Meet Alex Caspero
Alex Caspero is a Registered Dietitian, Plant-Based Chef and Yoga Instructor. She aims to cut through the nutrition noise by providing real-life, nourishing tips for body and mind. Learn more about Alex.
Creamy Jalapeno Sauce! Similar to Salsa Dona from TacoDeli in Austin, Texas this jalapeno salsa is SO good! Spicy jalapeno sauce that tastes great on everything. A must-make if you like the heat!
Wow, this creamy jalapeno salsa. If you’ve talked to me since our trip back to Austin, I’ve likely talked about this creamy jalapeno sauce. It was the reason I checked in to Whole Foods almost daily to see if they had any of this sauce back in stock. It’s the reason I brought 10 mini-containers home with me from TacoDeli to try and recreate at home. I may or may not have drank three of those containers before we actually made it back to St. Louis.
It’s that good.
I’m pretty sure we were home for only a few hours when I headed to the grocery store to load up on what I thought was in it. After some creative investigative journalism when we were in Austin, I figured out that the sauce was mostly a blend of roasted jalapeños and garlic in an oil emulsion.
This jalapeño sauce is so incredibly creamy, you won’t believe it’s not packed with avocados or sour cream. Many readers have said they’ve tried to figure out what’s in Taco Deli’s salsa doña and are blown away that it doesn’t contain any dairy!
It also tastes great on everything. I know this because I’ve gone through two batches in less than two weeks. Try it on my tofu migas tacos, if you’re looking for a new way to enjoy it.
You’ll need to roast your jalapeños first to make this salsa. I find the easiest way to do this is tossing fresh jalapenos with a little oil and salt, then placing under the broiler until blackened, turning halfway through. The crisper the skin, the easier it is to remove.
From there, you’ll place the jalapeños in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a tight-fighting lid. This is essential in order to steam the skin so it’s easier to fall off.
Don’t be put off by the 16 cloves garlic called for here. Garlic mellows considerably as it’s cooked and not only does the garlic add flavor to the sauce, blending the garlic cloves adds body to this dairy-free sauce.
One the jalapenos and cloves are roasted, throw the seed peppers along with the garlic and cilantro in the base of a blender. Then with the motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil until a creamy sauce develops. I use a Kitchen Aid blender, but if you have a lower powered blender, then it may take more time to get the creamy texture.
Hard to believe that this creamy, spicy jalapeño salsa is made from such simple ingredients. Jalapeños, garlic, cilantro, oil and salt!
Salsa Dona is fairly spicy, which is why I like to make it with enough heat. However, I will warn you not to keep all of the seeds in the jalapeños. I did this on my first batch and oh my, I’m pretty sure I’m still breathing fire. For medium heat, I like a mix of 1/2 and 1/2; half of the peppers completely de-seeded, half left in.
If you’re not sure on your preferred spice level, start with 1/4 of the jalapeños and their seeds and the rest with seeds removed. Set some seeds aside, then make the sauce. If you still need a kick of heat, add in more seeds and blend again.
This jalapeño sauce will keep in the fridge for about a week. It’s easy to down the entire batch in a week if you’ve got a family that loves hot sauce like mine. Whenever I make a fresh batch, I find myself making excuses to make tacos, egg scrambles, enchiladas and the like– any reason to smother food in this sauce!
If you don’t think you can enjoy this jalapeno salsa in a week, then I recommend halving the recipe.
You can also freeze it for longer keeping. For smaller batches to freeze, I recommend portioning the creamy salsa into a ice cube tray (a silicone one is best for easy removal.) Freeze, then pop out a cube or two to thaw and enjoy.
As written, this sauce does not have enough acid for safe canning. However, you can make jars of this sauce and then freeze it. If you do freeze it, make sure to leave enough head space to allow the salsa to expand.
I’ve made this salsa with olive oil, avocado oil and a more neutral oil like sunflower or canola oil. I personally don’t think it matters that much and prefer either avocado or olive oil. However, some readers have commented that using olive oil masks the flavors of the jalapeños, so I’ve changed the original recipe to include canola oil for a more neutral flavor.
