This smoky chipotle sauce goes with everything. It's one of those sauces that just works. We use this as a sauce in fajitas, with wedges, salads, you name it, you can pretty much have it with this sauce. Many recipes call far a mayonnaise base but I prefer to use Greek yogurt as the base. Yogurt gives you a creaminess that makes this taste indulgent while being easy on the waistline at the same time because, really, who eats this in small quantities?!

Smoky Chipotle Sauce

Smoky Chipotle (meaning smoked chilli) sauce is simply a sauce made from the medium heat Chipotle chilli. Chipotles are used a lot in Mexican cooking, and they give a deep, smoky, distinctive heat and flavor. You might have come across chipotles used in a tomato sauce, this is one of the most popular ways to use these little chillis, but if you've not tried them yet in a sauce, you're in for a treat!

This homemade version is made with Real food ingredients and very few of them. The Chipotle paste does the talking without the need for any preservative or unpronounceable ingredients you find in shop bought versions. And....it takes just minutes to whip up a batch. Maybe less :)

Homemade vs Store Bought

Store bought Chipotle sauces tend to have a whole load of sugar in them. This serves two purposes. The first being that sugar acts as a preservative (along with others) and therefore the sauce can sit on the shelf for longer.

The second, is that I've seen some Chipotle sauces with less than 1% Chipotle. The percentage is always going to be on the low side since these chillis pack a punch and you wouldn't expect a high percentage of chilli in any sauce, but less than 1%? That's a lot of fillers making up the other 99% :)

For me, it's a no brainer to make this at home. It's so stupidly easy and quick, it's more trouble finding it int he shops anyway!

How To Use Chipotle Sauce

You can adjust the Chipotle in this recipe to suit the tastes your family. For really little kids I'd recommend using very little paste to start with - their taste buds can be more sensitive than ours and so this might be a little hot, but starting small means you can add more if needed. And if you do add too much paste, adding more yogurt with counteract the chipotle.

Being a creamy sorta sauce, this works anywhere you might use mayonnaise. It's quite thick, but could be thinned out a little for dressings. Here's some of the ways this sauce gets used in this house:

In sandwiches
As salad dressing (thinned out with a tablespoon of milk)
Dipping sauce for wedges
Quesadilla dip
With chicken tenders and fries

How Long Does This Last?

Once made up, this sauce will last, covered, in the fridge for 3 days. It's a good make ahead sauce if you know you're going to be really short on time and just want to have prepared food ready to take out of the fridge.

Ingredients

Chipotle paste

I use Chipotle chilli paste here. You could use whole chipotle chillies chopped small, but using paste makes the heat factor easier to control, plus it's cleaner and faster when you're making this recipe. The paste is also great to have in the fridge. Use it in a Chilli Con Carne for added smokiness. Be warned - a little goes a long way! I can usually find chipotle paste in my local store, but if you can't where you live, this is a good one. -> Chipotle chilli paste.

Greek yogurt

Greek yogurt gets used a lot here instead of mayonnaise. It's versatile, healthy and has the same tartness and tanginess that Mayo has. I'm a little kookie about the raw egg in fresh mayonnaise and avoid the preservatives if possible in long life mayo, so Greek yogurt makes sense to me. I do however, always go full fat!

Maple syrup

Adding a table spoon of Maple syrup sweetens it up without adding masses of refined sugar. Greek yogurt can be a little tart, so adding a small amount of sweetener takes away the tang!

More Clean Eating Sauces

How To Make Smoky Chipotle Sauce

Ingredients

½ cup Greek Yogurt
1 teaspoon Chipotle paste (use your judgement and taste to get the right heat for you)
1 tsp Olive oil
1 tablespoon Maple Syrup
½ teaspoon sweet Paprika
Salt
Cayenne Pepper to taste (optional)