15 Best Mexican Sauces (2024)

Enjoy a little taste of Mexico from your very own kitchen with these 15 best Mexican sauces, from Salsa Macha to Mojo De Ajo!

Who doesn’t love Mexican sauces?

With its bright, spicy, smoky, and peppery flavors smothered on any meat, you’ll never want to choose another sauce again!

The term “salsa” has been used interchangeably with “sauce” because it means sauce in Spanish.

Salsa sauce originated from the Inca people and is mainly combined with tomatoes, spices, and chilies.

However, it can also be traced to the Mayans and Aztecs.

You might think that Mexicans were the first to discover salsa sauces, but they didn’t.

The Spaniards first encountered tomatoes when they conquered Mexico from 1519 to 1521, marking the history and discovery of salsa sauce.

Most salsa sauces consist of herbs, grains, fruit, vegetables, and a myriad of spices, with flavors ranging from tangy to mild or extremely hot.

These Mexican sauces may also come cooked or uncooked, called the “salsa cruda” for the latter.

The terms salsa verde, salsa Roja, and pico de gallo all belong to salsa sauces with different variations.

Salsa verde is the “green salsa,” made from cilantro, green chilies, and pureed tomatillos.

The salsa Roja is the “red salsa,” made from chili peppers, onions, and red tomatoes.

Finally, the most popular one adapted worldwide is pico de gallo, an uncooked salsa made from tomatoes, cilantro leaves, onions, and lime juice.

But if these aren’t enough, you can try these 15 Mexican sauces that could be your next party’s crowd pleaser.

If you’re into garlic sauce, you shouldn’t miss #15, the Mojo De Ajo!

Mexican salsa is a fiery sauce that isn’t for the faint of hearts.

If you’re looking for something bold, this Salsa De Aguacate Con Crema is the perfect option.

In English, it’s called creamy avocado salsa, a no-cook sauce that even your kids will love.

It’s the simplest to make in this list, which will only take 10 minutes of your time.

Plus, you’ll love the buttery, nutty, and non-overwhelming taste of the avocado, with its super creamy texture.

The Salsa Macha can be used as a marinade and a sauce for anything you can think of — meat, crackers, tofu, and even soups.

That’s how versatile this salsa is, with its smoky, deep, and flavorful profiles from garlic, shallots, sesame seeds, dried chilies, pumpkin seeds, and olive oil.

If you’re looking for something not overly spicy but with a bit of heat from the chilies and nuttiness, the Salsa Macha is your best bet.

This Salsa Verde recipe, or “green salsa,” is another excellent addition to your barbeque nights or weeknight gatherings with friends and family.

You can use this salsa as an appetizer with your chips or crackers or use it as a topping on your favorite meat or Mexican food.

This salsa is tomatillo based, which is different from tomato-based salsa, giving it its rich green color.

You need to give it a few blitzes on your blender, and it’ll be ready in seconds.

To ensure no overwhelming taste comes from the garlic and onion, mince them before blending.

Everyone loves smothering sour cream on some dishes, but if you want a Mexican alternative to sour cream, try this Cilantro Lime Crema recipe.

Using only minimal ingredients, you can get a tangy sauce that you can put on anything your heart desires.

You can grab a Mexican crema base such as heavy cream or buttermilk or use Greek yogurt if you prefer.

Mix with a few spices, jalapeno, garlic, cilantro, parsley, and lime.

This beautiful, slightly sweet, rich, smoky Guajillo Chile Salsa goes well with pork.

You can put this on the side, as a topping on grilled or fried pork, or use it as a marinade, and the flavors will surprise you.

Grab some guajillo and ancho chiles to combine sweet, spicy, and slightly bitter flavors.

You can even add a bit of sugar to enhance the sweet profiles of this sauce and tone down the tomatoes’ acidity.

You can serve this as a salsa for tacos, burritos, and tortillas, or make this the sauce on your favorite meat like chicken or beef.

If you want to make it more Tex-Mex style sauce, add a dash of cumin and adjust the salt.

You may also replace jalapeno peppers with serrano peppers for that more robust heat if you’re into spicy sauces.

