Published April 24, 2024. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This tasty fresh green salsa verde recipe uses oven-roasted tomatillos, onions, garlic, and chilis blended until smooth for the perfect zesty salsa. Once I figured out how to make this at home, I never bought it from the store again—it’s that easy.
When going to my favorite Mexican restaurant or having a taco feast at home, I love having an assortment of salsas to dip in or add to other things. If you’re the same, check out my easy Pico de Gallo or Homemade Salsa.
Salsa Verde
Salsa verde is a green salsa consisting of tomatillos, chilis, and cilantro that can be cooked or raw and blended until smooth. It has a spicy, citrusy taste and goes excellent with chicken or pork in Mexican cuisine. In addition, it’s a great salsa for dipping tortilla chips in.
This salsa is meant to be medium spicy, but the heat can be altered to go up or down depending on the type of chilis and whether you include or exclude the pith and seeds.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Tomatillos – Fresh tomatillos are needed for this salsa.
- Onions – You can use a red, white, yellow, or sweet onion. You’ll also need some whole garlic cloves.
- Chilis – Fresh seeded serrano or jalapeño peppers can be used. In addition, you can also use any spicy green chili.
- Cilantro – Fresh cilantro is used to finish off the salsa. You can also use culantro for this.
- Oil – Any neutral-flavored oil like olive or avocado is best.
How to Make Salsa Verde
Remove the husks from the tomatillos.
Briefly rinse the tomatillos under cold water.
Evenly spread them on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper with onion, garlic, and peppers.
Drizzle the olive oil over the top of the vegetables.
Season with salt.
Place on a rack in the top 1/3 of the oven at 425° and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly browned, and the tomatillos and peppers turn a muted green color.
Remove them from the oven and let them rest for 10 minutes.
Transfer to a blender with a lid, replacing the centerpiece of the lid with a kitchen towel, and blend on medium speed until smooth.
Adjust the seasonings with salt and serve.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: For freshness, you can make this salsa up to 3 days ahead.
How to Store: Place covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This recipe will not freeze well. However, you can process these to be canned in a boiling water bath canner for 40 minutes. This procedure will allow the salsa to last in a cool dark place for up to 6 months.
Chef Notes + Tips
- If you love spice, do not remove the pith and seeds in the chilis.
- You can finish the salsa verde with juice of ½ lime.
- Another cooking option is to pan-roast the shucked and rinsed tomatillos, onions, garlic, and chilis in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until browned and tender. Then, add the mixture to the blender with cilantro and blend until smooth.
- The other cooking method is to add the shucked and rinsed tomatillos, onions, garlic, and chilis to a large pot of boiling salted water and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and let them cool before blending with cilantro until smooth.
More Mexican Recipes
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Salsa Verde Recipe
Ingredients
- 15 medium-sized shucked tomatillos
- 1 medium-sized peeled yellow onion cut in half
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 seeded serrano chilis
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup packed fresh cilantro and stems
- coarse salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°.
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos. Briefly rinse the tomatillos under cold water.
- Evenly spread them on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper with onion, garlic, and peppers.
- Drizzle the olive oil over top of the vegetables. Season with salt.
- Place on a rack in the top 1/3 of the oven at 425° and cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned and the tomatillos and peppers turned to a muted green color.
- Remove them from the oven and let them rest for 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a blender with a lid but replace the center piece of the lid with a kitchen towel and blend on medium speed until smooth.
- Adjust the seasonings with salt and serve.
Salsa Verde Recipe