Ever been to a restaurant and thought, how in the world do they make this?! I wish I could figure out how to do this at home! That’s how we felt with this Creamy Habanero sauce.
Before we moved to the Denver area one of our favorite Mexican restaurants had this amazing creamy habanero sauce. My husband was SO in love with it that HE decided to figure out how to make it at home. And – he wanted to make it gluten-free so I could eat it too (massive great hubby points right here!).
You really need to understand that my husband isn’t typically this motivated in the kitchen.
He pretty much sticks to alcoholic drinks and grilling, all those “manly” things. But, when cheese, spice and Mexican food is involved.. the story is totally different. Massive props are going to my bearded mountain man for this one.
But, hold on, habanero?? Isn’t that crazy spicy??
I’m still wondering how in the world I use jalapenos regularly in my household. But then I look at my husband and I have the answer.
I guess to some degree you really do become more like your spouse after being married for a while… I literally laughed out loud as I was putting habaneros into my shopping cart at the store. I don’t think I even knew what they looked like before! Those little orange peppers usually camped out close to the jalapenos looking pretty lonely? Yup, habaneros.
I promise you this though. This Creamy Habanero Sauce is a solid medium. That’s it.
I wouldn’t eat it if it was any spicier. Pinky promise. I’m not down for the whole-mouth burning spice so that you can’t even taste your food. That seems so pointless to me. I like some spice to kick the flavor in my food up a notch, not cover it up completely! And the creaminess compliments the spice perfectly, almost counteracting it a bit, so you are left with that delicious creamy mouth-feel while getting the spice at the same time. It’s bomb. I’m pretty sure my husband would bathe in it if he could.
So, what does this sauce go on, you might ask??
Since everything isn’t a really descriptive answer, I guess I’ll throw out a few suggestions.
This Creamy Habanero Sauce is really great for smothering burritos, topping your favorite nachos with, and dipping millions of things in (tacos, quesadillas, taquitos, chips, etc.).
And, per my favorite, it’s pretty darn easy to make too.
You’ll have to chop up the habaneros, which hey, if that makes you nervous, you can always use some rubber gloves for that part. Other than that, it’s simply combining all of the ingredients into your pan at different times. The hardest part? Whisking. See? Easy peasy. So easy I just summed it up into a couple sentences! If it can get me to pipe down then it must be easy!
Give this sauce a shot, and let me know, is this too spicy? Have I gone to the dark side???
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp gluten-free flour (all purpose)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 habanero peppers
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt
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To prepare, slice your habaneros in half and remove the seeds.
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Add your butter to a pan over medium heat.
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Once melted, add your habaneros and minced garlic to the pan. Cook them for about 2-3 minutes, for the flavor of the habanero to come out. You can smash down on the habaneros while stirring to get even more habanero flavor.
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To your pan, add your flour and keep cooking for another 1-2 minutes.
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Add in your heavy cream and sugar, while whisking.
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Bring your sauce to a boil, constantly stirring, until it is nice and thick.
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Reduce the heat to medium so your sauce is no longer boiling and add in your chicken broth. Whisk until well combined.
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You can continue to whisk your sauce on medium heat until it reaches the consistency that you like. We prefer the thickness of our sauce after only a few minutes.
I actually used to work there back in 2012. I don’t remember the recipe but I do know for a fact they used milk instead of heavy cream. Going to give this a shot tonight!!
Did it work to just use milk instead of cream?
Do you know how to make their sour cream to?
I don’t, sorry!
Mine apparently didn’t turn out just right but it’s still good! Mine tasted more like a gravy so I’m going to just have it with biscuits 😂 I used 3 habaneros and diced them up very fine for a spicier flavor but it still wasn’t too spicy to me. This will be a fun recipe to play with.
AMAZING !!! ALSO in love with this sauce…and was like no way we can make it home !! 1000 percent yes we can !!! Thank you to you and your Hubby for disecting and landing the perfect combo !
Awesome!! So happy to hear this! Thanks, Nick.
I made this and the sugar made it to sweet. I don’t remember the sauce having a sweetness to it
Help! My sauce did not turn out at all like Mexicali! The taste of the cream seemed to overtake the whole dish. Has this ever happened to you? How can I balance it to get that heavenly sauce I love?
Hi there. Sorry to hear it wasn’t quite right! What type of chicken broth did you use? If it was low sodium, or depending on the brand, maybe you didn’t have enough salt. I would also recommend adding more habanero next time for more of a kick!
do you know how to make their sweet pork? moved from foco as well and missing that!
I don’t, and I wish I did!! I have seen recipes online though for sweet pork from Cafe Rio, not sure if you’ve heard of it or not. I think it’s similar. May be worth a shot!
This is one of the most amazing sauces I’ve ever put in my mouth. WOW!! I’m in love! ❤❤ I love the heat so we finely minced the habanero and garlic. Left them in.
Ahhmazing!! Thanks for sharing!!
Stetzer Family from Texas
Thank you so much Rachel, I’m so happy to hear that!
I’m stopping at the grocery store to grab habaneros after work today to try this! We lived in Ft. Collins for a few years before moving to WA and we miss Cafe Mexicali (mostly the creamy hab sauce) soooo, sooo, sooooo much! I have high hope for this recipe!! Thanks to you and the hubs for stepping up for those of us who don’t have creamy hab access anymore!
Awesome, Nicole!! Hopefully it lives up to your memories. My husband was the expert of this sauce and we love it!
Are you supposed to remove the habanero after the 2-3 minutes? I also left FoCo and miss this place soon much!
Hi Jessica – We usually don’t take the habanero out until just before we serve it. But, you could take it out prior to adding the heavy cream and sugar as well! Hope you enjoy!
Thank you for this!! I think I remember there being a black pepper taste to it, almost like a country gravy…so I’m going to add that too. Their chicken has that same comfort food flavor…so good.