It’s so easy to buy tomatillo salsa verde in a jar, but it’s SO much better when you make it fresh yourself. This is my go-to green salsa verde recipe. It’s fresh, it’s tangy, and a little bit spicy. I keep it on hand to jazz up any meal from breakfast, lunch, dinner and more.
How to make Tomatillo Salsa Verde
- First, get some tomatillos! I usually find them near the jalapeño peppers at the grocery store. They’re like little green tomatoes wrapped in paper husks. In the summer, I get them at the farmers market.
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos and rinse under cool water to remove the stickiness.
- Roast the tomatillos, onion, garlic, and jalapeño for 15 minutes or until the tomatillos are soft.
- Pulse in a food processor with 1 to 2 tablespoons water.
- Season to taste & serve!
Alternatively, you can char the tomatillos everything on the grill. I like to use this grill pan on the grill for veggies.
You’ve made your salsa verde, now what?
- Get out the chips and start scooping! Serve it with guacamole and margaritas.
- Use it as a sauce for anything you’re grilling or roasting
- Make tacos! Salsa verde will jazz up any grilled or roasted veggie taco filling.
- Make a burrito bowl by serving it over beans, rice (or cauliflower rice), and avocado
- Save some for breakfast and scoop it onto eggs or into a quick breakfast taco.
Recipes to pair with tomatillo salsa verde:
Tostadas with Smoky Sweet Corn Hummus
Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowl
Healthy Loaded Vegan Nachos
Vegetable Tacos with Avocado Tomatillo Salsa
Portobello Tacos with Vegan Jalapeño Sauce
Poblano “Crema Enchiladas”
If you have leftover tomatillos, make Green Tomatillo Gazpacho!
Tomatillo Salsa Verde
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
The best tomatillo salsa verde recipe! Learn how to make tangy roasted tomatillo salsa to serve with chips, tacos, enchiladas and more.
Author: Jeanine Donofrio
Recipe type: appetizer
Serves: about 2 cups
Ingredients
- 6 medium tomatillos
- ¼ medium yellow onion, cut into wedges or large chunks
- 1 serrano or jalapeño pepper, stemmed* (see note)
- 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled, wrapped in foil
- 1½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos and rinse under cool water to remove the stickiness. Place the tomatillos, onion and pepper on the baking sheet, drizzle with the olive oil and a generous pinch of salt and toss. Place the wrapped garlic on the pan. Roast for 15 minutes or until the tomatillos are soft.
- Unwrap the garlic from the foil, peel it, and place in the bowl of a food processor. Add the roasted vegetables, lime juice and cilantro and pulse. If your salsa is too thick, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water to thin to desired consistency. Season to taste.
- Serve with chips or with your favorite mexican recipe.
Notes
*If you’re sensitive to spice, start by adding HALF of the pepper and add the rest to taste. If you’ve made your salsa too spicy, try adding a few splashes of white wine vinegar to tone down the heat.
Variation: make this salsa creamy by blending in 1 small ripe avocado.
Variation: make this salsa creamy by blending in 1 small ripe avocado.
thanks for sharing. it looks yummy and healthy. cilantro and lime are two of my favorites. https://flyingkittyadventures.com/
Yum! That looks delicious!
Kari
http://sweetteasweetie.com/sweet-and-spicy-burgers/
This looks great! I planted tomatillos this year and weren’t quite sure what to do with them. Now I know 🙂
I agree, nothing beats fresh salsa. I have yet to venture into tomatilla land myself, even though I know how delicious they are. This looks so good I think I’ll take the plunge 🙂
Fresh is always better than out of a jar. I can’t remember the last time I had jared salsa. This is yum!
Hello. I am Mexican, and this salsa is a basic for us. And i just love that you posted this recipe of a true mexican salsa. It’s great! Also with avocado. And the red version is also very tasty. I have a recipe for dried chiles (peppers) red salsa that is amazing. 😀
Just a tip: we don’t use the oven for it, we roast our tomatoes and onions on the grill 🙂 It gives it a nice toasty-smokey flavour to it that you just don’t get from the oven. 😉
thanks Sofia! I often use the grill, but so many people don’t have grills or gas stoves so I wanted to give another option 🙂
I would love to have a recipe for green salsa pecoso…And your red salsa recipe..Thank you.
P.S: Also, tomatillos are great in salads! With feta cheese and red onions.
mmmmmm so many flavours i cant wait to make and eat this! anything with coriander (cilantro) is an automatic win for me.
I love tomatillos and making my own salsa. Nothing beats fresh salsa! YUM
This looks delicious! Do you have any idea if it freezes well? I have a lot of tomatillos to use!
I’m a vegan and a first time edible garden gal, and grew tomatillos for the fun of it. They are the most fun beautiful climbing abundance fruit producing plant! This tomatilla salsa is divine. I made it with your stuffed poblano peppers and served it with fresh guacamole. It is the BEST vegan meal I’ve made EVER!!!!
Hi Barbara – yay, I’m so glad you liked both!
Made this for our weekly cocktail with our daughter and son-in-law, I loved, they raved. I added one jalapeno which really didn’t give it much heat, next time I would use two. A great recipe, it’s a keeper.
yay, so glad you all liked it!
Hoping this will satisfy my longing for Torchy’s tomatillo salsa. The recipe sounds wonderful can’t wait to make it, here, far far from Austin.
Wow… wanna try it soon… thank you