Chipotle Hot Sauces

What a chipotle hot sauce actually tastes like

Smoke, earth and a little sweetness. A chipotle is a ripe red jalapeño that has been smoke-dried, so the pepper arrives already cooked and concentrated: what you taste is closer to barbecue than to fresh chili, with a heat that stays politely in the background.

Morita and meco

Two kinds show up in these bottles. Morita chipotles are smoked for less time, stay soft and reddish, and keep more of their fruit. They're the ones in most supermarket adobo. Meco chipotles are smoked longer until they turn grey-brown and leathery, and they taste stronger and more ashy. Either way, the smoke is real rather than added flavoring.

How hot these get

This is one of our friendlier collections: close to half of the sauces are mild, and the rest are spread across medium, hot and extra hot, where a maker has added habanero or Carolina reaper behind the smoke. Tomato is in four in ten bottles, garlic in nearly eight in ten, and brown sugar in a few.

How to use it

Tacos, burritos and eggs top the list, then chicken, burgers and chili. Chipotle is the sauce to cook with when you want depth: a spoonful in a pot of beans, a stew or a marinade does what a smoked paprika would, only wetter. Stir it into mayo or sour cream for a dip that tastes like it took effort.

Buying your first one

If you like barbecue, start here rather than in the jalapeño collection: same pepper, completely different bottle. A mild chipotle sauce with tomato and garlic is the most useful one to own, and it's a good gift for someone who says they don't like spicy food.