Homemade Ranchero Sauce

A stoneware bowl filled with freshly cooked ranchero sauce and a wooden serving spoon.

5 from 2 votes

This easy spicy homemade ranchero sauce cooks in less than 20 minutes and is the perfect addition to burritos, tacos, enchiladas, or any of your favorite Mexican dishes!

Servings cups

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 12

Total Time 17

Equipment

Immersion blender

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ medium white onion chopped
1 jalapeno chopped
1 chipotle pepper in adobo chopped
4.5 ounces canned diced green chiles
1 teaspoon minced garlic
28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
½ cup low-sodium chicken broth (sub vegetable broth for vegetarian)
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon ancho chile powder
½ teaspoon ground red cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons lime juice

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Add chopped onion, jalapeno, chipotle pepper, diced green chiles, and minced garlic to the saucepan. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a gentle boil.
Once the sauce is boiling, stir well and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Transfer sauce to a blender and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Use ranchero sauce in your favorite Mexican dishes, like our Chicken Burritos Ranchero, or store for later use.

Notes

Caution while blending - Blending hot liquids in a traditional, well sealed blender can be dangerous because pressure will build up and can cause the lid to pop off. In order to avoid this, make sure the blender is vented and lay a towel over the top to contain any mess. Not all blenders are air tight, our old blender wasn't and we had no issues, our new blender is however, so we have to keep the pour spout popped while blending anything hot.

Use an immersion blender - If you have an immersion blender, it makes this recipe much easier! Simply just blend the sauce in the sauce pan. If you don't have one, hot sauces and soups are our favorite uses for ours - we can highly recommend getting on.

Chopping produce - Don't worry about finely chopping anything because it will end up getting blended. The goal is to have things in small enough pieces to cook quickly and evenly. It also helps make the sauce easier to blend. Roughly chopped is what we aim for.

Freezing - It's super easy to cook up a large batch and freeze whatever won't be used immediately. Just let it cool completely before storing in an air-tight container, and it'll keep for up to 3 months in the freezer. Before you're ready to use it, simply defrost in the fridge overnight.

Author: Nicole & Alex Langdon

Calories: 77kcal

Course: Ingredient, Sauce

Cuisine: Mexican

Diet: Gluten Free

Nutrition