How to make salsa Roja (aka Roja sauce) at home with 10ingredients, roasted and blended to perfections. This salsa Roja recipe isgluten-free, vegan, has tons of flavor depth, and is super versatile!
Rehydrate the dried chili peppers. First, cut off the stems and remove the seeds from the peppers. Then add them to a bowl of hot vegetable stock (for better flavor) or lightly salted boiling water. Simply toss them into the liquid and allow them to steep for 20-30 minutes.Alternatively, for more depth of flavor, first, dry roast the peppers in a skillet for just 40-60 seconds per side, then rehydrate them for 15-30 minutes (based on the pepper thickness).Save the liquid as you can use a little to help blend the salsa Roja.
Step 2: Roast the vegetables
There are two methods for doing this; You can ‘prep’ the veg pre-roast or post. To prep them, remove all stems from the tomatoes and chilies and remove the chili seeds (if you want the salsa to be less hot). Also, remove the peel from the onion and garlic.I tend to do this after roasting – including with the garlic/onion skin, but feel free to remove it first, so you don’t have to do this while they’re hot.
Then roast the ingredients on a parchment-lined tray for 15-20 minutes at 355ºF/180ºC, until soft.
Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool until you can handle them.
Step 3: Blend the salsa Roja
Add all the roasted vegetables, rehydrated chilies, and the cilantro and lime juice to the blender with a splash of the broth and blend. Adjust the amount of soaking liquid to your liking.If this is your first time following this recipe, I suggest using chilies at your preferred heat level and adding them bit by bit to the blended, blending well in-between until you find your desired heat level.
Blend the Roja sauce to your preferred texture, then give it a taste. Finally, give it a taste and add a little salt and pepper to taste (sometimes you don’t need any salt at all!)(Optional) At this point, you can enjoy the salsa Roja as is. Alternatively, to further add depth to the salsa, transfer it to a small pot on the stovetop with a spoonful of cooking oil and allow it to simmer and reduce for 15-30 minutes. Add a splash or two more of the soaking liquid if it’s too thick.
How to Store
Once prepared, this salsa Roja recipe will last between 7-10 days in an airtight container in the fridge. You can further enhance the shelf life with a splash of extra lime juice or vinegar to increase the acidity.
Notes
You can enjoy this as a raw 'salsa cruda': Simple omit the roasting step, blend all the ingredients, taste, and adjust. You can optionally simmer it on the stovetop for 15-20 minutes to reduce it slightly and enhance the flavors. Fresh salsa roja will only last 2-3 days in the refrigerator. The cooking step helps to enhance the shelf life by several days.
Adjust the texture: Based on how much you blend (or process/mash) the ingredients; you can prepare a slightly chunkier vs. smooth salsa Roja.
Add more citrus or a splash of apple cider vinegar to further enhance the shelf life.
Chiles: I like to use a combination of fresh and dry red chiles to add tremendous depth to the Roja sauce- For an authentic Mexican salsa, you can use Jalapeno (medium heat and similar to the medium red chilies I used), serrano (slightly hotter), or Arbol chilies (even hotter). For dried chilies, Guajillo is an excellent medium heat option or dried ancho (mild). I also added some very hot West African scotch bonnet peppers to this version as I had them in my pantry, but they’re 100% optional. Read the notes for more on this!