Roasted Salsa Verde

The best salsa verde is made with roasted tomatillos, peppers, onion and garlic! Smoky, a little spicy, slightly sweet, and perfect with salty chips!

Recipes like my Baked Mexican Rice and 5 Minute Restaurant Salsa are great for when you want restaurant quality food, made easily at home. We love hearty Mexican-inspired meals, and this is one of my Mexican recipes you’ll definitely want in your dinner rotation!

TOMATILLO SALSA VERDE RECIPE

Have you ever googled “salsa”?  There are SO many different types!  Fruit salsas, corn salsas, traditional, roasted, and one of my all time favorites, salsa verde.

Technically it just means green salsa, but it’s usually made with tomatillos.  I do have a tomatillo salsa recipe here on the website, but it’s a fresh one, where you don’t roast anything.

Roasting gives the whole salsa a smoky flavor that is just heavenly!

Not only is this tomatillo salsa perfect with some salty chips, it’s great used to make this Mexican Shredded Chicken, and can be used in burritos, tacos, enchiladas, on top of quesadillas… well just about every Mexican meal you can think of!

HOW TO MAKE SALSA VERDE

1. Adjust oven rack and preheat broiler.  You want the rack to be about 6 inches from the top of your oven.
2. Add sliced vegetables to sheet pan.  Make sure they’re spread out a bit – if they’re too close they won’t get a chance to char, they’ll sort of steam.
3. Broil until charred.  I generally broil them about 10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
4. Add vegetables to food processor.  Don’t forget to peel those garlic cloves!
5. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until roughly chopped.  
6. Add water and process.  I always start with only 2 Tbsp and go up from there, as you can always add water, but you can’t take it away.

ADDITIONAL COOKING TIPS

• You can use either a food processor or blender for this recipe.  Use whichever you have on hand.
• As far as the consistency, feel free to chop the ingredients up as finely or roughly as you’d like.  Sometimes I like my salsa very fine, but sometimes I want more texture.
• The amounts of the ingredients are sort of a guideline.  Customize it the way you want!  I love cilantro and onion, so I might use more than you like, so feel free to play around and get it perfect… for you!

TOMATILLOS

If you haven’t seen a tomatillo before, here’s what they look like:

They look like little green tomatoes with papery husks on the them.  I find mine next to the regular tomatoes in my grocery store, even though they’re more closely related to gooseberries!  There are two things to remember about tomatillos.

• First, after you remove the husk, you need to wash them thoroughly.  There’s a sticky residue on the outside of the flesh… and it’s stubborn!  
• Secondly, when picking your tomatillos, you don’t want any that feel squishy or have yellowed.

VARIATIONS OF THIS RECIPE

• SPICIER – to increase the heat level of this salsa, add extra jalapenos, or serrano peppers.
• MILDER – to decrease the heat level, omit the jalapeno.  The poblano is very mild… my kids can eat this salsa with only the poblano in it.
• AVOCADO – make this salsa verde creamier by blending in 1/2 a pitted avocado.  This version is best served fresh, since the avocado in it could discolor over time.
• TOMATO – when you’re roasting the tomatillos, go ahead and add a quartered tomato or two.  This will “muddy” the color a bit, but give great flavor.

MAKING SALSA VERDE AHEAD OF TIME

While this salsa tastes incredible right away, I think it gets even better when made ahead of time!  All the flavors have time to really meld together.  So I like to make this salsa a day or so ahead of time.

Plus I like cold salsa, so it gives the salsa plenty of time to chill.

STORAGE

This salsa will last about a week or so in the refrigerator.

FREEZING

Salsa verde can also be frozen, for up to 2 months.  Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE

• Food Processor – I love this model for it’s large capacity.
• Sheet Pan – in case you’re in the market for new sheet pans, these are my absolute favorite.

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Roasted Salsa Verde

The best salsa verde is made with roasted tomatillos, peppers, onion and garlic!

5 from 7 votes

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Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 20 mins

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 18

Recipe Author The Chunky Chef

Ingredients

• 7 medium tomatillos husks removed, washed and quartered
• 1 poblano pepper seeds removed and halved lengthwise
• 1 jalapeno cut in half lengthwise
• 1 small white onion peeled and cut into wedges
• 2 cloves garlic skins left ON
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp lime juice fresh is best
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro a small handful
• 2 - 4 Tbsp water to reach desired consistency

Instructions

• Adjust oven rack to 6 inches from the top and preheat broiler on HIGH.
• Add tomatillos, poblano, jalapeno, onion and garlic to a large sheet pan, spreading them out a bit.
• Broil for 10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through broiling.
• Add tomatillos, poblano, jalapeno and onion to food processor. Peel garlic and add it food processor as well.
• Add salt, lime juice, and cilantro and process until everything is coarsely chopped. Add water, starting with 2 Tbsp and process until desired consistency is reached. Add more water, to your liking.
• Transfer to storage containers and let cool.

Notes

This recipe makes a smaller batch - about 2 cups of salsa.  It can easily be doubled or tripled!

If you'd rather bake than broil, preheat oven to 450°F and roast the tomatillos, poblano, jalapeno, onion, and garlic for about 15 minutes or so.

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