Aguachile is a traditional, vibrant Mexican dish. A modern interpretation, this vegan beetroot aguachile is made with raw beetroot, blended and strained, with no juicer required.
Aguachile literally translates as "chilli water" and is traditionally made with raw seafood in a chilli & lime broth. This version keeps the essential elements - lime, serrano chilli and a vivid broth but is a plant-based take on the classic. This is a sensory feast: the vivid magenta broth and earthy, sweet beetroot married with the heat and sharpness of lime, rice vinegar, and serrano.
A no-fuss method and versatile serving options - plated as a starter or as a refreshing shot- make this a fun dish to try.
Why You'll Love This Vegan Beetroot Aguachile
- No juicer needed - the red beetroot is blended raw with the other ingredients and the juice is extracted through a sieve.
- Two ways to serve and nothing wasted - the aguachile can be served as a starter or as a shot. The pulp from the juice extraction can be combined with cream cheese and served on toast.
- Vegan and naturally gluten-free - all the flavours of the Mexican classic without the seafood.
- Minimal cooking - apart from roasting the golden beetroot, the ingredients are blended together raw.
- Make-ahead friendly - the elements can be prepared in advance and brought together quickly just before serving.
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Key Ingredients & Notes
- Red beetroot - The juice is extracted from the sweet, earthy raw red beetroot and given heat and a kick with classic aguachile ingredients.
- Lime, Serrano pepper, shallots, garlic, coriander, olive oil and rice vinegar - Blended with the red beetroot to add a refreshing heat, inspired by traditional aguachile flavours.
- Golden Beetroot - Roasted and used as a garnish.
- Red onion and cucumber - Crunchy garnishes.
See the recipe card for quantities.
How to Make vegan Beetroot aguachile
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
- Roast the golden beetroot on a baking tray/sheet pan for 40 minutes, or until you can easily pierce it with a skewer.
- Dice the raw red beetroot and the shallots.
- Slice half the Serrano chilli into thin round slices and roughly chop the other half.
- Peel the garlic.
- Roughly chop the coriander.
- Add the red beetroot, water, shallots, Serrano chilli, garlic, lime zest and juice, coriander, rice vinegar and olive oil to a blender and blend to a rough puree.
- Place a sieve over a bowl and pour the puree into the sieve to separate the juice into the bowl. Gently press the puree with the back of a ladle to squeeze out as much juice as possible.
- Save the pulp for later.
- Thinly slice the red onions for garnish.
- Use a peeler to produce thin ribbons of cucumber for garnish.
- Once the golden beetroot is cooked, peel and cut into slices or wedges for garnish.
- If serving as a starter, arrange the cucumber and cooked golden beetroot in a serving dish.
- Pour over the broth.
- Garnish further with the red onion, sliced chilli and coriander.
- To serve as a shot, skewer beetroot wedges, cucumber ribbons and chillies.
- Drop the skewers into a glass containing the beetroot aguachile.
- Add cream cheese to the leftover aguachile juice pulp and mix together to create a spread for toast.
Substitutions & Variations
Chilli
A milder chilli alternative is jalapeño.
An equivalent heat chilli alternative is green finger chilli.
A hotter chilli alternative is Bird's Eye chilli.
Of course, use the amounts you need to suit your taste.
Acid
For a sharper vinegar, replace rice vinegar with white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
For a sweeter edge to the broth, you can add orange juice.
Aromatics & herbs
For a milder onion, use spring onion instead of shallots, or use red onion instead of shallots for a stronger allium flavour.
Mint or parsley can replace coriander if you are coriander-averse.
Garnish
Consider replacing the cucumber with radish or fennel for two different flavour alternatives.
You can replace the golden beetroot with avocado or even mango wedges.
Equipment
To make this aguachile, you will need:
- A baking tray/sheet pan to roast the golden beetroot.
- A food processor or jug blender to blend the broth ingredients together.
- A sieve to strain the broth.
