I’m never going back to store-bought salsa verde! This salsa verde is fresh, bright, and not too salty like those store-bought versions.
Sometimes I have to remind myself that simple is best. This salsa was originally a component in a seven-layer dip concept, but the salsa blew the dip out of the water. One part, on its own, was so much better than the other six combined. This salsa verde is so fresh and irresistible.
Then, I made it a couple more times, with the same ingredients, but each time, it tasted a little different. That’s just what happens with a simple recipe made with natural ingredients. You can pick up each tomatillo, squeeze it to gauge ripeness and peel back the husk to look for bright green skin, but you don’t know how flavorful it really is until you taste it.
Add eleven more tomatillos to the mix, plus jalapeño that may or may not be crazy spicy, plus onion and cilantro of varying freshness, and you’ll never make a batch of salsa that tastes quite like another.
Your salsa will be delicious, fresh and so much better than the salty jarred varieties. I can guarantee that much. That’s the beauty of simple recipes made with fresh, natural ingredients—they’re inevitably awesome. Don’t over think it. Trust the recipe. Adjust to suit your taste buds.
Watch How to Make Salsa Verde
Salsa Verde Notes
Tomatillos look like small green tomatoes with husks, but they aren’t tomatoes—they’re cousins. I’ve had an easy time finding them at grocery stores lately. I tried making this salsa with raw tomatillos, but they’re borderline sour. Roasting them really brings out their best side.
Some roasted tomatillo salsas I’ve tried taste too roasted or smoky, but not this one. You can also control just how roasted those tomatillos get when you roast them yourself. I think it turned out just right with the times specified in the recipe below.
Uses for Salsa Verde
Salsa verde is great with pretty much anything that goes well with regular tomato salsa. I think it’s especially fantastic with sweet potatoes (check out these burritos and this burrito bowl) and eggs (like chilaquiles verdes, huevos rancheros, frittatas and breakfast tacos).
I also really love creamy avocado salsa verde, which you can make by throwing some diced avocado into the mix. I decided to divide my salsa in two and blend one avocado into one-half of the salsa. I’ve included instructions below.
Or, serve it alongside my favorite guacamole recipe with tortilla chips for the best of both worlds!
Please let me know how you like this recipe in the comments! I hope you love it as much as I do.
Are you building a salsa bar or taco spread? Don’t miss my favorite red salsa, guacamole, pico de gallo, corn salsa or mango salsa.
Homemade Salsa Verde
- Author:
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 ½ cups 1x
- Category: Salsa
- Method: Food processor
- Cuisine: Mexican
This roasted salsa verde recipe is so easy to make. Just roast the tomatillos and pepper(s) and blend with a few basic ingredients for the best salsa verde you’ve ever tasted! Recipe yields about 2 ½ cups salsa.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds tomatillos (about 12 medium), husked and rinsed
- 1 to 2 medium jalapeños, stemmed (omit for mild salsa, use 1 jalapeño for medium salsa and 2 jalapeños for hot salsa, note that spiciness will depend on heat of actual peppers used)
- ½ cup chopped white onion (about ½ medium onion)
- ¼ cup packed fresh cilantro leaves (more if you love cilantro)
- 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup lime juice (1 to 2 medium limes, juiced), to taste
- ½ to 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
- Optional variation: 1 to 2 diced avocados, for creamy avocado salsa verde
Instructions
- Preheat the broiler with a rack about 4 inches below the heat source. Place the tomatillos and jalapeño(s) on a rimmed baking sheet and broil until they’re blackened in spots, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven, carefully flip over the tomatillos and pepper(s) with tongs and broil for 4 to 6 more minutes, until the tomatillos are splotchy-black and blistered.
- Meanwhile, in a food processor or blender, combine the chopped onion, cilantro, 2 tablespoons lime juice and ½ teaspoon salt. Once the tomatillos are out of the oven, carefully transfer the hot tomatillos, pepper(s) and all of their juices into the food processor or blender.
- Pulse until the mixture is mostly smooth and no big chunks of tomatillo remain, scraping down the sides as necessary. Season to taste with additional lime juice and salt, if desired.
- The salsa will be thinner at first, but will thicken up after a few hours in the refrigerator, due to the naturally occurring pectin in the tomatillos. If you’d like to make creamy avocado salsa verde, let the salsa cool down before blending in 1 to 2 diced avocados (the more avocado, the creamier it gets).
