Aztec Sauce – healthy Southwest Sauce copycat

This aztec sauce is an easy healthy southwest sauce copycat recipe, adding a spicy and citrus tang to your sandwiches, dips and even marinade.

This post was originally published back in 2015, but has been drastically updated with a better recipe and some nicer photos and questions answered!

If you were a child of the 90s in North America than you likely enjoyed a subway sandwich more than a few times. I loved the BMT or Spicy Italian. Plus, and let’s be honest, you wanted some of those old school stamps they used to give out for the sub cards to earn yourself a free one. 

Also, like a lot of you when you were younger and didn’t need to worry about waistlines, I would always ask them for the southwest sauce. It was creamy and spicy, and I loved that in my sandwiches. Nowadays though, the waistline is an issue. So when I looked up the nutritional information about subways southwest sauce, I was shocked by the amount of fat in just the sauce alone.

So, some tinkering in the kitchen and I came up with a southwest sauce clone, that tasted pretty spot on to the original. I went a bit further though, with some bit of lime juice and some cilantro to give it more of a southwest flavour. Honestly, I used this batch of sauce for dipping my fries into, and it was delicious.

Well, then I noticed something else. I decided to compare my ingredients to those Subway mentions and saw something that horrifying for those getting horizontally challenged, its calories. Yikes! So, looking in the fridge I realised that I had some greek yoghurt. Now, I’ve used greek yoghurt as a base for sauces and salad dressings before, and they have worked out well. I figured, what the hell and swapped the mayo for the greek yoghurt.

The results, well let’s just say wow! It has all the spice of the original southwest sauce, but with a bit of added tang from the Greek yoghurt. No longer a southwest sauce clone, but rather Aztec Sauce. I ran the recipe through the nutritional calculator and it was a great result. Less than 1g of fat for the whole recipe, and a big jump in protein. This healthy southwest sauce copycat recipe is not guilt-free, but it is close!

 

What can you use this spicy sandwich sauce for?

On a sandwich is the easiest call. Load up a meat sandwich with veggies and a squirt of this sauce over the top for a great flavour. One of the best combos is on my healthy crispy chicken sandwich.

I’ve also loved using this sauce as a dip. The zing of the lime goes so well with some salty snacks!

A southwest sauce clone, but better

How do you make a southwest sauce copycat (Aztec Sauce)?

Luckily this sauce is so easy to make, with only a few quick steps.

1. Place the Greek Yoghurt in a bowl, and stir in the chipotle pepper paste. 
2. Finely chop the cilantro/coriander and immediately add to the bowl. Then grate your garlic into the sauce, I use this (https://amzn.to/32ytU3E) garlic grater and it has been a great purchase. Using this means you get a fine garlic paste. 
3. Season with salt and pepper, and chill in the fridge for about 30min to let the flavours come together. 

What can you use instead of Greek Yoghurt?

I’ve made this sauce originally with mayo and tried it again with light mayo. In both ways, it works well but is a bit less tangy so you might want to add a bit more lime juice. Sourcream is also a great option and gives you the tang we are looking for.

How long will Aztec Sauce last? 

In a refrigerator, it should last you about 2-3 days in a covered container.

How can you make this healthy southwest sauce clone vegan? 

Well, just use vegan mayo! Easy peasy!

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Can I use this sandwich sauce as a marinade?

Yes, but it depends on your base. I love marinating the chicken in Greek yoghurt, it doesn’t take long but helps tenderize the chicken. You can wipe most of this sauce off and then bake or grill the chicken. 

I like this southwest sauce copycat, what else is nice?

1.  Healthy chicken sandwich
2.  Buttermilk Fried Chicken – Girl Heart Food 
3.  Rye Soft Pretzels The Beach House Kitchen