After you make this creamy jalapeno salsa, enjoy it on my tofu migas tacos, vegan lentil tacos, vegan black bean tacos, tofu tinga tacos, taco stuffed sweet potatoes, chipotle softitas tacos.
It’s also fantastic on it’s own with tortilla chips! My husband and I have been known to make a meal out of this creamy jalapeño salsa and a basket of tortilla chips some nights for dinner.
If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag your Instagram photos with #delishknowledge . I absolutely love seeing your creations. Happy cooking!
PrintCreamy Jalapeno Sauce! Similar to Salsa Dona from TacoDeli in Austin, Texas this jalapeno salsa is SO good! Spicy jalapeno sauce that tastes great on everything. A must-make if you like the heat!
Tag @delishknowledge on Instagram and hashtag it #delishknowledge
This recipe was first posted in 2018 and updated in 2021.
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Fantastic! We love this recipe.
★★★★★
Hi there! Is there any oil I could replace for the canola?
Hi Chloe– yes, a light olive oil will work. I’d just avoid anything too fruity as it may overpower the jalapeno taste.
If you live in the Chicago area, Cermak Foods makes this. It’s great.
★★★★★
I have been looking for a jalapeño sauce that closely mirrors one from a local Mexican restaurant. This is it! Absolutely delicious and I’m so happy I found this site. I made the recipe exactly as written. Just a few comments/tips: (1) Based on the ingredients, I thought this was going to make a huge batch. However, as stated in the recipe write-up, this yields about 1 1/2 cups. Next time I will double the recipe because it’s just that good! (2) I used a foood processor to blend everything together and the sauce was pretty lumpy. I then transferred to a nutri-bullet which did a much better job. The sauce came out creamy and smooth. (3) I love spicy but my stomach does not. Next time, I will do a better job at removing more seeds. (4) I ate this sauce with tortilla chips (pretty much as my meal). But I can see how it would be good on so many things. Thanks for the recipe – one of my new favorites!
★★★★★
I added chicken bouillon and salt for flavour. So good also added vegetable oil didn’t have the other one
★★★★
WOW!!! I cut the recipe in half and now I wish I hadn’t. This was spectacular! So much flavor. I’ve been tasting it on crackers and need to go put it in the fridge before it’s gone. I’ll definitely be making again!
★★★★★
I I added a cup of lime juice could I can it?
Hi Alex,
I had a creamy jalapeño sauce from a food truck in Denver from a woman from Sinaloa, exceptional, and bright green. Is it possible the jalapeños were uncooked?
Have you compared this recipe to ‘guasacaca sauce’, or ‘avocado green sauce’, which I buy from La Noria grocery in Denver?
Thanks.
Hi Paul– yes, guasacaca sauce typically has avocado in it. Roasting the jalapenos first does mellow the color, but it also heightens the flavor in my opinon. You could try it without roasting first and see how you like this. This sauce is similar to a “salsa cremosa”
There’s a Taco Truck in Katy TX that has a very similar green sauce I became obsessed with while traveling there for work. The bottles said the ingredients were only Jalapenos, Garlic and Oil. The lack of creme seemed curious, but it never went sour in the fridge so it made sense. Still, I had no procedure to recreate it. I found this recipe and did a small test batch last night using a Magic Bullet mixer. Even with careless ratios, the results were phenomenal.
I did water can a few jars I bought in Texas in hopes they would survive the plane ride back to DC, and had good results. Once home, I kept the vacuum sealed jars in the fridge, but the shelf life was remarkable.
★★★★★
I live in Katy Tx. Do you remember the name of this truck? I’m always looking for good taco trucks.
★★★★★
David, The truck is called Taqueria Tex-Taco, on Morton near Katy Fort Bend.
★★★★★
Hi David,
I used to live in Katy and not sure if you’ve ever been to Ray’s on the corner of Mason & Cimarron, but they have an AMAZING jalapeño dip just like this! It’s a special request, but they’ll be happy to bring you a bowl w/ their other signature salsa. Their margaritas are great too!
★★★★★
Yes! It’s Veracruz taco truck in Austin. THE BEST!
So glad you liked it!
Hi there! This is common in Mexico, as far as making it last goes, I freeze it in ice cube trays and sand which bags to use in small or medium amounts whenever ^_^