Homemade Salsa Verde
So, what exactly is salsa verde? Salsa verde is a vibrant green salsa with a tomatillo base that’s boldly, yet freshly flavored with other green ingredients. It originated in Mexico, and has made a lasting impression in both Mexican restaurants and kitchens across the world!
If you’ve never tried this version of salsa, you’ve been missing out on a real treat. This is a favorite recipe of mine to serve as an appetizer at parties, because it always garners the most attention! People praise it for one of two reasons – they think it’s better than any other salsa verde they’ve tried, or they’ve never had it before and are now obsessed. Either way, this salsa is a guaranteed conversation starter!
What elevates this salsa verde really comes down to the ingredients. As easy as it is to just buy a store-bought jar of salsa and pour it into a serving bowl, you need to try making your own salsa at least once! The all-natural fresh ingredients make a hugely noticeable difference.
Tips For Ingredients and Adjustments
- Jalapeños – If you’re trying keep salsa mild, use young jalapenos with smooth dark green skin and discard the seeds. On the other hand, if you want to increase the spice level, then be sure keep the seeds! Jalapeño seeds are sure to heat things up in your salsa.
- Make It More Spicy – since jalapenos are the mild chili, you can use spicier chili peppers, like red chili peppers, habanero or serrano. You can also add a little more chili powder or add a pinch of cayenne pepper.
- Tomatillo – please note that tomatillo is NOT a green tomato! They are actually a different plant and a different type of fruit. Tomatillos are more closely related to gooseberries than tomatoes, hence the husk. Make sure you get tomatillos in a husk!
Tips For Making Salsa Verde
- Make sure to remove the husks from tomatillos and washing them. Don’t skip the washing step because tomatillos have a natural sticky protective coating on them.
- Don’t skip the roasting step! Although it’s not a requirement, cooking tomatillos brings out a lot more flavor and lowers the acidity. The skin will also be softer after cooking, which will give salsa a better texture.
- Turn on the broiler on high, move the oven rack to the center (6-8 inches away from the broiler), and let it preheat for a few minutes.
- Pulse the blender until the salsa is smooth and there are no more chunky pieces.
Storing Instructions
- Storing: Make sure to store salsa verde in a glass jar with a lid or another airtight food storage container. Keep it refrigerated! In an airtight container in the refrigerator, it will be good for up to a week.
- Remember that it’s better to pour some out rather that dip a spoon into the jar each time you need to take out a serving!
- Freezing: you can freeze cooled salsa verde in portions or all together. Use freezer zip-top bags and portion the salsa into them. Get the air put, seal, and label. Lay down the bags on the cutting board and once frozen, you can stack them. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Thaw slowly in the refrigerator.
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Salsa Verde Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs tomatillos husks removed
- 2 jalapenos seeds removed (if you like spice, leave the seeds in)
- 1/2 white onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 lime – juice only
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp salt more or less to taste
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp chili powder more or less to taste
Instructions
- Set the oven rack to the middle position, about 6 inches away from the broiler. Turn the broiler on to high.
- Make sure to remove husks from tomatillos and wash them before preparing salsa. Clean the seeds and membrane out of jalapenos OR, if you want salsa verde spicy, leave the seeds in.
- Cut tomatillos, onion, jalapenos, garlic, and lime in halves of quarters and spread them out on the baking sheet. (If you need to, cover the baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.)
- Place the baking sheet into the oven and let the vegetables cook for 5-8 minutes.
- Once done, place the veggies into the blender, squeeze the juice out of limes, and add cilantro and seasoning. Pulse the blender until there is no more chunks.
- You can serve salsa verde warm with tortilla chips of transfer it into a glass container with a lid, let it cool, and store in refrigerator.
Notes
- Storing: Store salsa verde in a glass container with a lid, in the refrigerator. Stored property, it should last up to 1 week. When getting more salsa from the jar, it’s best to pour some out rather to use a spoon to scoop.
- Freezing: you can freeze cooled salsa verde in portions or all together. Use freezer zip-top bags and portion the salsa into them. Get the air put, seal, and label. Lay down the bags on the cutting board and once frozen, you can stack them. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Thaw slowly in the refrigerator.
- How to make salsa verde more spicy: jalapenos can be more spicy or less spicy. Older jalapenos are more spicy than younger ones and you can tell just by looking at the skin. Older jalapenos have brownish veins running along the skin, the more veins, the older and spicier the jalapeno would be Younger jalapenos would have smooth green skin with no veins. You can also choose to leave jalapeno seeds in because the seeds hold most of the spiciness. If you wish, you can use spicier chili peppers like red chili pepper, habanero, or serrano.
Nutrition
Some More Recipes Featuring Tomatillos
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on September 18, 2016.
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Thank you so much for suggesting to make my favorite salsa verde with the leftover tomatios (sp?) that I had from making the white chicken chili soup which was also very delicious
I am so happy it was good!
I made this for Taco Tuesday today and it was a hit!
My husband would LOVE this…have to try it!!
I love salsa verde but have never been brave enough to try it at home – but this looks like I could make it too! Pinning this one!
Great photography!
Looks delicious! I can’t wait to try your recipe!
I can’t believe it! It you 🙂
Hope you like it 🙂
!!http://goo.gl/DKzFI
That looks yummy! I have yet to buy tomatillos. One of these days I need to do that, and use your recipe.