Fresh Salsa Verde
Oven-roasted tomatillos, garlic, and onion are blended with fresh jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, and spices to make a refreshing salsa.
I love Salsa Verde with chips for a snack or to serve it as an appetizer. Salsa Verde is also amazing served along side any meat, or on burgers and hotdogs as a fresh zippy condiment!
Salsa verde is made with tomatillos, which are a staple in Mexican cooking. The tomatillo is also known as tomato verde or green tomato. The fruit of the tomatillo is about the size of a large cherry tomato but can get as large as an apricot, and is white on the inside and meatier than a tomato. They grow inside of a husk which covers the outside of the fruit, this husk can be anywhere from a pale green color to a light brown. The husks are inedible and should be removed before use. Once removed the tomatillo is covered in a sticky substance that needs to be rinsed off before preparing the fruit.
I have to admit I used to be a bit intimidated by this strange fruit, but seriously it so easy to make fresh salsa with. Now I say fresh salsa because I’m not canning this, but in reality I have roasted the vegetables to make this salsa. You can also make this completely fresh not cooked, but I like the extra depth of flavor roasting gives this sauce.
So here’s how I do it!!
Take the wee little husks off the wee little tomatillos. Then rinse the little suckers to remove the sticky stuff. I don’t have any evidence that this sticky stuff will harm you, I just rinse it off, cause that’s what I’ve read to do.
Cut them in half, and place them in a bowl. Sort of looks like a grape inside doesn’t it?
Add one whole jalapeno and one seeded and destemmed jalapeno, along with the garlic, and an onion to at the bowl. If you prefer zero heat well then you better take the seeds and stem off the second jalapeño too. If you love heat leave all the seeds and membranes in and add a third jalapeño pepper. Ole’!
Drizzle all that with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.
Spread it out on a baking sheet and bake it for 30 minutes. Let cool and toss it all in your blender or food processor. Ole’!
Then squeeze yourself some lime juice on in there. Did you notice my food processor is broken….it is. It has been. It will be. It still works, it’s just missing the little do-dad that goes on the top of the middle part. He kinda sorta got chopped up in the garbage disposal. MMhmm.
Then add the cumin, sugar, salt, cilantro and all that good stuff. Take a deep breath through your nose. Ahhhh wuhnderbar, Ole’!
Pulse for about 1 minute, or until salsa is uniformly pureed. Be careful not to over process. You don’t want your salsa getting all foamy.
Ole’!
That’s how it’s done! Pour it in a dish, or store it in an airtight container in your refrigerator until ready to eat.
Grab a bag of chips and dig in!! I can’t stop eating this salsa. I’m obsessed with it! Be sure to print recipe card below and FOLLOW Eat2gather on social media! If you make this recipe share and tag me!
Thanks for stopping by! XOX Sheila
Fresh Salsa Verde
Equipment
- Food Processor or Blender
- 1 baking sheet for roasting vegetables
- sharp knife
- medium bowl
- mason jar or glass jar storage
Ingredients
- 10 medium sized tomatillos approximately 2 pounds
- 2 jalapenos
- 1 whole large sweet onion
- 3 whole cloves garlic peeled
- 2 tblsp olive oil
- 1 cup cilantro cleaned and stems trimmed back so using mostly leaves
- 2 limes juiced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Remove outer skin or husk from tomatillos, wash and cut in half, place in a large bowl.
- Cut one of the jalapeno peppers in half and remove the seeds; place in a bowl; leave the second pepper whole and set aside. Remove the skin from the onion, cut off the ends, and cut into large chunks; add to the bowl. Remove the skin from the garlic cloves; add to the bowl with the other ingredients. Drizzle all the vegetables with olive oil and spread on a baking sheet.
- Bake at 425° for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
- Remove the stem from the unroasted jalapeno pepper and add it, along with the cooled roasted vegetables, to your blender or food processor. Be sure to scrape all the juice from the pan into the food processor.
- Add cilantro, juice from 2 limes, cumin, salt, and sugar to food processor. Process on pulse for about 1 minute or until everything is completely chopped, being careful not to over process.
- Store in a glass quart jar in refrigerator for up to two weeks or eat immediately!
I too only recently discovered the tomatillo and I really like using it for salsas! I never thought of pureeing the salsa into a salsa verde, this is a great idea. I love combining tomatillos with either peaches or mangos in the salsa, since the tomatillo is a little citrusy and sour tasting to me.
Oh my goodness that’s an awesome idea!! Now you’ve got my mouth watering 😉
I could walk into your kitchen and feel perfectly at home. The doodah going down the garbage disposal said it all. I have a food processor that works but the off switch is broken. To make it run I have to turn the switch off at the wall. (Yes, our outlets have on off switches)
Your salsa verde would make me very happy indeed.
What a great use for tomatillos!
I love that you explained in detail how to deal with the tomatillo! I’ve never been brave enough to cook with them. But now I will! Sad thing is, I just bought a jar of salsa verde at the store Today! If only I had seen this first!
I know what you mean. It took me a lot of years to get the courage to figure out what to do with these strange looking paper covered tomatoes! Have no fear! Eat that jar of salsa and then go make yourself some! Thanks for stopping in!