This Mexican Ranchero sauce recipe is made with fire-roasted tomatoes, onions, chipotle peppers, and Mexican spices blended together for a smoky Mexican-style sauce that’s perfect for steak ranchero, enchiladas, or your favorite Mexican dishes.
Like Your Favorite Mexican Restaurant…
My mother-in-law loves beef steak ranchero. Whenever she visits her favorite Mexican restaurant, that’s what she orders – every single time. In fact, ever since I started dating my wife over two decades ago, I have never seen her stray from her normal beef steak ranchero order.
She loves it that much.
So when we decided to make a homemade ranchero sauce to use for a few different griddle recipes, she was the first person that I called for ingredient advice. Is it spicy? Is it tomato-y? Is it smoky? Is it similar to a salsa? I asked her all the questions to try and develop a recipe that would have her coming back for seconds… and that would win me a “Son-in-law of the Year” award!
And I think we nailed it!
With a few simple ingredients, the perfect combination of spices, a skillet, and a blender, you can make a fantastic Mexican-style ranchero sauce at home to rival your favorite Mexican restaurant! Here’s how to do it:
What is Ranchero Sauce?
Ranchero sauce is a flavorful Mexican sauce that serves as a versatile condiment in various dishes. It typically features a base of tomatoes along with onions, garlic, and chili peppers, creating a rich and tangy flavor profile with a hint of smoke and spice – though as with most foods, the exact ingredients in an authentic ranchero sauce can vary by region and by cook.
The sauce can vary in consistency from chunky to smooth, depending on personal preference and the intended use.
We personally prefer to add our warm ingredients to a blender for a smooth sauce, especially for popular Mexican dishes like beef steak ranchero and huevos racheros. But you can keep the simmered vegetables chunky as well.
Ideas for Using the Mexican Sauce
Since ranchero sauce is like a cross between a salsa and a smoky enchilada sauce, it has a wide variety of uses in Mexican recipes. Here are some recipe ideas that are perfect for this homemade ranchero sauce:
- Beef Steak Ranchero – This popular Mexican restaurant dish is actually the reason why we developed our own homemade ranchero sauce recipe. It consists of a thin steak that’s grilled and covered with the ranchero sauce. Often served with refried beans and warm flour tortillas. Mother-in-law approved!
- Huevos Rancheros – This is probably the most widely-known way to use ranchero sauce, because it’s right in the name of the popular Mexican breakfast dish. Huevos Rancheros consists of fried eggs served on top of corn tortillas and topped with ranchero sauce, so it’s the perfect way to use up leftovers of the smoky Mexican sauce.
- Enchiladas – Use ranchero sauce as a delicious topping for enchiladas. Simply roll your favorite fillings, such as shredded chicken, beef, or cheese, in corn tortillas, place them in a baking dish, pour ranchero sauce over the top, and bake until bubbly and golden.
- Soups and Stews – Stir leftover ranchero sauce into soups and stews to add a kick of flavor. It works particularly well in tomato-based soups, chili, and bean soups.
Ingredients for Homemade Ranchero Sauce
Before we jump into how to make ranchero sauce, let’s take a look at the key ingredients and some important things to note:
- fire-roasted tomatoes – We chose to use canned tomatoes to make this recipe even easier, but you can “blister” fresh roma tomatoes in a skillet or over a fire on the grill if you rather.
- chipotles in adobo – Find these in a can in the Mexican aisle of the grocery store. Chipotles in adobo are simply smoked jalapeno peppers that are canned with a blended sauce of tomatoes, onion, garlic, and various spices. They have a spicy and smoky flavor, perfect for adding to blended sauces for an extra kick.
- chicken stock – Or for a vegetarian sauce, you may substitute vegetable stock.
- tomato sauce – We used a small can to mellow out the spicy, smoky flavor.
- onion, garlic, and jalapeños
- lime juice
- cilantro
- Mexican spices – Cumin, smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, and a very small amount of ancho chile powder. If you don’t have the ancho chile powder, you can omit it or substitute extra of the smoked paprika.
