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Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

south-of-the-border essentials: achiote paste

Andy59 avatar
Recipe by
Andy Anderson !
@Andy59
Wichita, KS

Achiote paste is ideal for seasoning a lot of diverse Mexican dishes. Its primary ingredient is ground annatto seeds; combined with spices, such as: fresh garlic, citrus, and other goodies. It is an excellent rub or marinade, and also used to boost of the flavors of soups, stews, and chilis. It is easy/peasy to make, and you control the ingredients. So, you ready… Let’s get into the kitchen.

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yield serving(s)
prep time 10 Min
method No-Cook or Other

Ingredients For south-of-the-border essentials: achiote paste

  • PLAN/PURCHASE
  • DRY INGREDIENTS
  • 1 oz
    annatto seeds
  • 1 Tbsp
    oregano, mexican, if you have it
  • 2 tsp
    ancho chili powder
  • 2 tsp
    coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp
    cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp
    black peppercorns
  • 1 - 2 pinch
    kosher salt, fine grind, or to taste
  • WET INGREDIENTS
  • 6 clove
    baked garlic
  • 2 md
    green olives, pitted
  • 3 Tbsp
    orange juice, freshly squeezed
  • 3 Tbsp
    lime juice, freshly squeezed
  • 2 Tbsp
    white vinegar

How To Make south-of-the-border essentials: achiote paste

  • 1
    PREP/PREPARE
  • 2
    You will need a spice blender, or mortar and pestle to grind the spices. In addition, you will need a food processor, fitted with an S-blade, or small mini-prep blender.
  • 3
    What Is Annatto? It is the seed of the achiote tree, which is found in Central & South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. They are used in cooking to both impart deep orange, yellow, and red color, and to give an earthy, peppery, flavor to dishes, with slight notes of citrus and nutmeg. It is used extensively in Mexican cuisine, but can be difficult to find in most grocers. It can be used in marinades, oils, and as a flavor/coloring agent in soups, stews, and taco meat (to name a few).
  • 4
    Gather your ingredients (mise en place).
  • 5
    Place all the dry ingredients into a spice grinder.
  • 6
    Grind all of the ingredients to a powder (grind-baby-grind)
  • 7
    Add all of the dry and wet ingredients to a blender, and blend-baby-blend.
  • So yummy
    8
    Place in a proper container in the fridge or freezer until needed.
  • 9
    PLATE/PRESENT
  • So Yummy
    10
    Use to enhance the flavors of South-of-the-Border dishes, like soups, stews and chilis. Enjoy.
  • Stud Muffin
    11
    Keep the faith, and keep cooking.
  • Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
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