Quick And Easy Chamoy Recipe

If you haven't been lucky enough to try chamoy before, you're in for a treat. Chamoy is a Mexican savory sauce, sometimes found as a paste, that is often paired with sweet foods like fruit to provide a subtly spicy contrast. It can vary in terms of heat, texture, and even taste, as it can be made from different types of fruits.

Recipe developer and registered dietitian nutritionist, Kristen Carli, MS, RD, brings us this recipe for quick and easy chamoy. "No need to ferment your own fruit for this recipe," Carli says. "This chamoy is best for the home cooks because it starts with store-bought apricot preserves." Because Carli's recipe begins with apricot preserves, you'll notice that the flavor is a bit more sweet and floral than other chamoy varieties from alternative fruits like plums or mangoes. We love this version because the resulting sauce is sweet, sour, with a bit of spice — a perfect balance of flavors.

To make this quick and easy chamoy, you can start by gathering your ingredients. For this recipe, you will need salt, ancho chili powder, regular chili powder, apricot preserves, and lime juice. "Most grocery stores will carry an ancho chili powder in their spice section," Carli says. "However, if you are having trouble locating it, you can always find it at a Mexican grocery store."

This super simple recipe only has two short steps. The first is to place all the ingredients in a food processor. If you don't have a food processor, a blender will work. However, Carli notes, "I find that a food processor is the best appliance to mix up these ingredients because of its smaller volume." She explains that a blender often has a larger capacity, allowing the contents to spray all around inside and not get thoroughly incorporated.

Last but not least, you simply have to blend these ingredients together. Make sure to process them long enough to encourage further break down and combination. Carli adds "the final texture should look and feel like barbecue sauce: sticky, thick, but still liquid". It's best to serve drizzled on things, so if the texture is too thin and watery, it will likely not have the desired effect.

Now that you have this delectable sauce, what are you going to do with it? "I love drizzling it over frozen mango cubes or dipping mango sorbet popsicles into it," Carli says. "The combination of heat and sweetness pairs nicely with tart fruit." We also recommend serving it on the rim of cocktails like micheladas or margaritas, but the uses don't stop there. Get creative and see what else you can pair chamoy with!