Nothing beats the smell of roasting green chiles! This step-by-step guide shows you how to roast, peel, and simmer your own Homemade Green Chile Sauce. It's a game-changer for breakfast burritos, chile rellenos, and stacked enchiladas. A must-have recipe for fans of Southwestern cuisine!
New Mexico is the self proclaimed Chile Capital of the World! The star chile from The Land of Enchantment is the Hatch chile, grown in the fertile Hatch Valley in southern New Mexico.
The Hatch chile can be enjoyed in salsa verde, and even ice cream!
New Mexicans absolutely adore their chiles, so it's no surprise that Green Chile Sauce is a dish that is central to the cuisine of New Mexico.
Making Homemade Green Chile Sauce is eminently satisfying, and the results are oh so delicious!
Please read on for a great recipe for this green sauce, which you can use to make New Mexico Green Chile Stacked Chicken Enchiladas!
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What Is Green Chile Sauce?
Green chile sauce is a versatile sauce made with green chiles, that is fundamental to New Mexican food.
It's best when made with fresh chiles that come from New Mexico, such as Hatch green chile pepper. The fresh chiles are roasted and then chopped up to incorporate into a great sauce that can be served over your huevos rancheros, burritos, enchiladas, or chile rellenos.
🥘 Ingredients
So here are the ingredients that you will need for this green chile recipe:
- Fresh green chiles - now, Hatch chiles are preferred, however they are not always in season and available. I recommend using Anaheim peppers if Hatch chile peppers are not available (I used Anaheim peppers because I couldn't get my hands on Hatch when I worked up this recipe)
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Fresh garlic cloves
- Flour
- Chicken broth - could also use chicken stock or vegetable broth
- Salt
- Black pepper
You should be able to get all of these ingredients at your local grocery store.
I want to recommend some cumin, dried oregano, and especially Hatch green chile powder as optional add-ins.
Using Frozen Green Chile
If you want to cut out the step of roasting fresh chiles, you do have the option to use frozen green chile as well.
I found these containers of Green Chile by Bueno Foods in the freezer section in my grocery store.
The recommendation is to roast fresh chiles yourself, but by all means you can use frozen green chile if you prefer!
🔪 Instructions
Roasting The Chiles
First, prepare yourself for the delicious aroma of green chiles roasting!
Rinse and dry your fresh chiles. Place under a high broiler on a broiler safe tray around 6 inches from the broiler.
Consider using your exhaust fan if it starts to get smoky!
Keep a close eye on the chiles, and every few minutes use a pair of tongs to turn them for even broiling. You want the skin to be charred and this should take between 10-15 minutes but please adjust the time as necessary.
Prepping Your Chiles For The Sauce
Once the chiles have been evenly charred, place the roasted green chile in a plastic ziploc type bag and seal. Allow to steam for around 15 minutes.
After they have steamed, place the chiles in a dish or bowl and allow to cool. Remove the papery skins from the chiles.
You can use your hands for this if you like.
Remove the stem and the seeds (leave them in for a spicier sauce). I find that placing the chiles under running water helps to remove the seeds.
Then chop the chiles and set aside for now.
Making The Sauce
Add olive oil to a medium saucepan on medium heat on your stove. Once the oil is heated, add the minced garlic and onion.
Sauté for around 3 minutes until the onion has softened. Now add the flour, and stir for 1 minute.
Add the chicken broth and stir it in. Now add the chiles and the salt and pepper.
Optional add ins are a bit of cumin and/or oregano! I also highly recommend adding some Hatch Green Chile Powder to increase the depth of green chile flavor! If you are using any of these herbs and spices, then add them now.
Bring to the boil, and then simmer for 15 minutes or until the sauce is thickened to your liking.
Taste and add additional salt and pepper if needed.
OPTIONAL: For further thickening and a smoother sauce, add the sauce to your blender and blend until it's the consistency you like!
Suggestions For Serving
Get ready to enjoy some amazing green chile flavor in your homemade New Mexico green chile sauce!
Serve it over huevos rancheros, as seen above. This one is served Christmas style, which also contains red chile sauce.
Your sauce is also perfect served over enchiladas, burritos, and chile rellenos. You could also use it as a dip for your tortilla chips!
However you decide to serve it, I hope you have enjoyed both creating and enjoying your Homemade New Mexico Green Chile Sauce!
FAQ
New Mexico Green Chile Sauce is made of roasted New Mexico green chile which has been peeled, deseeded and chopped. It also includes onion, garlic, seasonings, chicken broth, and some flour.
