Chipotle Mayo (Mexican Secret Sauce)

How to make Chipotle Mayo (aka Mexican Secret Sauce) – a fast and easy 5-minute sauce that everyone should know about, to give meals a huge BURST of flavor! Vegan-adaptable, gluten-free. Includes a video.

Your self love is a medicine for the earth.  ~ Yung Pueblo

This vegan-adaptable, Chipotle Mayo (or Mexican Secret Sauce)- is probably not a huge secret anymore … but to some, it may be the difference between a dish that is bland and unexciting to something fantastically delicious!  Use it as a taco sauce, over burrito bowls,tacos, burgers,  or with most any Mexican- inspired recipes!

And the best thing is, this Chipotle Mayo only takes FIVE  minutes to make, and I’m pretty sure you already have the simple ingredients on hand. It keeps in the fridge for weeks and comes in handy quite frequently around here. The best-tasting taco sauce, ever!

Watch how to make Chipotle Mayo! | 30-sec video

Ingredients in Chipotle Mayo:

• mayo or vegan mayo
• Lime juice
• chipotle (either dried ground chipotle, or canned chipotle in Adobo Sauce-best!)
• salt and spices!

How to make Chipotle Mayo?

• Combine the ingredients in a bowl and whisk away!
• Taste, adjust heat and lime to your liking!
• Keeps 7-10 days in the fridge.

Simply stir the ingredients together. You can make it spicy, or you can keep it mild. Your choice!

Just whisk it up….and it’s done!

Taste, add more chipotle, or keep it mild.

What to use Chipotle Mayo with:

• Quick Fish Tacos
• Mexican Style Oaxacan Bowls
• Baja Fish Taco Bowls
• Tlayludas
• Chipotle Portobello Tacos
• Amazing Black Bean Burgers (in under 30 mins!)
• Crispy Jackfruit Tacos

Variations: 

This Chipotle Mayo  is one we use in our catering business. At home, I make a healthier vegan version (with silken tofu– see notes in recipe) and keep it in a squirt bottle ready to drizzle lightly over tacos, burgers, fish,corn on the cob, nachos, enchiladas, pretty much anything that needs a burst of flavor.

If you are vegan, make this with  Veganaise or silken tofu. A flavor booster for sure!

If you would like to keep the Chipotle Mayo for longer than a week, substitue a little vinegar for the lime juice, which will help preserve.

How easy is that?

On the home front: I’ve been meaning to tell you a little story, but until now the words have not come. It’s why I picked this quote. I trust that those of you who need to hear this story will find it, and those who don’t can simply skip to the recipe.

When my mother, Lea, turned 80, she left my father.

He had gone on his yearly month-long trip to Egypt, and with the help of her good friend, she packed up her all belongings and moved out of the house where I grew up, where she had lived for 35 years. Imagine how difficult this would be at any age, and then imagine it at the age of 80.

When he returned she was gone. They were married for 42 years.

My father, like all of us, had his good qualities and his flaws. He could treat her terribly, become angry, volatile,  tearing her down emotionally, but could also be very loving in his own way. Which made leaving him very difficult.  A complicated man, heavily influenced by his culture. He could not see any areas for improvement within himself, and would not even consider “working on the marriage” with her. She stayed with him purely out of duty, guilt, religion and out of “what would people think?”. 

Growing up, I found myself wishing desperately she would leave him, because I could see how the stress of being in that relationship took a toll on her, not just emotionally, but physically. She was constantly on edge, stressed, sad, isolated. She began to have serious heart problems. It wasn’t until she was 80, that she had the strength and courage to leave.

And then she lived 3 more years…

Believe me when I tell you, even though the rest of her time here was short, they were the happiest, most incredible, three years of her life!  She was free and light and bubbling with joy!

Effervescent. I had never witnessed this before!  She completely transformed. All her worry lines faded. It was like a huge weight was lifted. Her heart became light, and love just poured out of her entire being. Truly remarkable.

Looking back, I believe her lesson in this life was to experience love fully, and specifically, to experience self-love.  She had always put everyone else first, serving others in her beautiful faithful way -as a nurse, midwife (in Nigeria), faithful friend, nurturing mother, sister, and wife.  But a day came when she listened to her soul’s wish- and chose the path of self-love and healing. This did not mean she stopped loving my father. It just meant she couldn’t be married to him for one more day.

