This Achiote Oil is a basic recipe to cook Colombian and other Latin American dishes.
What is Achiote?
Achiote is also known as annatto seed and is used to give a beautiful yellowish color to food. Some people use it instead of saffron as a natural food coloring.
This spice is an important ingredient in Colombian cuisine. We use it to color our tamales, empanadas, rice dishes, soups, stews and more. Seeds or ground Achiote can be found in Latin supermarkets and in some American grocery stores.
About this Achiote Oil Recipe
You only need 2 ingredients to make this infused oil, and it's very easy and quick to make.
Oil: you can use vegetable, canola or olive oil to make this recipe.
Achiote: You can find it at any latin market or online.
My grandmother always kept a jar of this achiote oil in the kitchen to start a lot of traditional dishes.
You can keep it in a glass container with a lid in the pantry like any of your oils or in the fridge.
How to Make Achiote Oil
Heat 1 cup of vegetable or olive oil and ½ cup Achiote seeds in a small skillet over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes.
Don't let the seeds turn black. Remove the skillet from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes more.
Strain the oil and store for up to 5 days at room temperature in a jar with a tight lid.
Achiote Oil (Aceite Achiotado) Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable oil canola or olive oil
- 4 tablespoons achiote seeds
Instructions
- Heat the vegetable or olive oil and Achiote seeds in a small skillet over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Don't let the seeds turn black. Remove the skillet from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes more. Strain the oil and store for up to 15 days at room temperature in a jar with a tight lid.
Adi
Hello
I cannot find Achiote where i live and i see its a main spice in a lot of recipes.
Can i use a different spice that have the similar effect?
Thank you
Erica Dinho
Achiote adds color and a different and wonderful taste to a dish. You can make this seasoning at home: https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/homemade-powdered-seasoning/
Anonymous
Hello
I cannot find Achiote where i live and i see its a main spice in a lot of recipes.
Can i use a different spice that have the similar effect?
Thank you
Erica Dinho
https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/homemade-powdered-seasoning/
lauren
tying to make a couple of recipes for the holdays
Neftali
I can't find achiote seeds where I live, but I can find achiote powder. Is the recipe the same with powder ?
Erica Dinho
I didn't make the oil with powder,but you can try it!I use powder for other recipes.
Amanda
you can find it at some safeways
sare
Hi, We can't find this spice. I use turmeric powder and saffron to have colour for food. I'm interested in its taste. Thank you.
Berryblue
Just make sure your strain the achote well and if you get severe headaches then it is cause by the achote and you should avoid cooking with it moving forward. Achote has properties in it that causes migraine headaches.
mlee
For person that are cooking spanish food and are interested on using achiote there is good news, Now it comes in powder form, I love it and you save a lot of time . PR stores Mex also.