- brown sugar – A pinch of sweetness to balance the spice in the sauce.
Recipe Tip for Chipotles in Adobo:
Because of their spicy and smoky flavor, you’d be hard-pressed to find a recipe that uses a full can of the peppers. So to avoid waste, I add 2-3 individual peppers with a bit of the sauce to snack-sized Ziploc bags. Label the bags with permanent marker and store in the freezer.
When you need a small amount for recipes like this one, you can use a knife to cut off 1 or 2 peppers, and then return the bag to the freezer.
How to Make Blended Ranchero Sauce
Now, let’s get cooking! Follow these simple steps to blend up a batch of delicious homemade Mexican Ranchero Sauce:
Sauté Diced Onions and Jalapeno
To start, add about a tablespoon of your favorite cooking oil to a heated skillet. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper, and sauté the diced onions and jalapeno pepper until slightly translucent.
*TIP – Don’t worry about cutting the diced vegetables perfectly. You’ll be blending the sauce later, so your knife skills aren’t important.
Add the Other Ingredients to the Skillet
Next, add the fire-roasted canned tomatoes, chipotles in adobo, chicken stock, lime juice, cilantro, brown sugar, and the Mexican spices. Stir well and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
*TIP – If you choose to only use 1 chipotle pepper, then you may not need to add the brown sugar. Since our sauce was quite smoky and spicy with the addition of 2 peppers, we added a small bit of brown sugar to balance the flavors.
Blend to a Smooth Sauce
Next, transfer the sauce to a large blender cup and blend until smooth, or to your desired consistency if you want a chunkier sauce.
Pour the blended mixture back into the skillet and bring to a simmer. Let the sauce cook for about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens slightly and the flavors meld together.
*TIP – When blending the warm ingredients, cover the blender with a kitchen towel instead of the blender lid. This helps for some of the steam to escape instead of building up pressure while blending the hot ingredients.
Serve, Store, or Freeze the Ranchero Sauce
Once the sauce is ready, it’s time to enjoy! Use it as a topping for our favorite beef steak ranchero, eggs, tacos, enchiladas, or any other Mexican dish that could use a boost of flavor!
You can also make this sauce a few days in advance and then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. This is what we did, as we used the sauce to make a few different Mexican recipes throughout the week.
Ranchero Sauce
Equipment
- blender
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 1-2 jalapeno peppers seeded and diced
- 2 14.5 oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
- 1-2 chipotles in adobo (from can) *See notes below
- 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 6-7 garlic cloves smashed and skins removed
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ½ cup chopped cilantro *About 1 bunch with stems removed
- 1½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- juice from 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon ancho chile powder optional, or substitute an extra ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika
Instructions
- Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onions and jalapenos, and cook until slightly translucent and softened.
- Add the canned fire-roasted tomatoes, chipotles in adobo, tomato sauce, chicken stock, garlic cloves, brown sugar, lime juice, chopped cilantro, and all the spices (including cumin, smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, chile powder, salt, and pepper). Stir well and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a large blender cup. Blend until smooth, or slightly chunky if you prefer. *When blending the warm ingredients, cover the hole of the blender lid with a kitchen towel instead of having the lid completely closed. This helps for some of the steam to escape instead of building up pressure while blending the hot ingredients.
- Pour the blended mixture back into the skillet and bring to a simmer. Let the sauce cook for about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens slightly and the flavors meld together. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water to thin the sauce for a looser consistency if you prefer.
Notes
- The chipotles in adobo are smoky with a good bit of spice. Use one pepper for less smoke flavor and a milder ranchero sauce. The remainder of the canned peppers can be stored in a freezer-safe zip top bag in the freezer until you need more for other recipes.
- If you choose to only use 1 chipotle pepper, then you may not need to add the brown sugar. Since our sauce was quite smoky and spicy with the addition of 2 peppers, we added a small bit of brown sugar to balance the flavors.
- This recipe yields about 6 cups of sauce, plenty for making multiple Mexican dishes. You can freeze leftover sauce in a freezer-safe zip top bag for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in a saucepan on the stovetop.
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