Notes
Recipe adapted from Rick Bayless, Serious Eats and Simply Recipes.
Storage suggestions: This salsa verde should keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 1 week. If you added avocado, it will keep well for about 3 days—be sure to press plastic wrap against the top surface to prevent oxidation.
Change it up: Feel free to substitute red tomatoes for a more traditional roasted tomato salsa.
▸ Nutrition Information
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Cindy Sele
Will this freeze well?
Kate
Hi Cindy, it may freeze well. Although, I haven’t tried it.
Debbie
Has anyone tried to freeze this wonderful salsa
Melanie Williams Lewis
I freeze green salsa all the time. Throw it in with browned, simmered pork near the end for great chile verde.
Maureen Wood
This is delicious. My husband literally drinks it, lol. I will definitely be making this frequently. Your recipes never disappoint, Kate.
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great that he loves it! I’m not sure about drinking it though :) Thank you for your review, Maureen!
Kathy P
Amazing recipe. My first time making Salsa Verde. Will make it again for sure. Thank you.
★★★★★
Haley
This was great! Great flavors
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy you enjoyed it, Haley! I appreciate your review.
Alexandrine
Super easy and delicious, thanks for the recipe! :)
Kate
You’re welcome!
Nancy L
I just made this for the second time and it’s fantastic! We have so many tomatillos this year and this is a great way to use them. I’m going to try freezing part of this batch – if it works out well, I’ll fill my freezer with salsa to enjoy in the winter (did I mention that we have a LOT of tomatillos). Thank you for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Nancy! I appreciate your review.
Marlene Lindsey
I can not keep enough if this made. Delicious!!
★★★★★
Kate
I love that, Marlene! Thank you for your review.
Kate
I have been wanting to try this for the last few years and finally did tonight. I followed directions to the letter except took the seeds out of my two jalapeños before roasting (I’m a wimp). We added it to our bean tacos and it is delicious! Another winner, Kate! Thank you for your consistently great recipes.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy you finally tried it! Thank you for sharing, Kate.
Justine
This was so delicious and super easy to make! Will definitely be making this often!
★★★★★
Chad Gresham
Absolutely delicious! Way better than store bought but just one half of one hair not as good as my fav family owned local mex. Restaurant. they must have a secret ingredient. i love it though. I am about to add avacado to a portion to try the creamy stuff! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this wonderful recipe with us ❤❤
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Chad!
Geralt
Fantastic! We upped the number of Jalapenos, Garlic and used lemon juice because we didn’t have any limes and it turned out fantastic. We will be making mass quantities of this in the future. I will also be adding some Chili Pequins because they are so tasty.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved them!
Ken
I made this to use with your black bean sweet potato enchiladas recipe. I cut the recipe in half since I cut the enchilada recipe in half. I liked this better than the store-bought salsa verde I’ve bought in the past because it didn’t seem as salty. I only used half of a jalapeno pepper but wish that I had used the whole pepper. When I roasted it lost a bit of heat. I roasted the pepper and the tomatillos on the grill rather than putting them under the broiler and that worked fine.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Ken! I’m glad you loved it.
Monica London
Made a batch with tomatillos purchased from the farmers market and it came out quite sweet and not as “liquid” as in your pictures. Still delicious and I have a feeling that’s just because the tomatillos we picked were small and not as juicy.
My question is whether you put the boiled tomatillos into the food processor straight away or let them come down to room temperature first?
Also when I put it in the fridge for a few hours then took it out, it was a bit…gelatinous. Once it came to room temperature, it was back to its original consistency. Should I have let it come to room temperature to avoid this as well?
★★★★★
Kate
Hi! You can let them cool slightly if you prefer. I transferred them after baking. That’s strange. Olive oil can do that when refrigerated, but there isn’t any for this recipe. I can’t say I have come across that before.
Celestia
Going to try it soon thank you for sharing.
Kate
I hope you love it!
Amy
Loved it! It’s easy to make, and it’s easy to scale the quantity made. Most importantly, it’s delicious! It tastes so healthy and fresh. We liked the store stuff well enough, but that’s a pretty big jar and it goes bad surprisingly fast. This homemade recipe tastes better. I’ve been putting this salsa verde on so many things, most recently baked sockeye salmon. Big hit!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Amy! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Sunny
Yum! I’ve tried many salsa verde recipes, and this one is by far the best! The right mix of everything for a tangy green sauce. Will try tossing in diced avocado next time. That would make an amazing dip for so many snacks!
