A simple sauce made from dried guajillo chili pods serves as both the marinade and finishing sauce for this delicious chicken dish. Topped off with a little melted cheese this chicken recipe is sure to satisfy your cravings for Mexican cuisine.
This healthy chicken recipe has roots in Mexican Cuisine. And quite honestly has a flavor profile of a chicken enchilada, but without the tortilla. This chicken dish develops rich earthy flavor from a homemade sauce made from dried guajillo chilies. Yes, it takes a few extra minutes to prepare the sauce, but I promise the flavor is worth the effort.
Guajillo Chilies
The guajillo chili is the backbone for this chicken recipe. It produces a thick fruity sauce that is low in heat but big on flavor. With this sauce, it is easy to bring authentic Mexican flare to a number of dishes. Enchiladas, tamale pie, burritos and eggs are just a few that come to mind.
Dried Guajillo Chili pods are made into a simple sauce with four simple ingredients. Dried chilies, water, salt and fresh garlic are cooked together and pureed into this magical sauce that can be used in a variety of ways.
As this sauce recipe is homemade there are no additives, preservatives or sugar added, making this a healthy low-calorie sauce. And yes it takes a bit more effort than opening a can of canned enchilada sauce. But I’m confident that once you taste the rich deep flavor this sauce offers, you will find that it is well worth the few extra minutes of effort it takes to make it.
Simple Steps to Making Homemade Guajillo Chili Sauce
- Place all ingredients in small sauce pan.
- Cover with 1 1/2 cups of water.
- Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat.
- Place cooled mixture into a blender, food processor or blend with an immersion blender in pot.
- Pass pureed mixture through a sieve to remove any remaining chili skins.
Making homemade sauce from dried chilies is that easy. While it does take a little effort and time, the task is very simple. But the payoff in flavor is well worth the effort. Additionally, this recipe can easily be doubled and frozen for use at another time.
Easy Meal Prepping
This sauce is perfect for meal prepping. When refrigerated, prepared sauce will store nicely in an air tight container for several days. Or better yet, make extra and freeze some. Simply defrost and pour over chicken breasts to marinade. When ready to cook, bake in oven or take it to the grill. In 30-45 minutes, dinner will be ready to serve.
Additionally, this sauce can be used to make enchiladas. Or use it to spice up your breakfast eggs by placing a tablespoon of sauce in the pan before adding the eggs to cook. Alternatively, try adding a few teaspoons of sauce to the pan a minute before the eggs are finished cooking.
For delicious low-fat refried beans, try this bean recipe for Skinny Refried Beans. Instead of using taco sauce to flavor the beans, add a few teaspoons of Guajillo sauce to the finished dish.
Cooking Options:
For Grilling:
When cooking the marinated chicken, I often switch my method based on the weather. If the weather allows, I will often take the chicken to the grill. Once the chicken is grilled it is plated in a baking dish and the finishing sauce is poured over the top and topped with the cheese. For finishing, the chicken is placed in a preheated oven or toaster oven for the final blast of heat in order to melt the cheese and heat the sauce.
For Baking:
When the weather is inclement for grilling, I bake the chicken in a baking dish or in a cast iron grill pan. Either of these options work nicely. Once the chicken breast have cooked to 120 degrees, the sauce is poured over the baked chicken and sprinkled with cheese. Pop the pan back into the oven for the final stage of cooking. Chicken breast is cooked when the temperature taken with a digital thermometer register 135-140 degrees.
Weight Watchers and Waist Watchers
Each serving of chicken is 2 WW Smart Points or 417 calories.
The dish makes four 5-ounce servings of chicken smothered in flavorful sauce. For a quick and easy dinner idea, serve with Skinny Refried Beans and a Green Salad.
Buon Appetito!
Thank you, Mia, we loved this chicken! Tender, delicious and a vibrant color. Thank you!
Robin, I’m so glad your family enjoyed this dish. Thank you for the wonderful feedback and the 5 stars! Buon Appetito!
I needed this easy and delicious recipe tonight! Seriously, thank you so much for this. I just happened to have 5 guajillo chilis left from the guajillo ribs I made for July 4th and I had some chicken in the fridge. I had no idea what I was going to throw together for dinner and this was perfect. 5 stars!
Hey Summer, Thank you for the awesome review and the 5 stars! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this dish. It’s one of my go to dishes when I’m craving Mexican cuisine.
Buon Appetito!
The sauce recipe yielded a total of 1/3 cup. Not nearly enough to marinate or complete this recipe.
I’m sorry that you had a bad experience with this recipe. Once the chilis have been pureed additional cooking liquid should be added back into the sauce. A minimum of 1 cup of cooking liquid should be used. I hope that you find this helpful.