Subway’s Chipotle Southwest Sauce is no doubt a fan favourite, and during the last few weeks, I’ve managed to perfect this recipe from scratch at home.
With only a few ingredients and super easy steps, there’s no need to ever have to search the supermarkets for a brand dupe. Making it at home is easy, inexpensive and way better for you.
This is part of a series recreating all the best parts of Subway at home. The mega-post can be found here.
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Contents
Ingredient Alternatives
This recipe has 11 ingredients and of those, I always have 10 in my home. The only ingredient I didn’t have on hand was chipotle in adobos. It actually was pretty hard to find so I ended up making my own chipotle chile paste. I ended up giving in and buying chipotles in adobo on Amazon but at least I know you can get an ok, but not perfect, recreation with a DIY chipotle paste.
A suggestion from Pepper Scale is to make a DIY substitute as this recipe needs you to blend your chipotles anyway. This flavour is slightly less bold, so I really would try to find chipotles in adobo, but this is an option if you live in a small town or if your grocery stores are still being affected by lack of stock. The real chipotle in adobo is superior, but I’ve tried both and they both work.
The recipe has you simply mix together:
“1 tablespoon tomato paste (or if you must – ketchup), 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon chipotle powder (or smoked paprika/cayenne powder mix), 1/2 teaspoon cumin, a pinch of oregano, a pinch of garlic powder, and a pinch of salt.”
From that mix, you would just use the same amount required in the recipe. Again, I haven’t tried this but understand we are living through a pandemic and ingredient substitutions do need to happen sometimes.
Make sure that you use chipotle powder even if you use part paprika/cayenne/chili powder. The chipotle powder is really what makes the sauce taste just like Subway.
Other Ingredients
The other ingredients listed are pretty much household staples. With the exception of cilantro I have all of these pretty much all the time. I only have cilantro sometimes just because of the quickness it wilts. Having it in the fridge with tips in water and covered in a plastic bag helps, though.
The entire ingredients are:
- Mayonnaise (here is a recipe for Subway’s homemade)
- Corn Syrup
- Lime Juice (freshly squeezed)
- Vinegar (White or Distilled)
- Blended Chipotle in Adobo
- Mustard
- Sour Cream
- Paprika
- Garlic Powder
- Italian Herbs
- Cilantro (fresh, not dried)
The Method
This recipe can’t get a whole lot easier, honestly. You simply combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer (or whisk if you’re up for a challenge) until slightly larger in volume.
One thing I wouldn’t substitute is the cilantro for dried cilantro/coriander. If you hate cilantro, you can leave it out entirely but it’s not worth it to put in cilantro as a dried herb in my opinion.
Subway’s Chipotle Southwest Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 tbsp corn syrup or granulated sugar
- 3 tsp lime juice freshly squeezed
- 1/2 tsp vinegar white
- 2 tbsp blended chipotle in adobo measure 1 tbsp after blending
- 1 tsp mustard
- 2 tbsp sour cream or greek yogurt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried italian herbs
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
- If you've purchased whole chipotles in adobo, blend them with a food processor or an immersion blender. Measure based on the blended quantity.
- Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir together with a hand mixer (or whisk by hand) until it's thick and the volume is slightly larger than the beginning – not quite doubled but a noticeable change.
- For best taste and texture, allow to sit overnight or around 8 hours. This will allow the flavors of the sauce to fully develop.
- Store in the fridge in a squirt bottle for up to 2 weeks if all ingredients are fresh.
