This easy chipotle sauce is one of my favorite condiments! It's a delicious dipping sauce or topping for tacos, veggie burgers, and bowls.
This chipotle sauce will punch up any meal! It’s smoky, creamy, tangy, and easy to make with simple ingredients. I started making the recipe to put on the cauliflower tacos in my first cookbook, and now I love it on everything from burrito bowls to breakfast tacos to hearty salads. If you try it, I think you’ll fall for it too!
I say this all the time, but I truly believe that the key to a great veggie meal (or any meal, really) is a great sauce. This creamy chipotle sauce is one of the best—it adds SO much flavor to whatever you’re eating. Keep reading to learn how to make it (and yes, there’s a vegan version!).
How to Make the Best Chipotle Sauce
What’s the secret to making a great chipotle mayo? Canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. They have an amazing smoky, spicy flavor that makes them one of my go-to ingredients in savory recipes. If you’ve never used chipotles in adobo, don’t worry—they’re not hard to find. Most grocery stores carry them in the Mexican aisle. After you make this recipe, use your leftover chipotles in BBQ jackfruit sliders, black bean soup, or tofu sofritas!
In this recipe, I balance the heat of the chipotles with sweetness from honey, richness from Greek yogurt and mayonnaise, and brightness from lime to make an addictive sauce. Garlic adds savory bite, and a little olive oil loosens the sauce.
It’s easy to make—just pulse the ingredients in a food processor until smooth and creamy!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Variations
- Make it vegan. Use vegan mayo in place of the yogurt and regular mayonnaise. Replace the honey with maple syrup.
- No yogurt? No problem. Replace it with sour cream. You could also sub in additional mayo to make a chipotle aioli.
How to Use Chipotle Sauce
Ok, you’ve made your chipotle sauce. Now what do you do with it?
You have so many tasty options! Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Use it as a dipping sauce. Its smoky flavor is fantastic with sweet potato fries, air fryer French fries, air fryer cauliflower, and more! It even tastes great on tortilla chips.
- Put it on a sandwich or veggie burger. I love it on this veggie burger and this black bean burger.
- Drizzle it over a grain bowl. Try it on your next burrito bowl!
- Or pair it with tacos or burritos. I love it on these mango tacos and these cauliflower tacos. It’s also yummy with a breakfast burrito or these vegan burritos.
How do you like to use homemade chipotle sauce? Let me know in the comments!
Leftover chipotle sauce keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
More Homemade Sauces
If you loved this chipotle sauce recipe, try making these easy sauces next:
- Chipotle Ranch Dressing
- Cilantro Lime Crema
- Spicy Mayo
- Remoulade Sauce
- Avocado Sauce
- Tzatziki Sauce
- Homemade BBQ Sauce
Creamy Chipotle Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup whole milk Greek yogurt, see vegan note*
- ¼ cup mayonnaise, Sir Kensington’s is best here
- 1 chipotle pepper from a can of chipotles in adobo sauce
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a food processor, place the yogurt, mayo, chipotle pepper, garlic, lime juice, olive oil, and honey. Add a generous pinch of salt and several grinds of pepper and blend until smooth. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.
Notes
Once upon a time, I would have agreed wholeheartedly with you about the Sir Kensington’s mayo. Now that they have been bought by Unilever and the recipe has been so drastically changed (no more mustard or pepper), it tastes closer to Hellman’s. I would recommend Trader Joe’s mayo as it is similarly-flavored to what Sir Kensington’s used to be. Regardless, this sauce sounds AWESOME! and I can’t wait to try it … maybe even on a burger instead of steak sauce!
Love the sauce. I love chipotle and good Spanish smoked paprika.
Made this recipe for some chicken tacos. It’s delicious! Thank you for sharing it, it’s a keeper!
Fixed a double batch of this tonight. It is amazing!
My plan was to use it on fish tacos tomorrow. Tried it on broiled chicken tonight and it was great. I could literally eat it by the spoonful. Thank you so much.
We are low sodium so I cut the sodium down quite a bit. Only 50 calories and 50 mg of sodium per tablespoon. The sodium is less than a third in the national product we would normally buy.
Hi Bob, I’m so glad you loved the sauce!
Made it for taco bar night, it was the star of the show!! It made everything taste better! I added a bit more of chipotle peppers since spice is appreciated in my household! This is gonna be a regular from now on!
I’m so glad you loved it!
My whole family absolutely LOVES this healthy sauce. It makes everything tastier. I’ve been making it every few weeks now when it runs out. We keep it in a jar in the fridge and it lasts for about a month (I double the recipe). When I make something the kids don’t really want to eat (beef and liver patties) they eat it if it’s got this sauce on it.
I’m so glad you all love the recipe!
Can I sub chipotle powder for the canned, and how much should I use?
I’d start with 1 teaspoon chipotle powder and add more to taste. You may need to add a bit more lime juice or maple syrup to balance the sauce. Hope you enjoy it!
This chipotle sauce is perfect! I’ve made it every week for the last month for taco Tuesdays and it’s such a hit. Don’t debate trying it, you’ll love it!
I’ve frozen remaining chipotle peppers (separately, in an ice cube tray) after opening the can and defrosted what I need on the day I make the sauce and it is still wonderful.
Hi Rebecca, I’m so glad you loved it!
Can I just use greak.yogurt and no mayo
Yep, I would add a little more salt, to taste.
I just made this sauce, and I think it’s the flavor I’ve been searching for my entire life. I spilled some on the counter, while I poured it into a jar, and I wanted to lick it off the counter. But I used a spoon. I also dripped some on the floor (art is messy!), and I looked longingly at it. Enough said.
Ha ha, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Nice recipe! I tried it twice and the sauce was delicious!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
How long will this last in the fridge?
Can you freeze leftovers? Thanks!
Hi Maureen, I keep it for about 5 days. I haven’t tried freezing it so I’m not sure.
Delicious! I love pouring this sauce over fries (sweet potato or regular) with melted cheese, bacon and green onions. So so so good! Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This is the only recipe for this that I use now. It’s my family’s favorite. Have subbed lemon for lime when I didn’t have a lime and it was fine. Also subbed sour cream when I ran out of mayo.
But when I can, I make it exactly as is and it’s delicious!
I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the sauce so much!
How long would this last in the frig?
This is by far the easiest and tastiest dressing/sauce I’ve ever made! Added a bit more olive oil to think it out for taco salads!! I’ll be putting this on everything!
So good!
Hi. Do I use the whole can of peppers in 1 recipe
Hi Tahera, no, you pull 1 pepper out of the can. The full recipe is at the bottom of the post in the recipe card. I hope you enjoy!