Chipotle Sea Salt
Add a little fiesta to your dinner table with this smoky and spicy chipotle sea salt! It works equally well with savory dishes like chicken or fish, as a finishing salt for sweet desserts, and sprinkled Mexican-style over watermelon, mango, cucumber, or popcorn. It's a simple sea salt blend that uses just two ingredients, stores well, and makes a great gift for spice lovers.
If you love the smoky, spicy flavor of chipotle, also try our creamy lime chipotle dressing, lazy deviled eggs, or our spicy chicken marinade.
This recipe was originally published in 2011. We've updated the post with some new photos and more information, but we've left the delicious recipe exactly the same.
What are chipotle peppers?
Chipotle peppers are actually jalapeño peppers that have been left on the vine to ripen. While jalapeños are picked when they're still green, others are left to ripen until their color turns a deep red. The extra time in the sun gives them their distinctly smoky, spicy, and slightly sweet flavor. What we love about chipotles is that they're big on flavor without being overly fiery.
They come in a few different forms and can be found as dried whole pods, chipotle powder, chipotle flakes, in hot sauce, and as canned chipotle in adobo (which is what is used in this chipotle sea salt recipe).
How to use chipotle sea salt
This chipotle sea salt will become a pantry staple because it's so versatile. It adds a rich smoky and spicy flavor without too much heat.
- On the barbecue – you'll want to have some around for barbecue season because it's the perfect seasoning for chicken, pork, fish, or tofu.
- As a finishing salt for sweet deserts – it adds a smoky, spicy crunch to sweet deserts like our vegan pots de creme.
- On roasted vegetables – rub it on your veggies before roasting.
- Add a pinch to fresh fruit – bring the Mexican fruit stand home! Squeeze some lime juice over your watermelon, mango, cucumber, or daikon radish then add a pinch of chipotle sea salt for a refreshing salty sweet snack.
- Over popcorn – add a dash to freshly popped corn to heat up your movie night snack.
FAQs: Chipotle Sea Salt
You can find canned chipotle peppers in adobo at most well-stocked supermarkets. They come in a small tin and you can find them alongside other Mexican groceries. You can also find them online here.
Adobo is the rich sauce that the chipotle peppers are packaged in. In this recipe, we blend the sauce and the peppers together to create a thick chipotle paste.
Coarse salt is ideal for this recipe. It has larger granules that won't dissolve and make it great for garnishing.
Storing chipotle sea salt
Once it's completely cooled, you can store this salt indefinitely. For the longest shelf life, store it in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid in a cool, dark place. Why not make a double batch and share it as a gift for the spice lovers in your life?
Other seasonings we love
Chipotle Sea Salt
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 1 jar chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- ½ cup coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Empty the jar of chipotle peppers into your blender and blend on high until smooth. Measure out ¼ cup of this chipotle paste then save the rest for another recipe.1 jar chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- Mix the salt and chipotle paste in a small bowl until well combined. Spread it out evenly on a small, parchment paper-lined baking sheet.½ cup coarse sea salt
- Place the baking sheet in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the chipotle-covered salt is dry. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and stir the salt occasionally until it is cool.
- Once it is cool enough to handle, use your fingers to break apart any large chunks. The salt will keep indefinitely stored in a cool, dry place.
Such a cute gift idea. Love the flavor!
I’m a huge fan too, the smoky heat is to die for. Instead of just using the sauce from the can, take the contents of the can and buzz it up with an immersion blender or Cuisinart type of unit, I add a bit of lime juice if I’m doing Mexican or even water just to help grind up the peppers. More bang for your buck. I have a great recipe where I poach chicken breasts with chipotle in orange juice. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Hi Doug,
Great idea to blend the sauce with the peppers. Will definitely be trying this next time!
I love chipotle too! I recently got my hands on a can of chipotle in adobo sauce and loooove it. I’ve made mayonaise with it, used it in sauces and so much more. Love the heat!
What a great idea to add chipotles to mayo! I think I’ll be eating some yam fries with chipotle mayo this week for sure 🙂
This is sooooo good — I now keep a batch of the salt on my stove — I am adding it to everything……thanks
That’s so great to hear! What else have you added it to?
Don’t forget rimming Caesars! Speaking of things you love (and sriracha, as you were), I made sriracha salt the other day and have been basically mainlining it ever since.
How could I forget Caesers! Do tell me more about this sriracha salt. I’m a little bit terrified that it might send my daily salt intake into record highs. But I need to know, how did you make it?
Same deal, basically. I mixed a cup of sea salt and some very generous squirts of sriracha, but I let it air dry for a couple days instead of baking. Was originally for rimming but I discovered it goes with everything.
It would be so good with a Sunday afternoon Caesar! Not sure if I can wait until Sunday to try it though 🙂