Homemade Salsa Verde recipe party over here! An easy, simple, and flavorful roasted Mexican Salsa includes tomatillos, onion, jalapeño, garlic, and salt. Keep it in the fridge to complement your easy weeknight meals, bbq meats, or make a batch for dipping with your favorite chip at your next hangout!
Perfect with some freshly made tortilla chips, mariscos, refried beans, or nopales preparados.
Ingredients
Grocery Quick List: tomatillos, jalapenos or serranos, chile de arbol, white onion, garlic, cilantro/red onion (optional), sea salt.
- 1 pound fresh green tomatillos
- 1-2 fresh jalapeños (or, serrano for spicy)
- 1/4 white onion
- 2-3 dried chile de arbol
- 2 garlic cloves (or 3 for more garlic flavor)
- 1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
- Optional: 1/4 cup cilantro,1/4 cup red onion (small chopped)
Ingredient Notes
Tomatillos – Native to Mexico, it’s a green tomato known as tomatillo that is small, round, tangy in taste, and as it ripens it crosses over into a yellowish color. Find them at your local grocer or farmers market. Tomatillos are popular sauce in many traditional and authentic dishes. Always remove its papery husk and wash it well before cooking with.
Check out my Tomatillo Sauce recipe for another delicious salsa style.
Jalapeños – Fresh jalapeños usually add mild spice. If you want less than mild spice, take the seeds out before you roast them, if you don’t mind some spice, leave the seeds in. You can also use serrano pepper if you like spicier salsa.
Red onion – Red onion offers a milder flavor than white onion but if you favor white onion please use it. Red is a favorite of mine to use in green salsa because of its mild flavor for dipping, and vivid color! As you know, we love to eat with our eyes, first!
Garlic – Adding fresh garlic cloves to salsa blends packs a flavorful punch. For the garlic lovers, add a few extra cloves as you already know what to expect. The completed salsa heats up so nicely and any leftover sauce will make a great base for your next guisado (stew)!
Cilantro (coriander) – When it comes to cilantro, the fresher the better. Cilantro is a great fresh herb often added to salsa and gives earthy flavor. If you’re not a fan of cilantro, it’s ok to pass on it, you’ll still make a delicious salsa without it.
Sal de mar (sea salt) or kosher salt – Use the salt you have but my preference for making great salsas is always sea salt or kosher salt.
Step-By-Step Instructions
- Set stove to medium heat and warm pan. Place tomatillos stem-end down and chile de arbol, jalapeños and 2 garlic cloves to the pan. Remove garlic when slightly char. Let tomatillos and jalapeños blister and brown for 8-10 minutes on each side until fully cooked through. Charred up but not burned is the look, see picture below.
- Place roasted tomatillos and jalapeños, chiles along with any remaining juices, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of sea salt into blender for 10-15 seconds. I like this salsa with a molcajete-like texture but if you prefer a runnier salsa add ¼ cup (2 ounces) of water and blend!
- Once finished, taste the blend, if your aftertaste is missing your desired spice level add a jalapeno (or serrano pepper for extra heat), raw is ok, just make sure you wash it well before adding into the salsa verde in blender. Let salsa cool for 15 minutes.
Optional adjustments:
- Small chop 1/4 cup red or white onion and 1/3 cup cilantro
- Once salsa is cooled. Add optional chopped red onion and cilantro. If you need more salt, add salt 1/2 teaspoon at a time to prevent overly salting.
Foods To Eat With Salsa Verde
Apps and snacks: Salsa verde is delicious paired with totopos (tortilla chips), tostada shells, chicharrones (pork rinds), or fresh homemade and local tortilla factory tortillas. Add sliced avocado or crumbled queso fresco as side fixing to your salsa and your easy appetizer is about to be a fiesta.
Main Dish: Its tangy spice is complementary to many dishes like mariscos (seafood cocktails), bbq meats, dressing in a chicken wrap or chicken bowls, veggie meals, and fluffy egg dishes.
Ways To Flip [Salsa Verde]
- Tomatillo Sauce Enchiladas
- Pork Chile Verde
- Chicharron in Salsa Verde
- Eggs in Salsa Verde
Pro tips / Receta Notes
Recipe yield – 2 cups homemade salsa verde
Cooling – Adding chopped cilantro to a warm tomatillo blend too soon will cause the cilantro to wilt and if too hot it may slightly change color. This is why allowing tomatillos to completely cool before adding cilantro is recommended in this recipe.
