Peanut Chipotle Salsa | Gimme Some Oven

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This creamy peanut chipotle salsa recipe is quick and easy to make, and full of the most irresistible savory, smoky and sweet flavors.  Serve as a dip, sauce, spread, or whatever sounds good!

Fellow salsa lovers, I have a new one for you to try today.

And yes, it includes peanuts! ♡

This one is a bit of a cross between salsa macha (a traditional chile peanut sauce from Veracruz) and my favorite red salsa recipe.  It’s made with a standard base of tomatoes (I use canned), onion, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, cumin and a hint of oregano.  But then there’s also a generous scoop of natural peanut butter added in, which adds the most intriguing je ne se quoi depth of sweet nutty flavor and creaminess to this salsa, and pairs perfectly with the cilantro and lime.  Then when combined with the smokiness and subtle heat from a chipotle pepper in adobo, whew, you guys — this salsa is downright irresistible.

It’s also super quick and easy to whip up in the food processor or blender.  And while we have mostly just been enjoying ours with tortilla chips (and the occasional margs, for happy hour), this salsa can also be used a million different ways as well.  It works great as a dip for fries, chips, crackers, veggie sticks, or any of your other favorite dippers.  Or it can also be used as a sauce for your favorite tacos, burgers, kabobs, baked potatoes, roasted veggies and more.  The flavors are so well-balanced here that it’s a super versatile salsa that you can serve with just about anything.

So if you’re looking to mix things up from the usual red or green salsa routine, grab some peanut butter (or you could also use other favorite nut butters) and give this recipe a try!

Peanut Chipotle Salsa Ingredients:

To make this peanut chipotle salsa recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

• Diced tomatoes: I recommend picking up a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, if possible.  But any diced tomatoes will do. 🙂
• Garlic: Two cloves of fresh garlic.  (Or in a pinch, you can sub in 1 teaspoon garlic powder instead.)
• Chipotle in adobo: I recommend starting with 1 large chipotle in adobo sauce (see photo above).  But if you really love chipotle flavor, you are welcome to add one more.
• Fresh cilantro: I used about a cup or so of roughly-chopped fresh cilantro.  But again, feel free to add more if you would like.  (Or if you don’t like cilantro, you are welcome to just leave it out.)
• Natural peanut butter: I used homemade peanut butter (made from 100% peanuts) for this recipe.  But you can use store-bought natural peanut butter too, or just puree peanuts directly into the salsa (see note in the recipe below).
• Onion: I used white onion for this recipe, but yellow or red onion would work too.
• Lime juice: The juice of one lime (about 2 tablespoons).
• Seasonings: A simple mix of ground cumin, dried oregano, salt and black pepper.

How To Make Peanut Chipotle Salsa:

Easy breezy!  Simply…

1. Puree all ingredients. I find it’s easiest to do this in a food processor, but a blender should also work well.  (If using a blender, I recommend adding the juiciest ingredients first, and then layer everything else on top.)
2. Season. Taste and season with extra salt (or any other ingredients you might like to increase) as needed.
3. Serve. Serve immediately with tortilla chips or use in your favorite recipe and enjoy!

Possible Variations:

There are so many ways that you can customize this salsa recipe, so please feel free to tinker around with ingredient amounts and figure out what you love best!  For example, feel free to…

• Use more chipotle, cilantro, PB, or lime juice: Feel free to increase the amount of any of these ingredients if you would like!
• Use a different nut butter: If you are allergic to or just don’t like peanuts, feel free to substitute in a different nut butter or seed butter of your choice.
• Add sesame: I also love adding a hint of sesame to this salsa — either a teaspoon or two of tahini, a tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds, or a tiny drizzle of sesame oil.  If you love peanut-sesame flavors together, I recommend giving it a try!
• Add heat: A fresh jalapeño or serrano pepper would also be delicious here, if you would like to add some extra heat.

More Favorite Salsa Recipes:

Looking for more stellar salsa recipes?  Here are a few of my faves:

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