Growing up we always had a choice of two kinds of salsa – a red tomato salsa which we made from scratch, and a salsa verde, or green salsa, which we got from a bottle (Victoria brand).
As a kid I always thought that green salsa was made from green tomatoes, but actually it is made with a distant relative of a tomato from Mexico, the naturally tart tomatillo (pronounced “toe-mah-TEE-yo”). A tomatillo looks like a little green tomato covered with a husk, and is more closely related to gooseberry than it is to tomato.
Salsa verde is really easy to make from scratch, all you need are tomatillos, onion, jalapeño, lime, and cilantro.
To make the salsa verde, you will need to cook the tomatillos, which you can do by either boiling them, broiling them in the oven, or pan roasting them. All three approaches are quick and easy, though with broiling or pan roasting, you get added flavor from the searing of the tomatillos.
Then it’s a quick spin in the blender with the other ingredients, easy!
Tomatillo Salsa Verde Recipe
PrintTo cook the tomatillos, you can either roast them in the oven, brown them on the stovetop, or boil them. Roasting in the oven or browning on the stovetop will deliver more flavor. Each way works, though boiling is a more common way to cook the tomatillos.
Garlic is optional. You can either cook a few cloves with the tomatillos in any of these steps, or add one or two raw garlic cloves when you go to blend the salsa.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb tomatillos
- 1/2 cup chopped white onion
- 2 cloves (or more) garlic (optional)
- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 2 Jalapeño peppers OR 2 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped (you can use whole for more heat if you want)
- Salt to taste
Method
1 Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well.
2a Oven Roasting Method Cut the tomatillos in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Add a few garlic cloves in their skin (if using) Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skins of the tomatillos.
2b Pan Roasting Method Coat the bottom of a skillet with a little vegetable oil. Heat on high heat. Place the tomatillos in the pan and sear on one side, then flip over and brown on the other side. Remove from heat.
2c Boiling Method Place tomatillos in a saucepan, cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove tomatillos with a slotted spoon.
3 Pulse in blender: Place the cooked tomatillos, lime juice, onions, garlic (if using), cilantro, chili peppers in a blender or food processor and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed.
4 Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.
Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.
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Links:
Botanical information on the tomatillo, from Purdue University
Salsa Verde Chicken Bake here on Simply Recipes
Grilled Tomatillo and Corn Salsa
Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Tomatillo Salsa Verde
Just about to use my first crop. Can it be frozen ?
Hi, Virginia! Yes, this will freeze well for about three months. Enjoy!
While it tasted okay without garlic, it tastes even better with garlic. Just a quick correction. Tomatillos are a night shade plant; they not tomatoes. They are actually related to the gooseberry family, hence the outer husk
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Hi Melissa, yes, as mentioned tomatillos are a distant relative to tomatoes, being part of the nightshade family. I clarified that a bit more in the headnotes, thank you!
So good! Not sure if mine was too lime-y because I didn’t use fresh lime, but next time I will add a bit less. Thanks Elise for this delicious recipe – I’m going to share with friends!
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Easy to prepare and do delicious!
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I want to can this sauce. Has anyone had success canning it?
Hi Susan, this isn’t a canning recipe, though at least one commenter below has canned it. Tomatillos are more acidic than tomatoes, but unless you know precisely the acidity of what it is you are canning, it’s safer to pressure can if you are canning for shelf storage. What I often do is make a big batch, cook the jalapenos along with the tomatillos, pour the salsa into sterilized jars, water bath them for 10 minutes, and then store them in my fridge. They’ve lasted a year that way.
This SHOULD be safe to can via a hot water bath. We add lemon juice to our tomatoes to make them more acidic when we can and seal with a hot water bath. Tomatillos are already more acidic than tomatoes and limes are more acidic than lemons. So again this SHOULD be safe to can via hot water bath, but if unsure or uncomfortable then like Elise said pressure canner is the way to go.