New Mexico Green Chile Sauce

Circle B Kitchen

This is a traditional green chile sauce made throughout the Southwest, but particularly indigenous to New Mexico. It is made with Hatch green chiles that come in varying degrees of heat. If you do not have access to Hatch chiles, you can substitute anaheims or poblanos. You could also use canned Hatch chiles or frozen if you can find them, but the flavors won't be quite as robust. Most recipes call for chicken or beef broth, which you can certainly use, but I found it muddled the chile flavors and prefer to use water. I also liked the sauce better when a bit of it was pureed at the end to make it more sauce-y, which means you can use less flour than most traditional recipes.

Adapted from "The New Mexico True" website

Makes about 3 cups of sauce

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2/3 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon flour

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups chopped chiles that have been roasted, peeled and seeded (about 7 largish Hatch chiles)

1 teaspoon salt

Heat the oil in a 10-12 inch skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion until soft, about 6-8 minutes, and then sprinkle in the flour. Stir the flour in to coat the onions and begin cooking and then add the water, the chiles and the salt.

Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer partially covered for 20 minutes. Taste for salt and heat. If you would like it spicier, stir in a minced jalapeño and cook for a few more minutes.

Place about 1/4 of the mixture in a blender and puree until smooth. Stir this back into the sauce before serving. Use your sauce in burritos, on enchiladas, in tacos, guacamole or stirred into queso dip.