Can I roast the tomatillos ahead of time? YES! It’s helpful on time to have the tomatillo blend refrigerated beforehand. Then all you have to do is the final step which is add in the chopped onion, cilantro and stir well.
Spice level adjustments – Once you spice something up, it’s difficult to undo that without diluting the flavor. If you prefer a mild spice level start with 1 jalapeño and increase it as you go. As for spice eaters — if it gets too spicy you can cut some of that heat with lemon or lime juice.
Note for cooking with fresh chili pepper – when cutting jalapeño/serrano make sure to wash your hands very well and keep them away from your eyes.
Garlic – Add a few extra cloves if you’re a fan of garlic heavy salsa. This mighty aromatic heats up nicely and will make a great base for your next guisado (stew)!
Added too much salt, and wondering if you can save the salsa? Yes. Grab half a lime and squeeze it over the salsa and stir it in, the acidity will help reduce the salt- repeat if necessary. A vinegar such as white or apple cider vinegar can also be used in place of using lime/lemon. Keep note of this for future salsas, you got this!
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Salsa Verde Recipe
DESCRIPTION
Equipment
- Saute Pan or Comal
- Tongs
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh green tomatillos
- 1-2 fresh jalapeños serrano for spicy
- 1/2 cup white onion small chopped
- 3 dried chile de arbol
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
Optional:
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro small chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion small chopped
Instructions
- Set stove to medium heat. Place tomatillos stem-end down, jalapenos, garlic cloves on skillet or saute pan. Remove garlic when slightly char. Let tomatillos and jalapeños blister and brown for 6-8 minutes on each side until fully cooked through. Charred up is ok, (see photo in the full post for reference)!
- Place cooked tomatillos and jalapeños along with any remaining juices, garlic cloves, and sea salt into a blender for 10-15 seconds. I like this salsa with a molcajete-like texture but if you prefer a runnier salsa add ¼ cup (2 ounces) of water and blend! Once finished, taste the blend, if your aftertaste is missing your desired spice level add a jalapeno (or serrano pepper for extra heat), raw is ok, just make sure you wash it well before adding into the salsa verde in blender.
- If you need more salt, add salt 1/2 teaspoon at a time to prevent overly salting. Eat immediately or let cool then refrigerate contents if eating later.
Optional side fixings:
- 1/4 cup red onion and 1/4 cup cilantro, small chopped
- After cooling, add red chopped onion and cilantro to salsa and mix in.
Notes
- Recipe yield – 2 cups green tomatillo salsa
- Cooling Time – Adding chopped cilantro to a warm tomatillo blend too soon will cause the cilantro to wilt and if too hot it may slightly change color. This is why allowing tomatillos to completely cool before adding cilantro is recommended in this recipe.
- Can I roast the tomatillos ahead of time? YES! It’s helpful on time to have the tomatillo blend refrigerated beforehand. Then all you have to do is the final step which is add in the chopped onion, cilantro and stir well.
- Spice level adjustments – Once you spice something up, it’s difficult to undo that without diluting the flavor. If you prefer a mild spice level start with 1 jalapeño and increase it as you go. As for spice eaters – if it gets too spicy you can cut some of that heat with lemon or lime juice.
- Note for cooking with fresh chili pepper – when cutting jalapeño/serrano make sure to wash your hands very well and keep them away from your eyes.
- Added too much salt, and wondering if you can save the salsa? YES! Grab half a lime and squeeze it over the salsa and stir it in, the acidity will help reduce the salt- repeat if necessary. A vinegar such as white or apple cider vinegar can also be used in place of using lime/lemon. Keep note of this for future salsas, you got this!
- When building-up green salsa I enjoy adding texture so I small chop the onion and cilantro and stir it into the roasted tomatillo blend as the final step, but it is entirely optional!
For the full post with all my tips and details, visit LatinasQueComen.com recipe blog. Thank you for your visit and support!
Nutrition
Equipment
- Saute Pan or Comal
- Tongs
- Blender
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