A total must for your next taco night, this gorgeous green Salsa Verde is a delicious tomatillo dip that tastes amazing with chips, tacos, and more!
I love a good salsa verde!
Here in Texas there are probably a million and one jarred versions in local grocery stores but there’s something magical about homemade salsa verde.
Aside from being deliciously fresh, I also get to customize it exactly how I want it. For me, extra of mix-ins like cilantro, lime, and jalapeño are a must. I also like a little sprinkle of cumin in mine and some extra sea salt. YES PLEASE!
Luckily it’s positively easy to make and rather speedy too! It’s gotten to the point where I can’t walk past the tomatillos at the grocery store without grabbing some for salsa.
How to Make Salsa Verde
When it comes to making this gorgeous green salsa verde, you have two tasty cooking methods to choose from!
Boiling
Boiling your veggies leads to a supremely smooth salsa with a bright tomatillo flavor. I wouldn’t quite call it tart but there is a definite zippiness to the salsa that I really adore!
You’ll simply add your tomatillos, jalapeño, and onion to a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes.
This method is the quickest and my go-to method for salsa verde.
Roasting
Roasting the tomatillos leads to a slightly sweeter salsa with a kiss of smokiness. It has a bit of a fire roasted vibe to it. You can play up the smoky flavor by adding some smoked paprika and even spice it up with extra jalapeño if you’d like!
To roast, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with foil. Add tomatillos, jalapeños and onion to the pan and roast for 15-20 minutes until the flesh of the tomatillos puckers a bit and the veggies have some dark char marks on them. For extra smokiness, feel free to flip the oven to broil for a minute or so to further develop the fire-roasted flavors.
After cooking your veggies, you’ll blend them up with the remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor and season to taste. Chill in the fridge or feel free to enjoy it room temperature as well!
Uses for Salsa Verde
There are so many ways to use this delicious green salsa!
Aside from being oh so tasty as a dip for tortilla chips, it’s also a pretty epic dip for flautas and taquitos too.
It’s fantastic on tacos, burritos, breakfast burritos, quesadillas, nachos, enchiladas, tostadas, and even as a zippy “dressing” for taco salads and burrito bowls!
You can even use it as a mix-in for tortilla soup (you’ll find salsa verde in nearly all my tortilla soup recipes) and it adds to much flavor to bean dip and layer dips.
We recently drizzled some on our slaw-topped shrimp tacos and it was beyond delicious! It’s also amazing on fish tacos. The delicate flavor of the tomatillos is just perfect with seafood!
Have an avocado that needs to be used up? You can use it to make a tasty Avocado Salsa Verde!
Tomatillo Salsa Verde (Green Salsa)
I’m so excited for you to try this gorgeous green salsa!
It’s a great addition to taco night and makes such a simple tasty snack to serve with crispy tortilla chips!
Ready to get your salsa on? Let’s do this!
Easy Salsa Verde (Tomatillo Salsa)
Ingredients
- 1 lb tomatillos
- 2 jalapeños
- ¼ large white onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ tsp cumin plus extra to taste
- ¼ tsp salt plus extra to taste
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro
- ½ lime
- a drizzle of avocado oil (optional but delicious)
Instructions
- When it comes to making this gorgeous green salsa verde, you have two tasty cooking methods to choose from! Boiling (my favorite) leads to a supremely smooth salsa with a bright and zippy tomatillo flavor. Roasting yields slightly sweeter salsa with a kiss of smokiness and a fire roasted vibe. Choose your favorite method and follow the corresponding instructions.
- Prep veggies. Peel and rinse tomatillos to remove any stickiness. Peel and roughly chop 1/4 of a white onion. Remove the stem and seeds from jalapeños (for very spicy salsa keep some or all the seeds in) then roughly chop. Peel and mince garlic.
CLASSIC SALSA VERDE INSTRUCTIONS
- Add tomatillos, chopped onion, and chopped jalapeños to a medium pot. Fill with water until just covered. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Use a fine colander or sieve to drain and remove water.
- Follow blending instructions below and get your salsa verde on!
ROASTED SALSA VERDE INSTRUCTIOINS
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a baking pan with foil or parchment paper.
- Add your tomatillos and jalapenos to the pan and roast for 15-20 minutes or until the flesh of the tomatillos starts to pucker a bit. If you allow a few golden brown char marks to appear on the tomatillos it'll add a fire roasted flavor to the salsa. I like the bite of raw onion in my salsa and leave it off the roasting pan but feel free to roast those as well! For extra smokiness, feel free to flip the oven to broil for a minute or so after roasting to further develop the fire-roasted flavors.
READY TO BLEND?
- Add tomatillos, jalapenos, garlic, onion, cumin, and salt to a blender or food processor and pulse a several times to chop.
- Next add in your cilantro and juice of 1/2 a lime and blend well until salsa is smooth. I like to drizzle in a little avocado oil as well. (so good!)
- Grab some tortilla chips to taste as you go, adding extra cilantro, lime, salt, and/or cumin to taste. The flavors will further develop once chilled — I love mine cold but it can be enjoyed at room temperature too if you'd like!
- This salsa is a great prep-ahead dip. I like to keep a mason jar of it in my fridge at all times. Once I'm out it's time to grab more tomatillos and make it again!
- See post for tons of tasty serving suggestions – it's great on EVERYTHING! Use it as a dip or topping or swirl into dips, soups, taco filling, and more!
Notes
Nutrition
If you get a chance to try this tasty tomatillo salsa verde, let me know!
Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
How spicy is this?
Hi Ana! Jalapenos can vary in heat level (we came across one last week that was nuclear it was so spicy lol!) but to keep it more on the mild/medium side I instruct to remove the seeds and insides from the jalapeno to cut it’s heat. I use it to make salsa chicken and that’s not too spicy for my 8 year old but if you’d like to babystep into the pepper you can add just half a jalapeno or a small one and then increase the spice level after the fact with a little sprinkle of cayenne pepper. For super spicy you can up the peppers!
We normally buy salsa verde in the jar but have been wanting to try a homemade version for our smoked brisket tacos and this was a huge hit. So much more delicious than any jarred salsa that we’ve tried.
Great flavor. We really enjoyed this on our chicken tacos!
Thanks Taryn! So happy to hear it!