Such a beautiful lesson to give her only daughter, who at the time was also struggling in her first marriage.

I just wanted to share this with you, because I know that marriage can be one of the hardest things we experience in this life. I once read somewhere, “Relationships are hard. Marriage is hard. Divorce is hard. Choose your hard.” Sometimes the lesson is not always  “making our bed and lying in it”,  and being miserable for the rest of our days. If a partner is willing to work on marriage then, by all means, work on it!  But if a partner is unwilling to work on it, you don’t have to continue down the same dead-end road until your dying days. And chances are, any step that you take towards self-love and self-healing will teach your children (and perhaps partner) to do the same. It was the most precious gift she gave me.

Sometimes the lesson is learning to love ourselves enough to take care of our soul, make healthy, unsettling choices, and take courageous action. This is not the easy road, change always feels so much scarier than living with unhappiness.  But I just wanted to share that a different path is indeed possible. And that if my mother could do this, at 80, so can we, if need be. And that it is never too late.

You may also like:

• Vegan Cilantro-Jalapeno Sauce– a green version of this!
• Peruvian Green Sauce (Aji Verde) Vegan-Adaptable
• Poblano Pumpkin Seed Sauce
• Chimichurri Sauce
• Avocado Sauce
• Fresh Tomatillo Salsa
• Fermented Hot Sauce….so easy and tasty!
•  Fresh and Tasty Mexican Recipes! 

Ok, enjoy the recipe for Chipotle Mayo! Share what you think in the comments below. 🙂

xoxo

Sylvia

Chipotle Mayo (Mexican Secret Sauce)

★★★★★ 4.8 from 60 reviews

• Author: Sylvia Fountaine | Feasting at Home Blog
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Total Time: 5 minutes
• Yield: ½ cup
• Category: Condiment
• Method: whisk
• Cuisine: Mexican
• Diet: Gluten Free

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Description

Chipotle Mayo– a smoky spicy zesty Mexican Secret Sauce for tacos, tosadas, enchilada’s or most any mexican food. Can be made vegan with Veganaise or use Silken Tofu (see notes).  Gluten Free.

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Ingredients

1. ½ cup mayo (or use sour cream, vegan mayo “Veganaise” – or make with silken tofu, see notes below)
2. 1 tablespoon water
3. 1 –2 teaspoons lime juice (to taste)
4. ⅛ teaspoon salt, more to taste
5. ½ teaspoon chili powder
6. 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
7. ⅛– ¼ teaspoon ground chipotle powder – you can also use one canned chipotle pepper (blending it with the mayo in a blender) or just stir in a teaspoon or two of the spicy smoky adobo sauce from the can. Start conservatively, adding more to taste. I prefer the Adobo Sauce!

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Instructions

1. If making with Mayo or Veganaise, place all ingredients in a small bowl. Be conservative with the chipotle ( you can always add more).  Whisk until smooth with a fork or tiny whisk. ( See notes below if making with silken tofu.)
2. Taste, adjust heat and spices, adding more spices if you like. ( I usually add more salt and chili powder to taste.)
3. Store in a small jar in the fridge, or in a squirt bottle for easy use.
4. Keeps up to 2 weeks.

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Notes

VEGAN VERSION: If making a vegan version with silken tofu– replace the mayo with ½ a package silken tofu ( about 6 ounces or 165 grams), leave out the water and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Increase salt to ½-¾ teaspoon, add ¼ teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (in addition to the lime) and place all in a food processor, blending until smooth and creamy. Use a canned chipotle pepper ( or half of one!) or  just a teaspoon or two of the adobo sauce from the can, for the best flavor. Adjust salt, heat and lime.

I use Mori-Nu Organic Silken Tofu– Firm or Extra Firm Tofu – ½ of a 12.5 ounce package.  

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Hey, I'm Sylvia! Professional chef, former restaurant owner and caterer, here is where I share hundreds of seasonal, globally-inspired, VEGGIE-DRIVEN recipes.Let's start cooking together! Subscribe to my latest recipes and get my free, PLANT-BASED RECIPE GUIDE.

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