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.Video.
Serve this with our Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Slaw, or these Crab Cakes with Cilantro & Lime!
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!
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!
- Olive Oil Mayo
Ok, enjoy the recipe for Chipotle Mayo! Share what you think in the comments below. 🙂
xoxo
Print
Chipotle Mayo (Mexican Secret Sauce)
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: ½ cup 1x
- Category: Condiment
- Method: whisk
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Gluten Free
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.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayo (or use sour cream, vegan mayo “Veganaise” – or make with silken tofu, see notes below)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 –2 teaspoons lime juice (to taste)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/8– 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle powder – you can also use one chipotle pepper from a can (blending it with the mayo in a blender) or just stir in 1-3 teaspoons of the smoky adobo sauce from the can. Start conservatively, adding more to taste. I prefer the Adobo Sauce!
Instructions
- 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.)
- Taste, adjust heat and spices, adding more spices if you like. ( I usually add more salt and chili powder to taste.)
- Store in a small jar in the fridge, or in a squirt bottle for easy use.
- Keeps up to 2 weeks.
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.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 teaspoons
- Calories: 64
- Sugar: 0.1 g
- Sodium: 103.6 mg
- Fat: 6.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 0.3 g
- Fiber: 0.1 g
- Protein: 0.1 g
- Cholesterol: 3.9 mg
You are a reflection of your Mama’s strength and courage. Glad she took a chance and did the hard thing. That was monumental at 80! Keep sharing your stories girl, as you feel led; You are touching people.
Awwwww thanks Laura. Appreciate you. xoxo
I NEVER comment on recipes or peoples personal blogs. I was looking for a chipotle mayo recipe and I honestly can’t stand when bloggers go into stories about the recipe or whatever, I just don’t have time for it and just want to recipe but I greatly appreciated your story about your mother. A lot of times bloggers stories come off as so contrived and just fake but yours didn’t. It was beautiful and I really appreciate it. Great recipe too. Thank you. I also left a man I was with for three years that was emotionally abusive and I love that word you used: effervescent. That’s it. I feel effervescent now. What a great blog. I’ll be back!
Thanks Lacey, I appreciate it. And I’m so happy for you.
had it tonight w/sweet potaoe fries as a dip..it was delish!!! tfs recipe..a happy canuck
delish!
Love your recipes…anxious to try this one too…
I love the story of your mom…hope springs eternal.
AND… I love your quote – for those of us that it speaks to, the language used conveys the power of the emotion… it sparks, it resonates, it hits home….thank you.
Thanks Jan, it’s probably not the language that my mom would have chosen, but I think it gets the point across as clearly as possible. 😉
Oh my hat!! Your story brought me to tears…at my desk at work!! Thank you for sharing.
I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Don’t understand the need for the vulgar profanity filled quote. Not edifying. Yay for your mom getting out of an abusive marriage and enjoying her last 3 years. (I have a feeling she continued to serve others, though.) But another side of the story: I’ve been married 35 years in a bad to not so great marriage. Just seemed to always be a struggle over EVERYTHING. However, in the last 3 years I’ve started recognizing that so many of his traits that irritated me were actually HUGE blessings. Now, since I’ve been thanking him for all he does for us (and me), our marriage is REALLY sweet. I was able to honestly give him some of those mushy Valentine’s cards these last two years. Sometimes, we need to love ourselves a little less to see the value of those around us.
Can’t wait to try the mayo.
Thanks for sharing the story and the recipe. It’s great your mom had three years of stress free happiness and self love. It takes a lot of courage to walk away. We are creatures of habit and whats familiar and they bring some form of comfort even when it causes unhappiness! we forget to love ourselves and that weakens us. we deserve to be happy at peace and not live in fear!
Thanks Teresa, YES we do!
I was looking for a quick chipotle mayo and stumbled in to your recipe. Little did I know that the real “recipe” for me was your story about your Mom. I am just coming out of the other side of leaving a 38 year “ok” marriage that from the outside I made look really wonderful. There was too much missing and my soul longed for more connection than I was going to get. It’s been really hard and it’s very lonely. Today I needed to hear your words, to refresh my purpose and move forward with my new life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Oh yah, mayo is great too 😉
Hi Michele, you are incredibly brave and I feel so proud of you. You will get through this difficult part, in time, I know it. Keep trusting your soul. It knows. Love and hugs.
This recipe was exactly what I was looking for, thank you! I initially didn’t read the blog, but read it after making the sauce. So glad I did! Amazing story and a lesson for all of us that it is never too late to reinvent yourself and live life to it’s fullest.
This recipe was so simple but what a lot of full flavor it added to our turkey, avocado & roasted bell pepper sandwiches! I will definately make again ! I appreciated the story about your mother as well.
This is the first recipe that came up after a google search. I had all the ingredients! I love it! The adobo sauce gives it a little kick! I especially loved the story.
Really needed to hear your mothers story…oh my god I needed this
Im so glad it helped.
didnt need the story
Did need the story!!!
Didn’t…
Thank you for sharing your story.
Your mother was a very strong lady and is beautiful inside and out
Delicious sauce ! Was looking for sauce for fish tacos and this was perfect .
Thank you for sharing your story .
That was a very beautiful story. Thank you.
Was looking for a simple recipe but stumbled on something greater… thank you for sharing your mother’s story…. it was definitely something I needed to read.
Thank you, nice to meet you.
Your article is very interesting, I am currently studying in America.
This SAUCE IS THE BOMB Diggity!!!
My sons middle name is Uriah! Passed down from his grandfather. I knew you was a brutha when I saw your comment… That and the “bomb diggity”lol….I will make this sauce this week to go with my chicken tacos. Can’t wait!
Made this recipe with sour cream tonight. Great flavor. We enjoyed this sauce over chicken tacos. Definitely recommend.
Thanks Chris!
I am actually thankful to the owner of this website who has shared this wonderful paragraph at here.
How long can it be stored in the fridge?
How much is “half a packet” silken tofu?
6 ounces. Sorry about that, I fixed the recipe. 🙂
Use in Tlayludas, tacos, and burrito bowls- spicy smoky and delicious!