New Mexico green chiles have varying levels of heat. For example, Hatch green chile can be Mild, Medium, Hot, X Hot, or XX Hot, as seen in the picture below. 
If you are not able to get your hands on Hatch chiles, then you can substitute the Anaheim green chile for Hatch.
The Hatch Chile Store will ship fresh Hatch Green Chile when it is in season. It is typically in season from mid-July through mid-October.
Some Other Recipes You May Enjoy!
Here are some other recipes you may enjoy:
- Delicious Hatch Green Chile Ice Cream Recipe!
- Stuffed Hatch Green Chile Peppers Wrapped With Bacon!
- How To Make Authentic New Mexico Red Chile Sauce
- Easy Cheesy New Mexico Calabacitas Recipe
- An Easy And Delicious Green Chile Cheeseburger Awaits!
- How To Make Navajo Taco With Indian Fry Bread!
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Cheers!
Grace
Homemade New Mexico Green Chile Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- broiler for roasting and charring the peppers
- Saucepan to cook the sauce
Ingredients
- 4 Hatch green chiles if you have Hatch chiles these are preferred! Otherwise can sub Anaheim chiles; increase to 5 chiles for more green chile flavor
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ onion select a small onion and finely mince it
- 6 ea garlic minced (select small cloves or if large use 3 cloves instead of 6)
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1.5 cups chicken broth can also use chicken stock or vegetable broth
- ½ ts salt
- ¼ ts pepper
Suggested Optional Ingredients
- cumin add a pinch if you like!
- oregano (use dried) a bit of oregano or Mexican oregano can really give this sauce a lift!
- 1 tablespoon Hatch green chile powder
Instructions
- Rinse and dry your chiles. Place under a high broiler on a broiler safe tray around 6 inches from the broiler. Keep a close eye on the chiles, and every few minutes use a pair of tongs to turn them for even broiling. You want the skin to be charred and this should take between 10-15 minutes but please adjust the time as necessary.
- Once the chiles have been evenly charred, place the chiles in a plastic ziploc type bag and seal. Allow to steam for around 15 minutes.
- After they have steamed, place the chiles in a dish or bowl and allow to cool. Remove the papery skins from the chiles. You can use your hands for this if you like.
- Remove the stem and the seeds. I find that placing the chiles under running water helps to remove the seeds. Then chop the chiles and set aside for now.
- Add olive oil to a saucepan on medium heat on your stove. Once the oil is heated, add the minced garlic and onion. Sauté for around 3 minutes until the onion has softened. Now add the flour, and stir for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken broth and stir it in. Now add the chiles and the salt and pepper. Optional add ins are a bit of cumin and/or oregano! I also highly recommend adding some Hatch Green Chile Powder to increase the depth of green chile flavor! If you are using any of these herbs and spices, then add them now.
- Bring to the boil, and then simmer for 15 minutes or until the sauce is thickened to your liking. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if needed.
- OPTIONAL: For further thickening and a smoother sauce, add the sauce to your blender and blend until it's the consistency you like!
Grace
I never realized making green chile sauce was this easy and delicious! Great recipe!
Larry
Lemitar Chile is also very good or better
Grace
Hi Larry! I will absolutely have to try lemitar thanks so much for letting me know about this chile!
Jean
Can this sauce be canned for later use?
Grace
Hi Jean! I'm so grateful for your question! Please forgive me...I don't have experience with canning so I'm not sure about this and can't advise you. I hope you might be able to find another recipe with clear instructions for canning which might help you. If you'd like me to look into this for you, please let me know and I would be happy to do so. Thanks again, and hope you have a lovely day! Grace
Sandy
Lovely! I brought back roasted Chiles from my trip to NM and wanted to try to duplicate a loaded cheese fries we had in a random roadside diner outside of Taos. This was pretty tasty...I probably could have simmered mine for a little longer because I added a little bit more of everything bc I had 6-7 Chiles to use up...but thay was my fault. May try to do this again but with the red chiles I also bought.
Grace
Hey Sandy! I am so thrilled to read your comments and so happy that you liked this Green Chile Sauce! I love that you wanted to recreate your memory of your loaded cheese fries that you had outside of Taos...I hope that this dish brought back some of those happy memories of your trip. Thank you so much for taking a chance on this recipe and for taking the time to comment. Have a wonderful beautiful day! Grace
Deb
What if my Anaheim peppers turned red? Do you still use them?
Grace
Hi Deb! Yes you can absolutely still use the red ones! It'll just be more colorful! Hope this turns out well for you I'd love to know! Thanks so very much and have a great day! Grace