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A bowl of brick-red cascabel sauce topped with cilantro, with sauced cheese enchiladas and two dried cascabel chiles on a cream tablecloth
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Cascabel Sauce

A smoky, nutty sauce of toasted and soaked dried cascabel chiles blended with charred Roma tomatoes and roasted garlic. Spoon it over enchiladas, quesadillas, burritos or grilled meats.
Course Sauce
Keyword Cascabel
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Soaking 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 8 servings (about 1/4 cup)

Ingredients

  • 10 dried cascabel peppers halved, stems removed, seeds kept
  • 3 roma tomatoes sliced about 1/2 inch thick
  • 2 cloves garlic unpeeled
  • 1 teaspoon cilantro chopped, optional
  • 1/2 cup water from soaking the chiles
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat a lightly oiled heavy frying pan over medium-high heat. A cast iron skillet works best, but any heavy pan will do.
  • Add the unpeeled garlic cloves to one side of the pan. Place the tomato slices in the pan and let them cook for about 3 minutes without moving them. Then flip and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, until both sides are charred in spots, and set the tomatoes aside. Keep turning the garlic now and then until it is soft and blackened in spots, about 10 minutes in all, then let it cool and slip off the skins.
  • While the garlic finishes, place the cascabel halves in the pan, cut side down, and toast for about 30 seconds per side, pressing them flat with a spatula, just until fragrant and a shade darker. Don't let them blacken, since burnt chiles taste bitter.
  • Put the toasted chiles in a heatproof bowl, cover with hot water and soak for about 20 minutes, until soft. Drain, saving 1/2 cup of the soaking water.
  • Add the chiles, tomatoes, peeled garlic, cilantro (if using), salt and the 1/2 cup of soaking water to a blender or food processor. Blend for 30 to 60 seconds, until fairly smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed.
  • Serve right away, or for the best flavor, refrigerate the sauce for 4 to 6 hours so the flavors can come together.

Notes

This recipe uses dried cascabels, which is how you'll almost always find them in stores. Fresh cascabels are hard to come by.
The seeds stay in for a little extra heat. For a milder sauce, shake them out after halving the chiles.
Cascabels are mild, so this sauce is more about smoky, nutty flavor than burn. For more heat, toast and soak a dried chile de árbol or two along with the cascabels.