Salsa de cacahuate
Salsa de cacahuate is a Veracruz table sauce of ground peanuts and dried chiles, either fried into a thick sauce or ground raw with tomato in a molcajete.
Description
Larousse describes two Veracruz versions. One grinds ancho and pasilla chiles, chile de árbol or a costeño chile, garlic, onion and peanuts and then fries the paste in oil; it is served with meats, eggs or rice. The other grinds tomato, sesame seeds, chipotle and peanuts in a molcajete with salt and pepper.
Related sauces
Peanuts also appear as an optional ingredient in salsa macha from Orizaba, another Veracruz chile sauce.
Serving
Larousse lists the fried version as a sauce for meats, eggs and rice, which makes it a natural partner for meat tacos.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
- 1 ancho chile and 1 pasilla chile, stemmed and seeded
- 5 dried chiles de árbol, stemmed
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 white onion
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp salt
- About 3/4 cup water
Steps
- Toast the chiles lightly on a dry comal and soak the ancho and pasilla in hot water 15 minutes.
- Blend the drained chiles, árbol chiles, peanuts, garlic, onion, salt and water to a thick, fairly smooth paste.
- Heat the oil in a pan, add the paste and fry, stirring, 5 to 8 minutes until it darkens slightly and thickens.
- Thin with water if necessary and adjust the salt.
Reviews
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See also
References
- "Salsa de cacahuate". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Salsa macha". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.