James Kenji Lopez-Alt
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For the Best Salsa Verde, Char, Char, and Char Some More
🕑 Added 2025-02-03 11:01:37 +0000 UTCThere's a wide range of salsas which I could comfortably see myself settling down and going steady with, but this charred salsa verde is my first and longest-lasting love when it comes to things I can dip my chips in, if you know what I mean. Smoky, spicy, sweet, and bright, its complexity is belied by its short ingredients list: nothing but chiles, tomatillos, onion, and cilantro (and salt if you want to be that guy in the comments who always says "isn't salt an ingredient?").
If you happen to have a stone or cast iron comal heated over a live fire hearth like the lady from Mi Rancho a tu Cocina, by all means use it to char your vegetables. You can even do it in a cast iron pan on the stovetop–if you don't mind scraping up burnt bits of vegetables when you're done. For easier cleanup and a more hands-off approach, I prefer to use the broiler.
For this batch, I started by splitting some green chiles. I used a mix of Anaheims and Serrano for this batch, but you can use other types of green chile like poblano, jalapeño, or Hatch (which are a spicier cultivar of the New Mexico chile–Anaheims are also a cultivar of New Mexico chiles). I placed those chiles on a sheet tray, then added some white onion, trimmed, skinned, split in half and separated into stacks of a few layers each.
Finally I added a couple pounds of tomatillos, which I husked and split. Tomatillos are related to cape gooseberries (uchuva) and have a similarly sweet-tart flavor and sticky skin under their husks. We can use this stickiness to our advantage: it chars better than the bare flesh of the tomatillo I find that by laying the tomatillo halves skin-side-up, the dry, sticky skin chars readily under the broiler while the flesh softens and releases juices that concentrate in the sheet tray.
I then placed the tray under my broiler and let them cook until deeply charred and starting to smoke lightly. Do not be intimidated by the charring. Its bitterness and complexity are an essential part of the salsa's final flavor, balancing out the sweetness of the onions and the sourness of tomatillos.
If you think that your vegetables look and smell a little burnt when you're done, you're on the right track.
Once the vegetables are charred, all that's left is to blend them into a salsa with some salt (OK, a lot of salt) and some cilantro (OK, more cilantro than the none my son prefers).
You can do liquefy your salsa in a number of ways. The traditional way–in a molcajete-style mortar and pestle–will give you the chunkiest texture and some excellent flavor. For salsas with raw ingredients, the molcajete really makes a difference: crushing plant cells in a mortar and pestle will release more of their flavorful compounds than shearing plant cells in a blender or food processor does. With softened and cooked vegetables, the difference is less noticeable, but it's still a nice touch.
If you aren't willing to put in some elbow grease (or if you can't convince your children or guests to), a hand blender, countertop blender, or food processor will do just fine.
This salsa will keep in the fridge for about a week, though honestly, it never lasts that long. I love it with fried eggs in the morning, as a dip for quesadillas in the afternoon, and of course, on enchiladas, burritos, and tacos.
Charred Salsa Verde
Every recipe I publish here is personally tested, tasted, and approved.
What I like about this recipe:
It uses only four ingredients, but had a flavor profile that is complex.
Charring the vegetables adds a smoky bitterness and sweetness to them.
YIELD: Makes about 1 quart of salsa
ACTIVE TIME: 10 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 25 minutes
Notes: You can use other types of green chiles in this recipe or omit them entirely if you prefer a milder, tarter salsa. I like to add a Serrano or jalapeño to the mix.
Ingredients:
2 pounds tomatillos, husks removed, split in half (900g; about 15 medium)
1/2 pound (225g) green chiles, such as Anaheim, Hatch, or Poblano (see note)
1 white onion (about 8 ounces, 225g)
A handful of picked fresh cilantro leaves and fine stems
Salt
Procedures:
1. Adjust an oven rack as close as possible to the broiler and preheat to high. Place tomatillos, chiles, and onion, cut-side-down on a rimmed baking sheet. Transfer the sheet tray to under the boiler and cook until the vegetables are darkly charred/ blackened.
2. Transfer the vegetables to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add a handful of chopped cilantro. Season with more salt than you think you need. Pulse until a chunky puree is formed. Finished salsa can be stored in sealed containers in the fridge for up to a week.
Comments
Nasu Desu
Kenji, if anyone can do it, I think you can do it the best to come up with the Native American fry bread/Navajo fry bread and Navajo tacos using fry bread. The fry bread ingredients are mostly identical but execution varies. The topping part is all over the place. I really like some of your Southwest/Mexican based recipes. Thanks. Rinshin
humanfart
I make salsa verde all the time. My favorite, for sure. A must with your carnitas! I throw a few cloves of unpeeled garlic under the broiler a few minutes before I pull it out and then pop them out of the peels into the blender with the rest. I also use Knorr chicken bullion powder instead of regular salt.
Illume Eltanin
I came here to ask specifically if you would recommend roasting the veg in your dump style pressure cooker pork chile verde. If so, would the time under pressure or the time of natural release need to be adjusted? Would roasting ahead of time potentially cause a burn error so no additional liquid is added?
Steven
Any reason to not add any limes? Is it no longer a salsa verde? I've tried roasting garlic as well before, but they taste became overpowering. Have no idea what's "authentic" but just thinking out loud here. Oh, and I've seen recipes that pour it into a hot pan, is that typical?
Tim Powell
Same! roasting everything does add so much flavor if you have the time and bandwidth. I also toss in a few dried guajillos from time to time for a little more depth
Tim Powell
I have something almost identical to this in my fridge at all times that i got from Bricia Lopez's "Oaxaca". the only real difference is choice of chile, less onion, and one roasted clove of garlic per lb of tomatillos. Roasting in the skin keeps it from getting too burned. It has absolutely ruined grocery store salsa for me.
Zachary Antell
whats the reason to add/not add oil before broiling for something like this?
ChrisM
This sounds way better than the store-bought salsa verde I used to make my white bean chicken chili last night!
Chris Pickard
this is one of my favorite techniques of yours, but I have a hard time finding tomatillos that don't look like garbage (especially out of season). have you ever tried with canned tomatillos? I am curious to try even though I think how wet the skins are will inhibit charring
David
Happy to see this on here! I recently adapted your salsa verde from your pressure cooker chicken chile verde to a 450° roast, with positively tastebud-exploding results. Better than any dessert I’ve had in a long time. I ruined my dinner because I couldn’t stop dipping casa Sanchez tortilla chips!
Jon
The best hot sauce I've ever made was one where I accidentally burnt some green chillis. Charred peppers just hit different.
