Homemade Salsa Verde
This roasted tomatillo salsa is so easy to make. You're only six ingredients away from the best salsa verde you've ever tasted! Get the recipe here.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
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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
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
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
very good. I think I did too much cilantro, might do half this amount and also cut out the lime juice since tomatillos already have a citrus flavor.
This has become our go to salsa verde recipe. We change very little other than adding a clove or two of garlic when broiling.
We are fairly simple straightforward eaters, only made the creamy version once and that was for a party- it was a hit.
That’s great, Ed! Thank you for your review.
Needed a jar of salsa verde but had a ton of tomatillos from my garden, this recipe made exactly what I needed with a little left over for chips! So good!
This is absolutely delicious!! I took a spoonful to taste it and kept going back for more more. So good! I have an abundance of tomatillos in my garden so will be making a few batches and freezing it. Thank you!!
Tastes great and I used purple tomatillos. I must confess with using purple tomatoes, it does not look very appealing lol but tastes great.
I haven’t tryed making salsa verde but I will try.
Hi Kate, I love your recipes! Do you think this would be possible to make with canned tomatillos? Unfortunately it’s impossible to find fresh ones where I live.
I haven’t tried it, so I can’t say for sure. Sorry! If you do, let me know how it turns out.
Great recipe – my family loves it
That’s great to hear, Prab!
I’ve tried several tomatillo salsas and this is by far my families favorite. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Kristin!
This was amazing and so fast to make. I’m on a low sodium diet (gack) so trying to make most sauces ftom scratch so I can control the salt. Will definitely be making this again!
Timing is way off. My broiler is on high, it’s been over 10 minutes and they’re not ready… other than that, great recipe.
I’m sorry to hear you are having issues. I appreciate your feedback, Marien.
Hi!
Can anyone tell me if the yield on this recipe is accurate?
Thanks!
Do you think you could make this recipe without buzzing it in the food processor, ala pico de gallo? I made a recipe with salsa verde but it came out to soupy. I want to keep the flavors though and I’m looking for ways to do that without all the liquid.
I prefer this best as written. You can try to pulse a few times and see how it turns out.
This salsa is so simple to make yet so delicious! Absolutely loved it!
Question please: any chance this can be frozen to save for another time. It makes quite a bit for two people.
I’m a fan. It’s an easy recipe and I use it as a topper for my eggs,steak and chicken. Also great w a quick quesadilla. My daughter likes it on top of her baked potatoes w a dollop of sour cream.
It’s worth trying! A few weeks here and there to your tastes and it’s perfect!
Made this tonight to go on fish tacos. Completely worth the effort, although it’s not difficult lol
I baked my fish, so everything was ultra fresh and amazingly delicious!
Hubby and I did add the avocado, and really couldn’t tell a huge difference in the taste over regular salsa verde, however, we are in love with it enough to keep it in our menu file for what we call “Guac night”. That’s a night when we make homemade guacamole, then proceed to have chips and guac for dinner. Now, it’s going to include this salsa verde too
Can I make this recipe with canned tomatillos? I have them on hand.
I haven’t tried it, sorry!
This is a punch in the face of flavor. I love this recipe and I have been using it now for years. Go with smaller tomatillo and look up how to select good ones. I love how few and fresh all the ingredients are. Broil those tomatillos really well. This recipe is also all “to taste”. Add as much jalapeño as you like, add more salt, add more lime, whatever you like. I add extra lime and cilantro and I barely measure. Have fun with this and put it on everything!!!!!!!
I love to hear that, Nicole!
We loved this recipe so much! It is the best salsa verde I have had. It was really fresh and I was excited to use the tomatillos ond jalapeños from the garden. First time growing them. I definitely will be getting your cookbook. Thank you
Holy cow was this yummy, and so easy to make. I am also never going back to store bought.
Thank you for sharing, Robb!
Wonderful! Thank you. Just made it. Had been buying it in the can from the grocery store and forgot that I used to make this 20 years ago. The canned stuff is okay, but totally lacks any depth of flavor.
Loved this recipe! I added garlic because life is sad without garlic. (lol) so easy and such a bright fresh taste.
Just made this, following the recipe pretty much exactly (although I added a bit more cilantro and salt), and it came out great! Looking forward to putting this salsa verde on everything.
Just wondering (since you will be placing all of the ingredients in a blender anyway), couldn’t we just cut the 1/2 onion into quarters or eights and let the blender do the rest?
Hi! Thanks a ton for sharing! I used the grill to fire-riast the tomatillas and jalapeno! Overdid it on the lime juice but added back a half t of sugar and a wee bit of garlic. Killer! It did thicken in the fridge as you said. Made plenty to freeze as well. :)
My Son brought home some Tomatilla’s today not knowing what they were. Your recipe was the 1st I checked. Looks great, easy to make and we love Mexican foods.
Tomorrow being Saturday we’re following your recipe. I love Avocado, him not so much so I’ll only add it to my half. Thanks
So good and easy to make. I added a couple cloves of garlic to the roasting with the tomatillos and jalapeños for a little more flavor. Will make this often. Love it!
Great to hear, Deanne!
This recipe blows us away every time, why didn’t I grow more tomatillos?! So delicious!!!
Hooray! I’m happy you think so, Emma.
I have made this recipe and the salsa is excellent!
Tomatillos are very difficult to buy fresh in the UK and are not always available. Could this be made with canned tomatillos ??
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. If you have tried it, let me know how it goes!
Mexican born and raised, I have to say this is legit and has a 100% authentic taste! It’s truly delicious! In my little corner of Mexico we add ground pepper and dried oregano, but it’s super optional. Great recipe!!
Hooray! I’m excited this gets your stamp of approval. I appreciate your review, Selene.
Can I preserve the salsa verde by the canning/ hot water bath?
This recipe isn’t meant for canning.
Not shabby at all. Here are 3 variations to mix and match with.
1: Try using sea salt instead of table salt and a shot glass of spring water to the first blending to help the mixture.
2: add 1 young nopales leaf ( cactus ) to the broiling process
3: add some cabbage to the onion & cilantro mixture, I use a 1/4 -1/5 to 1 ratio
I made this recipe last year! Very simple and delicious tasty! I also freeze it in canning jars! So good! I will make again this year!
I grow a good size garden and tomatillos
Fresh are the best! And can take alot of room!
Mary
The BEST Salsa Verde!
Thank you.
You’re welcome, Nancie!
Yum! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Lindsey! Thank you for your review.
Delicious! I usually make tomato based salsas. I’m thrilled to find a wonderful alternative. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Laura!
Just prepared the salsa verde for our street taco night at home! wow it tastes soooo good right out the blender but even better after a few hours refrigerated. Thanks for the recipe. Will be making this for every taco night we have! :)
Great to hear, Natalie!
This recipe is awesome, I’m gonna freeze it after it cools
Great to hear, Carolynn! I appreciate your review.
Are you sure you meant 1-1/2 lbs of tomatillos to equal about12 tomatillos? It took 20 medium to largish tomatillos to make almost 1-1/2 lbs–I stopped adding more because I thought I already had too many.
Roasted the tomatillos and jalapeños until blackened and added ,pre cilantro-made this recipe twice and it’s delicious
Thank you for your review, Collette!
Thank you! I will try this.
Great to hear, Tiffany!
Wow is all I can say! Ok I’ll say more, this recipe is so easy and so delicious it makes me want to grow a garden of tomatillos next year! I didn’t have fresh cilantro so I used dried and it taste so good! Try it, you won’t be disappointed!
Thank you for your review, Tammy!
I have frozen it and it is easy and taste great. I love salso verde and this way I have it on hand.