juice and zest from one lime. You can also use lemon juice or distilled white vinegar.
- Spices: Season the homemade sauce with salt and black pepper.
- Olive Oil: Olive oil works alongside sour cream and mayonnaise to create the perfect texture for the sauce.
Additions and Substitutions
- Add a tap or two of liquid smoke for a smoky flavor.
- Incorporate a little bit of honey, agave nectar, brown sugar, or maple syrup for a sweeter sauce.
- Use 5-8 dried chipotle chili peppers for a more authentic flavor. Dry toast the peppers in a non-stick pan over medium or high heat. Transfer the peppers to a bowl of warm water to rehydrate them before using them in the sauce. Alternatively, you can include one tablespoon of chipotle powder instead of chipotle in adobo sauce.
- Add water to the sauce to thin it out, so you can use it as a dressing for salad or protein bowls.
Tools Used to Make This Recipe
You can use an immersion blender, food processor, or high-speed blender to make chipotle cream sauce. However, I highly recommend using an immersion blender when making salad dressings or sauces that require emulsification for the smoothest sauce.
Use the tall cup provided with the immersion blender (or one of these meal prep containers) to ensure the blender works properly and to avoid a mess.
How to Make Chipotle Lime Sauce
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Combine the ingredients (apart from the olive oil) to an immersion blender, food processor, or high-speed blender. Process until smooth.
Step 2: Pour the olive oil into a cup or blender in a slow, steady stream, a little at a time, while processing the ingredients.
Tips for Emulsification
What is Emulsification?
Emulsification is a fancy cooking term that describes combining ingredients that do not naturally mix, such as oil and water, and making them stay together using an emulsifier.
What is an Emulsifier?
An emulsifier acts like a bridge between two opposing ingredients, holding them together in a smooth, stable mixture. The best emulsifiers contain water and oil-friendly properties to help the ingredients combine. The most common emulsifiers include egg yolks, mustard, mayonnaise, soybeans, honey, and xanthan gum. However, I use mayonnaise and sour cream to emulsify the sauce.
How to Create a Stable Emulsification
If you want to learn how to make homemade vinaigrette, dressing, hollandaise sauce, aioli, or mayonnaise, then learning how to create a stable emulsification is key. Plus, it’s easier than you think!
- Choose an Emulsifier: Select an emulsifying ingredient based on what you are making.
- Combine the Ingredients: Mix the water-based ingredients, such as vinegar or lime juice with an emulsifier.
- Slowly Add Oil: Add a few drops, then pour the oil gradually in a slow, steady stream while whisking or blending the ingredients. The gradual addition helps to achieve a stable emulsion (so the two liquids combine instead of separate).
- Adjust the Consistency: If the mixture is too thick, add more water-based liquid to thin it out while continuing to mix.
Serving Suggestions
Chipotle lime sauce is one of my favorite sauces to drizzle over Mexican food, like carne asada tacos, elotes Mexicano, taco salads, birria nachos, and tachos.
Use the flavorful sauce to enhance BBQ recipes, such as grilled chicken breast, brisket, and BBQ baked chicken legs, or as a sandwich spread for zesty pulled pork sandwiches, burgers, or chicken spinach wraps for a spicy kick. Flavor fish or shrimp tacos by spooning the creamy chipotle sauce over the top.
Transfer the sauce to a small bowl and use it as a dipping sauce for chicken nuggets, fried shrimp, smashed Brussels sprouts, tater tots, onion rings, french fries, or air fried plantains.
What to do with the Leftovers
- Refrigerate: Store the leftover sauce in an airtight container. The chipotle lime sauce will keep for one week.
More Sauce Recipes:
Chipotle Lime Sauce
- 1 can (7 ounces) chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- lime juice 1 lime, plus ½ teaspoon lime zest
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Combine the ingredients (apart from the olive oil) to an immersion blender, food processor, or high-speed blender. Process until smooth.
- The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for professional advice.