What is chamoy sauce?
Chamoy is a popular condiment in Mexico made from a combination of dried fruit, chile, and acid. This sauce can be found in street snack carts and store shelves all across Mexico. I truly believe that every Mexican person grew up eating it.
What does chamoy taste like?
- Sweet: The fruit base (which can be apricot, mango, or plum) gives chamoy its sweet undertones.
- Sour: Lime juice or citric acid adds a tangy, zesty kick.
- Spicy: Chili peppers bring in the heat, though the level of spiciness can vary from one chamoy to another.
- Salty: Salt balances out the other flavors and heightens the overall taste experience.
ingredients
- Lime
- Ancho chili
- Dried apricots. Substitute with hibiscus flowers, dried prunes, ume plums, or tamarind.
- Apple cider vinegar
- Sugar
How to make chamoy?
- Soak the apricots in the boiling water.
- Blend apricots, soaking water, and the rest of the ingredients.
- Taste and adjust the flavor to your liking.
How to eat chamoy sauce?
- Mexican fruit cups: Carrot, cucumber, and jícama sticks.
- Mangoes. Make cuts around the mango and finish it with the chamoy sauce. Any fresh fruit tastes great with it.
- Mangonadas. Chamoy is also the best in mangonadas (a mango slushie) or with lemon, mango, and strawberry paletas or chips.
- Cheladas or margaritas. To prepare the rim of a glass for a margarita or michelada, you can use this chamoy sauce. Simply place an upside-down glass in a sauce bowl, carefully turn it over, sprinkle with Tajin or your favorite chili powder, and serve.
- Raspados (shaved ice), chamoyada, paletas (perfect over hibiscus flower- jamaica ones), drizzled over a sorbet.
- Sushi. In Mexico City, a famous sushi place, Chamoy is added to their steamed rice and used to finish some of their most renowned sushi rolls. You have to believe me that chamoy is a very popular Mexican condiment,
Frequently asked questions
How to make chamoy at home?
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ cup dried apricots
- 1 ½ cup boiling water
- 2 tablespoons cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoon ancho chili powder or more if you like it very spicy
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- To prepare the apricot sauce, first soak the dried apricots in boiling water until the water cools down. Next, add the soaked apricots along with the soaking water and the rest of the ingredients to a blender.
- Blend the mixture until everything is well integrated. If the texture is too thick, gradually add a tablespoon of water at a time until you achieve the desired consistency. Taste the sauce and adjust the flavor as needed. You can add more chili or lemon juice depending on your personal preference.
Notes
- It keeps up to two weeks in a closed jar in the fridge.
- It is better to use limes than lemons.
- Ancho chili, use ground ancho chile powder. You can blend ancho chiles without seeds and stems into powder. If you like spicy Mexican sauces, you can add or sub them with chile de árbol (red chile peppers).
- Dried apricots. When purchasing apricots for the sauce, choose unsweetened ones to preserve the acidic flavor. Alternatively you can use, sour apricots, Turkish apricots, hibiscus flowers, dried prunes, ume plums, or tamarind can be used as substitutes.
- Apple cider vinegar. I buy organic apple cider vinegar because it has the most nutritional value. Substitute with rice vinegar if needed.
- Sugar. Use cane sugar or coconut sugar, whichever you like best.
Nutrition
information
Nutritional information of this recipe is only an estimate, the accuracy for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Why is it better to make Mexican chamoy at home?
Homemade sauce is always the best option as you can control the ingredients that go into it. The store-bought chamoy sauce may not be very healthy due to the presence of various artificial colors, preservatives, xanthan gum, high fructose corn syrup, or sodium benzoate.
However, this recipe for homemade sauce is a healthier alternative as it contains none of these ingredients.
- About the Author
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I’m Ale Graf, a Mexican living in Texas and the creator of AleCooks and Piloncillo&Vainilla. I share easy, family-friendly recipes—some Mexican, mostly plant-based—that can be enjoyed all day, every day. My focus is on recipes that bring people together around the table, making mealtime simple, delicious and meaningful. I’m also the co-author of Yo Cocino Latino, and my recipes have been featured in numerous online magazines and publications.
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