Chipotle Mayo: For Southwestern Style Burgers & Fries

Editor's note: Burgers are more than just beef and bread. ...Okay, sometimes they are just beef and bread, but more often than not there's something else tucked away in there to add another dimension of flavor. Please welcome our new AHT correspondent Will Goldfarb, who'll be checking in about tasty condiments you can put on your burgers and how to make them.

[Photographs: Will Goldfarb]

For my first condiments post on A Hamburger Today I headed to Custom Burger in downtown San Francisco in search of creative burger condiments. Among the 12 sauces available, I found one that was worth the trip: the chipotle mayonnaise.

Made with chipotles in adobo (smoked and dehydrated jalapeños), mayonnaise, fresh cilantro, and lime juice, it's creamy and tangy, with a kick of smokiness and heat from the peppers . While many stores carry them in dry form, the canned variety comes already re-hydrated and cooked down in a tomato and onion-based adobo sauce, saving you the trouble of re-hydrating them yourself. A much easier option. The adobo sauce also adds great flavor.

Chipotles immediately make me think of Bobby Flay, who seems to enjoy putting the things in everything. The "Fry Sauce" at his burger chain Bobby's Burger Palace (also available in take-home jars) is essentially chipotle mayo with roasted red peppers.

Chipotle mayo and onion rings at Custom Burger.

Bobby and I agree on one thing: Chipotle mayo is fantastic on french fries and onion rings. Where regular ketchup can become too cloying on sweet potato fries, their sweetness is complemented by the spice and smoke in chipotle mayo. I also like adding it to my egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast or my turkey sandwich at lunch.

As for burgers, it can be good too, but use it sparingly or you risk overwhelming the beef with the chipotle. At Custom Burger, it almost saved my patty, which, unfortunately, was nearly burnt to a crisp despite my request for medium.

The best part of Chipotle Mayo is that it's crazy easy to make at home—check out my recipe to learn how. Give it a shot and let me know whether you like it on burgers, fries, both, or neither.

About the author: Will Goldfarb is a food writer and entrepreneur in San Francisco. He is the VP of Media & Marketing for FoodPair, a start-up recipe search engine. You can read his thoughts on the best beer bars in San Francisco in his column for the Examiner.com.