You can conveniently buy enchilada from the grocery store, but you’ll never want store-bought enchilada sauce again after trying out this recipe.

The key to creating this magically rich concoction is the base of the sauce, and vegetable broth seems to work and keep that perfect consistency.

After creating a simple roux of oil and flour, add the vegetable broth and all the other ingredients.

The combination of dried spices and vinegar amps up the sauce’s flavor.

This Ranchero Sauce recipe goes well with wet burritos, huevos rancheros, eggs, tostadas, tacos, or any Mexican food you can think of.

The ranchero and enchilada sauces may look the same, but there’s a nuance between the two kinds, and it all boils down to the tomato flavor.

While the enchilada can sometimes be made without tomatoes, it also offers a milder flavor, with the other ingredients as the focus of the sauce.

On the other hand, the ranchero sauce is a tomato-based sauce that is spicier and is combined with only supporting ingredients.

If you’ve ever been to an authentic Mexican taqueria, expect to find the Salsa Taquera on the menu because this is smoking hot, and Mexicans love their hot salsa.

It’s the fiery sauce you want on your Mexican food that’s tolerable because of all the various flavors combined as well.

You get the dominant spicy flavor blended with salty, garlicky, and even tarty notes.

This Mexican Chimichurri Sauce is the ultimate go-to condiment or marinade that will go well with your grilled chicken, steak, or pork.

This green chimichurri sauce can even be paired with ceviche because of its bright flavor.

The combination of cilantro and parsley gives your tastebuds a herbaceous flavor.

The serrano peppers also bring a hint of spice that will elevate this sauce, perfect for those who want a kick in their marinade or meat topping.

Pico De Gallo is a well-known Mexican salsa, also called “salsa cruda” or “salsa fresca.”

Unlike the other dishes with a tomato-based sauce using canned tomatoes, the pico de gallo uses fresh diced tomatoes.

It is also made with equal parts of onions, cilantro, and tomatoes, with seasonings like salt, pepper, and lime juice.

You probably can’t wait to dig into the pico de gallo sauce after making it.

Still, the secret to good pico is letting it rest overnight by covering and refrigerating so all the flavors meld nicely.

The Salsa De Cacahuate is a flavorful and spicy peanut sauce that will surprise you with its creamy, nutty, and smoky flavors.

You get a hint of spiciness from the Arbol chilies and toasted peanuts that give this sauce its smoky flavor.

After toasting the peanuts for five minutes, blend all ingredients in your trusty blender and give it a good blitz.

Try to blend it for two minutes or until you reach your desired consistency.

This sauce is a perfect way to start your summertime hangs.

The term “salsa borracha” is inspired by the addition of alcohol in this sauce.

It’s a very thick sauce made from roasted dried pasilla chiles, fresh chiles like jalapenos, tomatoes, garlic, onions, and your choice of alcohol.

The authentic salsa borracha uses pulque alcohol, a fermented alcoholic drink from the Maguey plant’s sap.

However, the modern salsa borracha is now made with dark lager, especially in central Mexico, and tequila in the Mexico city area.

It has malty notes and raisin-like sweetness, with earthy profiles.

Due to its versatility, this sauce can be paired with just about anything—even warm tortillas.

Using ancho chiles will add myriad flavors to this sauce, so try to grab those if available.

Mix with new Mexican chiles, and make sure to de-stem and de-seed them.

To bring out the heat from the chiles, you can either press them on a hot skillet or pop them in the oven for one to two minutes.

Mojo De Ajo, or garlic sauce, is Latin America’s quintessential garlic sauce, but this recipe is purely Mexican.

It’s similar to the Italian scampi sauce, with lots of garlic, butter, cilantro, parsley, lime, and chiles.

You can also make it more Cuban by adding some cumin and oregano, but this simple Mexican Mojo De Ajo recipe is enough to surprise your palate.

The bottom line

Don’t get left behind with your Mexican salsa gaming!

Try these flavorful, smoky, and fiery sauces that will surely enhance any of your favorite meat or dish.