Garlic Chipotle Love: a.k.a. the Best Sauce Ever

Kitchen Love

I have my friend Lulu to thank for sharing Garlic Chipotle Love with me. As is our custom, we often sit at her huge kitchen island dipping fingers in whatever is simmering on her stove and stealing nibbles and noshes straight out of the oven. Lulu’s kitchen is a magical place.

Years ago, on a taste-testing kind of day, Lulu dipped a spoon into a still-warm baking dish of Garlic Chipotle Love and offered me first dibs. It was love at first taste.

For a while, I was obsessed with making this sauce– it was a staple in the fridge. I dolloped Garlic Chipotle Love like chimichurri on flank steak, served it as a condiment for fajitas or tacos, and whisked it with olive oil for a savory salad dressing. Then, for no good reason, the delicious sauce fell out of my recipe rotation.

BAM!

Recently, I binge watched Eat the World — Emeril Lagasse’s series on Amazon. I’ve been a fan of Emeril’s for a very long time, so I dove into the show head first. If you want to read more about the dream dinner when Emeril cooked for us, go ahead…. but, come back!

Emeril’s show is as much about fellowship as it is about the food. The chef is less BAM and more brotherhood, sharing friendship over exquisite food in the hometowns of his famous culinary friends.

THE Sauce of Summer

In the final episode, Emeril and his buddy and fellow chef Aaron Sanchez head to Latin America to explore the flavors of “forbidden Cuba.” Sanchez is the chef who made Garlic Chipotle Love famous. Before the show was over, I was back in the kitchen prepping garlic for the sauce.

Perfect for pairing with chicken, a salad, or throwing into bean dip, it’s a magical sauce that will immediately dress up and transform any dish.

It’s super easy to make and will please your people! I always make two batches.

Trust me.

Garlic Chipotle Love

Garlic-Chipotle Love (makes 1 cup) from chef Aaron Sanchez

• Author: Aaron Sanchez
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins
• Total Time: 55 mins
• Yield: 1 Cup 1x
• Category: Sauces and Dressings

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 cup canola oil
• 12 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 tablespoons chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Grated zest of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
2. Pour the oil into a heavy ovenproof medium saucepan and add the garlic.
3. Cover the pot with foil and bake until the garlic turns a nutty brown and is really soft, about 45 minutes.
4. Remove the pot from the oven and let the garlic and oil cool to room temperature.
5. Pour the garlic and garlic-infused oil in a food processor or blender. Add the chipotles and sauce, cilantro, lime zest, and salt. Puree until the mixture is very smooth.
6. Store any extra in the fridge in a tightly covered container for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to a month.

The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Not sure what to do with the leftover peppers? Freeze them, here’s how: What to do with leftover Chipotle Peppers.

Enjoy!