TL;DR: Fast and easy roasted tomatillo salsa that combines broiled and fresh ingredients. Goes well on basically everything.
Everybody loves salsa. Or at least, everybody should. In any case, I love salsa, of all varieties. From all-purpose pico de gallo to searing hot salsa roja to complex mango-habañero and everything in between. And while these red-hued salsas are about as essential to me as oxygen, I have a special place for their green sibling, salsa verde. Tangy tomatillos, bright lime juice, and snappy jalapeños make salsa verde a unique and super versatile condiment, something that goes great with eggs, in a burrito, or even as pizza sauce. This roasted tomatillo salsa achieves maximum flavor by broiling most of the ingredients before blending.
Broiling the ingredients upgrades this from a regular fresh salsa on a few levels. Most noticeably, the tomatillos, onions, and peppers develop deep, rich flavor. The charred bits add a pleasant smokiness that just isn’t there in fresh salsa. And the garlic gets creamy and sweet, a nice counterpoint to the fresh lime juice and cilantro that go in at the end.
With that said, I also love salsas with that fresh bite to them. Many recipes use uncooked onions to achieve this, by adding them to the blended puree at the end. I tried that and found that I missed the roasted onion base in the salsa. My solution to get the best of both worlds was to roast half of the onion, and add add the other half at the end. This way I get that nice deep and developed flavor as well as the bite of fresh diced onions.
One cooking “hack” is to use this to make a VERY quick and delicious guacamole. Just mash avocados up with this salsa and boom you have instant guac! Makes sense when you consider that this salsa essentially has all the base ingredients for guacamole. I use about 2 tablespoons salsa per avocado. In any case, on to the roasted tomatillo salsa recipe.
The Process: Broil *almost* everything and be gentle with the blender.
Get all the ingredients together. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and clean them thoroughly to remove any stickiness and debris. Remove stems from jalapeños. Set oven broiler on high and make sure the rack is at it’s highest position (approximately 4-6 inches from broiler).
Spray a foil-rimmed pan and add the tomatillos, jalapeños, 1/2 of the onion, and garlic (in skin).
Broil for around 8 minutes, or until veggies are nicely charred on top. At this point, if the garlic is soft, remove them and set them aside.
Flip the veggies and return to oven for about 4 minutes or until the other side is charred. Remove from oven and cool.
Remove garlic from skins and add to blender along with other broiler veggies. Add salt, cumin powder, cilantro and lime juice. Blend on low (or pulse) until you get a nice, slightly chunky puree. Of course if you like it more liquified, go ahead and blend the crap out of it.
Stir in the other half of the onion, check seasoning and serve! Goes great with chips, in burritos, with eggs, and a million other things. Try it on this tried-and-true meatless breakfast bowl and win at life.
You can bottle the roasted tomatillo salsa and store in the fridge! It should be good for 5-7 days.
Roasted Tomatillo Salsa (Salsa Verde)
Ingredients
- 1 lb tomatillos husked and rinsed
- 2 jalapeños
- 1 medium white onion divided (half for roasting, half fresh)
- 4 cloves garlic unpeeled
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cumin
Instructions
- Preheat your broiler to high. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and rinse well under water to remove the sticky residue.
- Place the tomatillos, jalapeños, half the onion (cut into wedges), and unpeeled garlic cloves on a baking sheet. Broil about 4 inches from the heat for 8 minutes.
- Flip everything over and broil for another 4–5 minutes, until the tomatillos are softened and charred in spots.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the cloves out of their skins.
- Transfer the roasted tomatillos, jalapeños, onion, and garlic to a blender. Add the salt and cumin.
- Blend until smooth, or leave it slightly chunky — your preference.
- Dice the remaining half of the onion finely. Stir it into the blended salsa along with the cilantro and lime juice.
- Taste and adjust salt, lime, or heat as needed.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate. Keeps in the fridge for 5–7 days.