- Vegetable peeler - to create the cucumber ribbons
- Skewers if making as a shot and you want a garnish for that.
Storage
The roasted beetroot and the broth can be stored in the fridge for up to three days. The garnishes may dry out after a day, so best to cut them fresh.
The aguachile broth can be frozen and kept in an airtight container for up to three months.
If you are making the spread from the leftover pulp, the, too, can be tired in the fridge for up to three says.
Recipe Tips
- Blend the aguachile ingredients into a rough puree, not a smooth one, to help extract the juice. Press the puree gently, as we don't want the broth to be too thick.
- Before serving, taste-test the broth and adjust the salt and lime as needed.
- Chill in the fridge before serving for best results.
- Add the broth to the garnish just before serving to avoid staining the garnish elements with beetroot broth.
FAQ
This recipe is a vegan take on the classic aguachile, using the classic flavours found in the traditional Mexican dish. It's an interpretation of aguachile.
No juicer is required for this recipe. We deliberately use a blender so we can blend all the ingredients together before extracting the juice and capturing all the different flavour elements.
Yes, you can make all the elements in advance and store them in the fridge. The key is to keep them separate until you are ready to serve, so the beetroot broth doesn't stain the garnish.
Yes, this recipe is both vegan and gluten-free. It's a vegan take on a seafood dish. Do check the labels of the rice vinegar brand you choose to make sure it has gluten-free ingredients.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Beetroot Aguachile
Equipment
- Sieve to strain the juice
- Baking tray/sheet pan to roast the golden beetroot
- skewers if making shots
- Vegetable peeler to ribbon the cucumber
Ingredients
- 250 g Golden beetroot
- 300 g Red beetroot
- 1 Lime zest and juice
- 50 g Shallots
- 40 g Fresh coriander
- 10 g Garlic
- 60 ml Rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Sea salt
- 80 ml Olive oil
- 150 ml Water
- 150 g Cucumber
- 40 g Red onion
- 35 g Serrano chilli one chilli
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash the beetroot, cucumber, chilli, and coriander, then pat dry.
- Preheat oven to 200ºC
- Place the golden beetroot on a tray, cover with foil, and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, or until a skewer passes through it easily.
- Peel and cut the red beetroots and shallots into rough dice.
- Roughly chop the coriander. Save a few leaves for garnish
- Peel the garlic.
- Slice half the chilli into thin rounds for garnish, and roughly dice the rest.
- In a blender, add the red beetroot, water, shallots, garlic, chilli, coriander, salt, rice vinegar, olive oil, lime zest, and juice, then blend to a rough puree. We don't want a smooth puree, as we want to extract the juice.
- Pour the puree through a sieve into a bowl to catch the juice. Press gently to extract all the juice and save the pulp for later.
- Once the golden beetroot is cooked, let it cool for 5 minutes, then gently peel off the skin. Cut the golden beetroot into slices or wedges for garnish
- Thinly slice red onions for garnish.
- Using a peeler, peel thin ribbons of cucumber for garnish.
- Serve this as aguachile shots, or in a shallow bowl as a starter. As a shot: Skewer beetroot wedges, cucumber ribbons, and chillies; place them on the side of the glass and pour in the broth. See the video
- As a starter: Arrange the beetroot and cucumber on the plate as desired. Pour the broth over, then garnish with the chillies, red onion and coriander leaves. See the video.
Using the aguachile pulp as a spread
- Mix the pulp with cream cheese, then spread it on toast. Nothing goes to waste.
More Beetroot Inspired Recipes
If beetroot rocks your boat, then try these recipes out:
Food Safety
- Wash your hands regularly while preparing, handling and cooking food.
- Wipe down countertops and high-contact points regularly.
- If you cook meat and fish, do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw meat. Use separate chopping boards for meat and fish. Wash your chopping boards immediately after use.
- Cook food thoroughly to a minimum internal temperature of 165 °F (74 °C).
- Don't leave food at room temperature for extended periods (more than 2 hours).
- Store food correctly.
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