Make your own homemade Chamoy Sauce! This flavorful Mexican condiment the perfect blend of sweet, tart and spice. Use it in drinks, on fruit, snack and candy!
What is Chamoy?
Chamoy is a mexican condiment made of dehydrated fruit, chile peppers, lime, sugar and hibiscus.
All about this homemade chamoy sauce…
- Easily adjustable: this recipe is easy to make your own. Want more spice? You can add in some dried arbol chili peppers. Want more sweet? Add in some extra prunes or apricots.
- Many uses: this sauce is great to have on hand for things such as drizzling over fresh fruits, drizzling over some ice cream, using in the place of jam on your toast. More ways to serve this sauce are shared below!
- Long Storage: this will safely keep in your refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 2 months allowing you plenty of time to use it in many different ways!
Ingredients Needed:
- Dried Hibiscus: dried hibiscus flowers, this is commonly used for making teas or other drinks. When these dried flowers are steeped in hot water they release a tart, almost cranberry like flavoring. They can be found in Mexican markets, in some markets in the Hispanic section, or online (I have purchased from Amazon before).
- Prunes: This recipe can be made with dried prunes, dates or raisins. These are used to help sweeten the sauce.
- Dried Apricots: Find these in the snack aisle in your local markets, they are simply dehydrated apricots, used to add flavor and sweetness to the sauce.
- Tajin: this is a popular seasoning made with chili peppers, lime and salt. If needed you could swap this ingredient out for chili peppers, dried or powder, and increase the amount of salt and lime juice in the recipe to get the taste you are wanting.
- Lime Juice: always go for freshly squeezed lime juice without any additional sweeteners or ingredients added.
How to Make (step-by-step):
- Step 1: Add the dried fruits and flowers to a pot with water.
- Step 2: Bring this to a simmer and let it cook at a simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Step 3: Blend the ingredients together to make a smooth sauce. Add more or less water as needed to get the desired consistency.
Be careful blending: blending hot liquids can easily cause burns. Allow the liquid to cool briefly before placing the lid on the blender. Placing the lid on too soon can cause pressure to build up and cause the lid to come off during the blending process.
Storage Information
- Storage: store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.
- Freezer: Freeze in an ice cube tray to easily create one serving amounts, once frozen, remove form the tray and place into a freezer safe bag or storage container for up to 6 months. Simply thaw and use as needed.
Is chamoy hot or spicy?
The sauce is made with chile so it does have some spice to it. But thanks to the balancing flavors of the sweet fruit, there isn’t much heat that comes through in the sauce. You can adjust the amount of chile used to provide more heat if desired. Or simply sprinkle some tajin on top for more chile.
What to Serve Chamoy with
- Drinks: layer up your drinks with chamoy sauce, or top with a drizzle for extra flavor. One of the most popular drinks with chamoy is a Mangonada.
- Rim Dip: mix the sauce with some melted mexican tamarind candies to make a paste (Rim Dip Recipe) for use on the rim of your favorite cocktails.
- Fresh Fruit: slice up fresh mango, jicama, melons, apples, strawberries, or your favorite fruit and top with a drizzle of chamoy sauce.
- Candy: this has become a popular option! Coat your favorite candies for dulces enchilados. Some ideas would include: peach rings, sour candies, gummy bears, skittles, and Gushers.
- Chips: enjoy a homemade Tostilocos, a popular mexican street food. Load up some Salsa Verde Tostitos with spicy Takis, diced up jicama, cucumbers, mango, Japanese peanuts, then drizzle it all with some hot sauce and chamoy.
Chamoy Sauce: FAQS
Chamoy sauce is a combination of sweet, salty, and spicy. This is due to the combination of sweet dried fruit, chili, and the salt from the tajin being added. This makes it a wonderful complement to fruits!
Chamoy is commonly used to drizzle on fresh fruits such as: mango, pineapple, jicama and watermelon. You may also see apples coated with chamoy and served almost as a candy apple.
Chamoy comes in different consistencies. From a liquid to a paste. This allows you to use it in different ways. Liquid is great for drizzling on fresh fruits, while the paste is more candy like and can be used to coat fruits if desired, or used as a rim paste for drinks like mangonadas or on the rim of beers.
More Authentic Mexican Recipes to Try:
Homemade Chamoy Sauce
Ingredients
- ¾ cup dried apricots, (6 ounces)
- ½ cup dried prunes, seeded (3 ounces)
- ½ cup dried hibiscus flower petals
- 3¼ cup water
- ⅓ cup tajin seasoning
- pinch of salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup lime juice, freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Add the apricots, prunes and hibiscus flowers to a medium size saucepan. Pour water over the top. Stir in the tajin, sugar and a pinch of salt.
- Heat over medium heat until simmering, then reduce the heat to medium low, cover and keep at a low simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Remove from heat, and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Pour the hibiscus mixture into a blender and add the lime juice.
- Blend for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Use caution when blending hot liquids, allow to cool briefly before placing the lid on the blender.
- If too thick, add small amounts of water to get desired consistency.
- Serve this over fresh fruit or in smoothies or drinks.
Video
Equipment
Notes
- Dried Hibiscus: dried hibiscus flowers, this is commonly used for making teas or other drinks. When these dried flowers are steeped in hot water they release a tart, almost cranberry like flavoring. They can be found in Mexican markets, in some markets in the Hispanic section, or online.
- Prunes: This recipe can be made with dried prunes, dates or raisins. These are used to help sweeten the sauce.
- Dried Apricots: Find these in the snack aisle in your local markets, they are simply dehydrated apricots, used to add flavor and sweetness to the sauce.
- Tajin: this is a popular seasoning made with chili peppers, lime and salt. If needed you could swap this ingredient out for chili peppers, dried or powder, and increase the amount of salt and lime juice in the recipe to get the taste you are wanting.
- Lime Juice: always go for freshly squeezed lime juice without any additional sweeteners or ingredients added.
- Consistency: use more or less water as needed to make the sauce as thin or thick as you need.
Nutrition
Photography by the talented @KJandCompany.co
