20 Recipes To Use up a Can of Chipotles in Adobo Sauce (2024)

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Don't waste any smoky, spicy chipotles or the adobe sauce they're packed in.

Robin Shreeves

Robin Shreeves is a food and beverage writer.

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Published January 14, 2024

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20 Recipes To Use up a Can of Chipotles in Adobo Sauce (3)

Chipotle chile peppers are jalapeño peppers that hang on the plant, ripening until they turn red. Right after harvest, the peppers are slowly smoked over mesquite, removing all moisture and adding a smoky flavor.

These chiles are often sold in cans, swimming in adobo sauce. If you don't use up the entire can at once, refrigerate the leftovers for up to one week, or freeze them. When you want to use those leftovers, turn to these 20 recipes that use chipotle peppers. Several of the recipes also use the sauce in the can so you don't waste any of the smoky, spicy goodness.

What Are Chipotle Peppers?READ MORE:

Chipotle Chicken Chowder
Break out your favorite soup pot and make this smoky chicken chowder that you can make as mild or hot as your taste buds desire. The canned chipotles in adobo sauce are the star of the soup that's also full of corn (fresh or frozen), chicken, onion, tomato, and potatoes.
Recipe Uses: 4 chipotle peppers and 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
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Chipotle Meatballs
Ground pork, bacon, and chipotle powder add tons of flavor to these meatballs. The sauce brings even more bold flavors with chipotle chiles. You control the heat, adding one to three, depending on how you like it.
Recipe Uses: 1 to 3 chipotle peppers and adobo sauce to taste
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Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken and Rice Bowls
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This dupe of fast food takeout made in the Instant Pot is even better than its restaurant counterpart. The chicken is sweet (from honey) and spicy (from the chiles), and the rice with jalapeños is a little spicy, too,
Recipe Uses: 2 chipotle peppers
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Chipotle Turkey Pozole
Pozole (or posole) is a traditional Mexican soup made with hominy. This version uses turkey (great for using up leftovers), chipotle chile, tomatoes, and spices in turkey broth. Offer toppings such as cabbage, avocado, radishes, and cotija cheese.
Recipe Uses: 1/4 to 1/2 cup minced chipotle peppers
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Continue to 5 of 20 below.
Spicy Bloody Maria co*cktail
A Bloody Maria swaps tequila for a Bloody Mary's vodka and this version uses chipotle pepper to spice it up. It's the perfect breakfast for brunch co*cktail for sipping withbreakfast tacos,huevos rancheros, orchilaquiles.
Recipe Uses: 1 chipotle pepper
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Slow Cooker Honey Chipotle Chicken Tacos
Sweet and spicy, cook chicken in the slow cooker with honey, tomato sauce, onion, spices, chipotle peppers, and adobo sauce. It makes for a tasty taco filling to top with your favorite toppings. Leftovers freeze well for a second meal.
Recipe Uses: 1 to 3 chipotle peppers and 1 to 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
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Chipotle Burger
These burgers with a spicy kick mix of chipotle peppers and adobo sauce with ground beef, onions, and seasonings. Grill, top with Jack cheese, avocado, hot sauce, cilantro, and optional poblano peppers.
Recipe Uses: 2 to 4 chipotle peppers and 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
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Chipotle Pumpkin Soup
This pumpkin soup has Southwestern flavors from the addition of chipotle peppers and cumin. Use fresh, cooked pumpkin or canned pumpkin purée. Top the creamy soup with pumpkin seeds, cilantro, and crema fresca.
Recipe Uses: 1 to 2 chipotle peppers
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Continue to 9 of 20 below.
Pork and Poblano Stew
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This hearty fall soup gets heat from both poblano and chipotle chiles. Cube pork shoulder and brown it, then build the stew that also contains sweet potatoes and corn. It's an amazing blend of flavors.
Recipe Uses: 1 chipotle chili
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Enfrijoladas with Black Beans, Avocado, and Cotija
Blend garlic, onion, beans, chipotle, lime juice, cumin, salt, and water to create the sauce needed for enfrijoladas, sauce-soaked corn tortillas folded in half and topped with cotija cheese, salsa, and sour cream.
Recipe Uses: 1 chipotle pepper
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Chipotle Salsa Baked Chicken
The peppers and adobo sauce go into the spicy salsa you create to spread over chicken before baking in a casserole dish. Add cheese at the end. Serve as a main course or over rice or pasta.
Recipe Uses: 2 chipotle peppers and 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
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Roasted Tomato Soup with Chipotle
Roast the tomatoes, bell pepper, garlic, and onions then purée them with chipotle chiles. Add chicken stock and simmer. It's easy and so much better than canned soup. Great on its own or with its best friend, grilled cheese.
Recipe Uses: 1 to 2 chipotle peppers
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Continue to 13 of 20 below.
Copycat Sofritas
Tofu-based and slightly spicy, this recipe is similar to the one at Chipotle Mexican Grill. Use it instead of chicken, beef, or other animal protein in tacos, burritos, bowls, and more.
Recipe Uses: 1 to 3 chipotle peppers and 3 tablespoons adobo sauce
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Smoky Barbecue Sauce
Smoky, spicy, and rich in flavor, this sauce was created to go with red meat, beef (like brisket), venison, or bison. Let it simmer low and slow so the flavors concentrate.
Recipe Uses: 1 to 4 chipotle peppers
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Sweet Potato White Bean Dip
Looking for something a little different to dip your chips and veggies in? This dip has roasted sweet potatoes and white beans, plus a smoky kick from the chipotles.
Recipe Uses: 1 to 2 chipotle peppers
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Burnt Cheese Tacos
Tortillas with cheese—melty on the inside and crisp on the outside—get a kick from a sauce you make with chipotle chiles. Besides being delicious, this dish is super fast to make, too.
Recipe Uses: 2 tablespoons chipotle pepper
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Continue to 17 of 20 below.
Spicy Orange Marinated Chicken
Marinate chicken thighs overnight in an orange juice-based marinade seasoned with chipotle chiles, onion, garlic, and seasonings, quickly whizzed together in a food processor. The flavorful chicken cooks on the stovetop in just 20 minutes.
Recipe Uses: 1/2 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
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Spicy, Citrusy Black Beans
Black beans are a great addition to Taco Tuesday. They have layers of chipotle flavor that are balanced with orange, lime, and cilantro. Control the level of spice by customizing how many peppers you use.
Recipe Uses: 1 to 2 teaspoons puréed chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
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Turkey Tortilla Soup
This soup is easy to make, especially if you have leftover turkey. Canned fire-roasted tomatoes and chicken stock from the base to which you add turkey, onion, garlic, and chiles. Like any good Tex-Mex soup, this one comes with plenty of topping options, too.
Recipe Uses: 4 teaspoons adobo sauce
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Honey Chipotle Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Roast Brussels sprouts in the oven, then add a sauce made with chipotle chile peppers, adobe sauce from the can, and honey at the end of the roasting time. It's a side dish that goes with everyday dinners as well as the holiday turkey.
Recipe Uses: 2 chipotle peppers and 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
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