February 3, 2025 | Author: Kate Ramos
by Kate Ramos Leave a Comment
A perfect sauce with chicken thighs or tamales, this nuttypipián rojo sauceis similar to a mole sauce but fewer ingredients and less complicated (yay!). The featured ingredient is pepitas or pumpkin seeds. They give the sauce a creamy consistency with absolutely no cream at all!
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Over the holidays I shared a recipe for luscious vegan tamales topped with pipian rojo sauce. I loved the sauce so much I’ve made it twice since then to serve with chicken breast and shrimp. It is a universally uplifting sauce giving everything it graces sophistication and style.
- Flavors of ancho chile, garlic, and tomatillo
- A rich, creamy sauce made without any dairy whatsoever
- Much easier to make than mole sauce
- Nutty! In addition to the pepitas it also has peanuts and sesame seeds
What Is Pipián Rojo Sauce?
Mexican cuisine is abundant in complex, rich sauces made with charred chiles, vegetables, nuts, and spices. Pipián rojo is one beautiful example. Pipian rojo often gets confused for mole and they are very similar. They both are thickened with nuts and seeds and include charred onions and garlic but pipián’s main flavor comes from pepitas or raw pumpkin seeds and doesn’t have the elaborate list of spices like allspice, whole cloves, or cumin seeds that are mainstays in many mole sauce recipes.
Grab These Ingredients
- Dried ancho chiles: If you frequently cook Mexican food, you are familiar with these wide, dark red dried chiles that we use to make everything from chilorio to birria ramen. Try with other red chiles if you’d like, guajillo chilies are good or dried chipotle chiles add spice.
- Tomatillos. Add a pleasant acidic balance to this otherwise sultry sauce.
- White onion. We almost exclusively use white onion in Mexican cooking. Except when making pickled red onions that is ☺️.
- Jalapeños. This can be a nutty spicy sauce if you’d like, just add more jalapeños.
- Garlic. Flavor base and booster.
- Vegetable oil. For frying the nuts as well as the sauce.
- Pumpkin seeds. The star of this classic sauce.
- Raw peanuts. Look for raw peanuts that haven’t been roasted or salted.
- Sesame seeds. White sesame seeds are less expensive at Latin or Asian markets where you can buy them in bulk.
- Cilantro. Fresh cilantro gets blended in at the end.
- Kosher salt. I always use Morton kosher salt unless otherwise specified.
- Vegetable broth: Also, chicken stock or chicken broth is good
- Fresh limes: For squeezing lime juice over the finished dish.
Toast & Soak The Chiles First
Heat a comal or cast iron pan over medium heat. Once it is warm, place the chiles on the hot comal and cook until toasted and fragrant and have darkened slightly in color but aren’t burnt. Watch them carefully and remove as soon as they are done.
Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil, submerge the toasted chiles in the boiling water, add the tomatillos and simmer until the tomatillos are tender but not splitting open. Remove from the heat.
Next, Char The Veggies & Fry The Nuts
Just like we did with the chiles we are going to toast the onion, jalapeño, and garlic on the comal but at a little hotter of a temperature, over medium-high heat until they are nice and charred on all sides.
Fry the peanuts and pumpkin seeds in a bit of oil just until they are lightly toasted and start to give off a nutty aroma. Add the sesame seeds, stir once or twice and transfer everything to a heatproof bowl.
Then Blend Together
Combine the chiles, tomatillos, charred veggies, nuts and seeds, along with the cilantro and salt in a blender. Blend until very smooth with a ladleful of the chile cooking liquid or hot water.
Finally, Cook The Sauce
Along with charring the vegetables, another important step that is used frequently in Mexican cooking is to fry the base of the sauce before adding the broth. This brings out all the flavors and elevates them.
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven and add the blended mixture. Stir frequently as it will sputter and make quite the production. Let cook until it the pipian rojo darkens in color and you can smell the chiles and nuts.
Add the broth and bring to a simmer then reduce the heat and let simmer until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Taste and season with more salt if needed. You can also squeeze a little lime juice into the sauce if it needs brightening. Amazing flavor here!
How To Serve It
I love using this pipian recipe to make vegan tamales or the classic dish of pipan rojo spooned over roasted or simmered chicken similar to this chicken mole poblano. Serve this with Mexican red rice.
Can’t get enough mole-like sauces and recipes? Here are few more for you:
- Mole Poblano
- Pumpkin Mole
- Chicken Mole Verde
- Manchamantel Mole Sauce {Chipotle & Pineapple Mole}
- Mole Membrillo Donuts
- Loaded Black Mole Fries with Braised Beef
- Creamy Chicken Enchiladas with Jicama Mole
Pipián Rojo Sauce
Yield: 10 servings
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
A perfect sauce with chicken thighs or tamales, this nuttypipián rojo sauceis similar to a mole sauce but fewer ingredients and less complicated (yay!). The featured ingredient is pepitas or pumpkin seeds. They give the sauce a creamy consistency with absolutely no cream at all!
Ingredients
- 4 dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and rinsed
- 1/2 pound tomatillos, husks removed
- 1 small white onion, quartered
- 1 jalapeño, stem removed
- 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
- 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup raw peanuts
- 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
Instructions
- Heat a comal or a large dry frying pan (ideally cast iron) over medium heat. Place the 4 ancho chiles on the hot comal and toast, flipping frequently, until darkened in color and fragrant, be careful not to burn.
- Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the toasted chiles and the 1/2 pound tomatillos to the water. Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer until chiles are soft and tomatillos are cooked but not split open, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Heat the comal once again over medium heat and place the quartered onion, jalapeño, and 2 garlic cloves on the hot comal or frying pan. Char the vegetables until they are blackened on the outside. Remove the garlic as it cooks—it will cook faster than the others. Keep flipping and turning the pieces so they char on all sides. Remove them to a heat proof bowl and let cool slightly,
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds and 1/4 cup peanuts. Fry in the oil until golden and fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and remove from the heat. Stir frequently as they cool to prevent the sesame seeds from burning.
- Place the charred veggies in a blender. Remove the chiles and tomatillos with kitchen tongs and place them in the blender as well. Finally add the toasted nuts and seeds, the 1/2 cup cilantro and the 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Add a ladle of the chile cooking liquid and blend until very smooth.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the pureed chile mixture and stir—be careful the sauce will spatter. Keep stirring, frying in the oil until the color darkens and it thickens slightly. - Add the 3 cups vegetable broth and bring the sauce to a low simmer. Cook, covered for about 15 minutes or so to let the flavors concentrate. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Sauce can be made up to 5 days in advance or frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Broth: Chicken broth will add more richness, while vegetable broth keeps the recipe vegan. You can also use homemade broth for the best flavor.
- Toasting Nuts & Seeds: Toasting the nuts and seeds enhances their flavor and gives the sauce a nuttier taste. Watch them closely as they can burn quickly.
- Adjusting Consistency: If the sauce is too thick, add a little more broth. If it's too thin, simmer it for a bit longer, uncovered.
- Flavor Development: The flavor of the sauce will actually improve if it's allowed to sit for a day or two in the refrigerator.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 7Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 278mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 1g
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