# Salsa Seca – Smoky, Spicy, and Unapologetically Addictive

A crunchy, flavor-packed salsa seca that blends smoky dried chiles with toasted seeds, fried shallot and garlic.

- Servings: 1 servings
- Total time: 60 min
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Category: Sauce & Condiment
- Language: en

## Ingredients

- 6 g arbol chiles, whole
- 25 g morita chiles, seeded and stemmed
- 30 g guajillo chiles, seeded and stemmed
- 35 g pasilla chiles, seeded and stemmed
- 85 g ancho chiles, seeded and stemmed
- 25 g sesame seeds, raw
- 30 g fried shallot
- 45 g pumpkin seeds, raw
- 50 g fried garlic
- 50 g corn tortilla, torn
- 240 g olive oil
- 10 g Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 5 g sugar
- 5 g chicken bouillon powder
- 2 g citric acid

## Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 275°F (135°C).
2. Spread arbol, morita, guajillo, pasilla, and ancho chiles on a sheet tray in a single layer.
3. Bake ~35 minutes, flipping and shuffling halfway, until evenly toasted.
4. Cool the chiles to room temperature.
5. Heat olive oil over medium heat.
6. Fry torn tortilla until crispy, ~3 minutes; remove to paper towel.
7. Add pumpkin seeds to the oil and cook ~2 minutes until just turning golden.
8. Add sesame seeds and toast ~1 minute more.
9. Remove seeds with a fine mesh strainer, reserving the oil in the pot.
10. In a food processor, pulse the cooled toasted chiles to a chile-flake texture.
11. Add toasted seeds, fried shallot, fried garlic, fried tortilla, salt, sugar, bouillon powder, and citric acid.
12. Pulse to your desired texture.
13. Return the mixture to the reserved oil over medium heat.
14. Toast for 3–4 minutes until everything is crispy and fragrant.
15. Cool to room temperature.
16. Taste and adjust seasoning.
17. Transfer to airtight containers lined with paper towels.
18. Store at room temperature.

## Equipment

- Comal
- Food Processor
- Heavy-Bottomed Pan

## Tips

- For a milder version, reduce or skip the arbol chiles.
- Store-bought fried aromatics save time, but you can make them from scratch if you’re feeling ambitious.
- Swap chicken bouillon for mushroom or vegetable bouillon powder to make it vegan.

## Source

- Original video: https://www.jonathanzaragoza.com/recipes/salsa-seca
- Recipe page: https://www.cliprecipe.com/recipe/3a80b5fd-a1e6-42ff-90e3-3a48bb90ae15
- Extracted: 2025-08-12

Extracted from the video by Clip Recipe (https://www.cliprecipe.com). Quantities and steps are as stated or shown in the video. Site guide for agents: https://www.cliprecipe.com/llms.txt