Salsa Macha
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Feb 26, 2025 
Salsa Macha Recipe (Salsa de Chile de Arbol): This incredibly flavorful Mexican-style ancho chile oil is infused with peanuts, garlic, and fiery dried peppers. It’s spicy and savory, perfect for scooping with chips or adding a POP of delicious heat to all kinds of other tasty dishes!
What is Salsa Macha?
Salsa Macha (AKA Brave Oil) is a unique rustic salsa variation from the Veracruz region of Mexico. It consists of dried chilies, peanuts, garlic, and oil, sautéed to release their flavors and allowed to rest to mix and mingle. The result is a delicious infused chile oil that has the consistency of a pesto or chili oil, similar to salsa al pastor.
Now, there are many different variations of this classic dish. Salsa Macha can include an array of dried chilies but always incorporates spicy arbol chiles. It can also include various nuts and seeds. In this simple recipe, I’ve relied primarily on peanuts and the addition of sesame oil to create a deep, rich flavor.
If you like heat-infused condiments, you’ll love this fabulous spicy salsa for dipping, adding to all sorts of other Mexican dishes, and much more!
Ingredients You Need
- Ancho chiles – a fairly mild dried pepper with a savory and almost sweet chocolatey flavor (think classic mole sauce)
- Guajillo chiles – the flavor is not as intense as smoky ancho chile, and has more of a light fruity taste
- Arbol chiles – also known as bird’s beak, these dried peppers are what really bring the spicy heat to this classic salsa macha recipe
- Garlic – fresh cloves, peeled
- Peanuts – unsalted and dry roasted
- Oil – in this recipe, we use both peanut and sesame oil
- Vinegar – use your preference of white (super pungent) or red wine (more sweet) vinegar
- Mexican oregano – a bit more peppery and earthy than Mediterranean-style oregano
- Salt – a bit to bring together all of the spicy, sweet, and tangy flavors
How to Make Salsa de Chile de Arbol
First, break the stems off the top of each chile and shake out as many seeds as possible. Add the dried chiles to the jar of a food processor and pulse until they are broken into much smaller pieces.
Next, add the garlic cloves and peanuts to the food processor.
Pulse again until the mixture consists of small even pieces.
Be careful to not over-process the ingredients… You want them to still have texture, so do not puree until smooth.
Get the Full (Printable) Salsa Macha Recipe + Video Below. Enjoy!
Add the peanut oil and sesame oil to a skillet and cook over medium heat for a minute. Then scoop the chili and garlic mixture into the skillet and gently stir
Once the oil starts to bubble, sauté the chilies and garlic for just a couple more minutes to bring out the flavors.
Pro Tip: Do not cook the salsa too long; otherwise, you could burn the garlic, creating an acidic flavor.
Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the stove. Stir in the vinegar, oregano, and salt, then allow the salsa to cool to room temperature in the pan.
Then, move it to glass jars and allow the salsa to rest for 2-3 hours before serving.
Pro Tip: The longer the chiles sit in the oil, the more full-bodied and spicy the salsa will become.
Serving Suggestions
Serve salsa de chile de arbol with crunchy tortilla chips for dipping. As noted, it is a good bit thinner than traditional Tex-Mex-style salsa. But it’s also oil-based, so while it is thin, the spicy salsa is still very clingy and easy to scoop with chips.
Like other salsas, this ancho chile oil is fabulous for drizzling on your favorite Mexican-inspired dishes. Enjoy the fiery, smoky salsa on carne asada tacos, ground turkey tacos, or vegan tofu tacos. It’s an outstanding balance to rich cheesy enchiladas, nachos, and simple quesadillas. And I love to have a ramekin of salsa on the side of overloaded burritos and wraps!
But that’s not all! The vibrant taste of ancho salsa makes it wonderfully versatile, too. Add a spoonful to eggs, stir into soups and chiles, or any dish that needs a little oomph. It’s even great to use as a vinaigrette on salads, savory bowls, sandwiches, over grilled vegetables, grilled chicken, and so much more!
Frequently Asked Questions
This salsa macha recipe is quite spicy! Ancho and guajillo chiles have nice heat but aren’t incredibly spicy. But arbol chiles offer some serious spiciness! They are hotter than jalapeños, and are closer to cayenne pepper-level heat. This chile oil is definitely not for the faint of heart! You can reduce the amount of arbol chilies if you like, and add extra ancho chiles.
Ancho and poblano are actually the same pepper! The difference is that poblano peppers are picked while still green, and are therefore not very spicy. Ancho chiles become red and slightly hotter as they ripen.
Yes, homemade ancho salsa does need to be refrigerated. After the salsa cools completely, transfer it to an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for up to a month.
You can add any variety of dried chile, in place of the traditional options. You can also experiment with swapping various seeds and nuts, like sesame seeds, almonds, pepitas, and even garbanzo beans. We love the combination of peanut and sesame oil for the rich flavor, but feel free to swap out avocado oil, almond oil, or olive oil.
Looking for More Easy Sauce and Salsa Recipes? Be Sure to Try:
- Best Homemade Salsa Recipe
- Poblano Sauce
- Peri Peri Sauce
- Hot Honey Recipe
- Homemade Buffalo Wing Sauce
- Chamoy Sauce Recipe
Salsa Macha Recipe (Salsa de Chile de Arbol)
Video
Ingredients
- 5 ancho chiles
- 3-4 guajillo chiles
- 6-10 arbol chiles
- 8-10 cloves garlic peeled
- ½ cups roasted peanuts
- 1 cup peanut oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon vinegar any type
- ½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Set out a food processor. Break the stems off the top of each chile and shake out as many seeds as possible. Place the remaining dried chile in the food processor.
- Once all the chiles are stemmed and seeded, pulse the chiles until they are broken into much smaller pieces.
- Add the garlic cloves and peanuts to the food processor. Pulse again until the mixture consists of small even pieces.
- Set a medium skillet over low heat. Add the peanut oil and sesame oil to the skillet. Then scoop the chili and garlic mixture into the skillet. Gently stir. Once the oil starts to bubble, sauté the chilies and garlic for 2-4 minutes to bring out the flavors. *Be careful not to cook the salsa too long, or you could burn the garlic, creating an acidic flavor.
- Turn off the heat, and stir in the vinegar, oregano, and salt. Allow the salsa to cool to room temperature in the pan. Then move it to glass jars and allow the salsa to rest for 2-3 hours before serving.
I tested Salsa Macha and used it for our tortilla chips, it’s spicy and full of flavor. I used avocado oil and it turned out super good!
I had never heard of this but then when I saw the photo I HAD to try it!!! thank you for sharing!
This was amazing. I don’t think I can ever be without it in my kitchen!