K
This stuff is great; no more store-bought salsa for us! It is so easy to make, it’s delicious and keeps well in the fridge. We love it!
Jane
Can the Creamy (with avocados) Salsa Verde be used in cooking enchiladas? Thanks in advance!
Kate
Hi Jane, I wouldn’t recommend cooking that sauce.
Jessica
What temperature to you put to broil
Kate
Hi Jessica, there isn’t a specific temperature for a broiler. If you have option of high vs low, choose high. Does that help?
Ali
I made this and it was a crowd pleaser! Easy to make and so good!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Ali!
Cassie
This turned out delicious! I actually added garlic and chicken bouillon as well.
★★★★★
Kim
Do you think I could can this ? I was thinking possibly in a water bath process
Kate
Hi Kim, this recipe isn’t meant for canning. You could try to freeze it. Let me know if you try it sometime!
Carrie
Hi! Love ALL your recipes. Do you think this would freeze ok? Thanks.
Kate
I think this should be ok to freeze. Let me know if you try it!
Angel
I made this recipe and it came out very very bitter. Not to very good at all, I will keep looking for an authentic recipe
★
Kate
I’m sorry you didn’t have great results. Thank you for your feedback.
Jacquie
I have read that bigger tomatillos could create a bitter sauce. Smaller ones are best.
Dena
By destem- do you mean take out the seeds also? I didn’t and the salsa is overwhelmingly spicy- maybe I need to add avocado to tone it down.
Kate
Hi, yes remove the seeds if sensitive to spice.
Michelle B
Do you let the salsa cool down before you put it in the fridge? Or do you put it in a jar hot and into the fridge? Or does it even matter?
Janice
I choose to never use another salsa Verde recipe. I always get tons of compliments on this. I turn it into a chicken chili in the winter!! I would like to try to can this. I currently freeze it and it’s great!!
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray! I’m glad you love it, Janice. I appreciate your review.
Lorraine
Has anyone canned this recipe? Is it safe to can?
Best salsa verde recipe!
★★★★★
Mariel Gomez
How long does this last in the fridge?
Kate
Hi Mariel, The storage information is in the notes section below the instructions. This salsa verde should keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 1 week. If you added avocado, it will keep well for about 3 days—be sure to press plastic wrap against the top surface to prevent oxidation.
Julie Beall
Can I make and freeze this? I have tomatillos that I need to use and a Mexican wedding shower in two weeks.
I love your recipes so I was happy to find a salsa verde recipe here. Thanks,
Julie
Kate
Hi Julie, I would assume this would freeze well. Let me know how it turns out!
Alicia
I have frozen this salsa recipe several times over the years. Turns out great! This is my go to Salsa Verde recipe. Thank you for sharing it with us!
Kate
Great to hear, Alicia! I appreciate your review.
sam
Excellent and easy. Habanero peppers though… for the fire bug…
Priya
Made this and it came out so tasty! I used red onion instead of white and one jalapeno (I halved the recipe). It’s the perfect amount of spice and so addictive. Just put in an order for more tomatillos so I can make another batch and freeze it!
★★★★★
Andrea
I’ve made this a few times and it is always a hit with family and friends!
We have a huge amount of tomatoes that didn’t have time to ripen and are still green.
I was going to try to use this recipe with green tomatoes in place of the tomatillos but canning them instead of storing in the fridge.
Would you recommend any changes if trying to can this salsa verde?
★★★★★
Sue McAllister
Can I substitute green tomatoes for the tomatillos? Can this salsa verde recipe be substituted in a recipe that calls for green enchilada sauce?
Kate
Hi! This recipe is best as written. See my Christmas Enchiladas for my green sauce.
Joanne
I just tried this recipe, it’s absolutely delicious!! I followed it completely, cut the tomatillos and jalapeños in half before broiling because I wasn’t sure. I used 2 jalapeños because my husband loves spicy. I’ve never been a fan of this salsa but I loved it as well (the jalapeños must not have been too spicy)
★★★★★
Laura Hazel
First time salsa maker! I made this today and this was excellent! I split it in half, in one half I put the avocado. Both were great, but the avocado cut some of the spicy out. Next time I’ll put an additional jalapeño in. Thank you for posting!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Laura!