Tomatillo Salsa

By Martha Rose Shulman

Updated June 11, 2024

Total Time: 20 minutes
Rating: 5(546)
Notes: Read community notes

I make this tangy, versatile tomatillo salsa to accompany a range of Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes. It’s always great with shrimp and fish, and it’s my go-to salsa for tacos with chicken in the filling, and with vegetables like potatoes and greens, summer squash and corn. I roast the tomatillos under the broiler before blending them to get a deep, toasty flavor. You can also roast the chiles if you want a deeper roasted-spicy flavor, as opposed to grassy-spicy flavor. If you wish to roast the chiles alongside the tomatillos, place the whole chiles on the baking sheet, too; they will be done faster than the tomatillos, only a minute or two on each side. Once they're cool enough to handle, peel and stem them, and coarsely chop, then proceed with the recipe.

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Ingredients

Yield:2 cups

1pound tomatillos, husked and rinsed
2 to 4jalapeño or serrano chiles, to taste, coarsely chopped (and seeded, if you would like a milder salsa)
¼cup chopped white or yellow onion, soaked for 5 minutes in cold water, drained and rinsed
1garlic clove, peeled and halved (optional)
½cup coarsely chopped cilantro
Salt to taste

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Heat broiler, positioning a rack at the highest setting under the heat. Cover a baking sheet with foil and place tomatillos on top, stem side down. Broil 2 to 5 minutes, until charred on one side. Turn tomatillos over and broil 2 to 5 minutes longer, until charred. Transfer tomatillos to a blender, tipping in any juice that may have accumulated on the foil.
Step 2
Add chiles, onions, garlic (if using), cilantro and ¼ cup water to blender and blend to a coarse purée. Transfer to a bowl and thin out as desired with water. Taste and adjust salt. Set aside for at least 30 minutes before serving, to allow the flavors to develop.

Ratings

5 out of 5

546 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

Joan6 years ago

Fabulous and easy recipe. I put the onion, garlic and peppers in the broiler as well. Sometimes add a squeeze of lime at the end if it needs to be brightened up.

Leena5 years ago

This is a classic take on Mexican salsa verde either this cooked version or as fresco. Living decades in AZ, it’s a staple. Easy to grow tomatillo vines are also now part of our landscaping mixed in the flowers and herbs, giving huge harvests. When this sauce gets too familiar, I change it up by blending in half or a whole avocado depending on how much I have left & how creamy I want it. Add a dash of chicken broth and you ave a great enchilada sauce too. Also excellent on any egg dish.

Laura vickers5 years ago

I too put the onions and garlic -and one jalapeño -on a sheet pan. Dumped it all in the food processor after baking at 400 for 25 minutes. Added a teaspoon of sugar as my tomatillos were very tart. I was pleased with how easy and delicious this was.

best tomatillo salsa2 years ago

Roast the onion, peppers and garlic (skin on) with the tomatillos. Squeeze garlic out of skin into the blender with other ingredients. Add lime juice to make it perfect!

Pam5 years ago

I only rated this 5 stars because 6 stars isn't an option. It's incredibly versatile as a sauce when combined with crema/greek yogurt. As others have suggested, you can roast *EVERYTHING* and it takes on a different flavor. Try all the ways. It's quick, easy and delicious.

Benjamin2 years ago

Needs acid. Add juice from 1 lime.

Carey3 years ago

I've been making "this recipe" for decades--love it! I throw all ingredients under the broiler and simply whiz it together in the food processor (like others have said). But my secret weapon is a tbsp or so of seasoned sushi rice vinegar. It totally lightens it up and deepens the individual flavors.

kathy in CA1 year ago

Pro tip: do not suffer a mental lapse and use parchment paper if you broil it, like I did. Duh. Stick with foil. The ratio of ingredients here is perfect.

caryperk1 month ago

Love this every time. Such a simple way to perk up last minute tacos

Sheila5 months ago

Great salsa with pulled pork! Added a poblano pepper and 1 jalapeno and broiled everything. I forgot how much I loved the sour, tangy bright flavor of tomatillos.

Anne5 months ago

My first time growing tomatillos and making salsa from them. I followed the recipe exactly (except for replacing cilantro with parsley - yes, I'm one of those people), but after it was refrigerated, it turned into a hard jelly like texture. Anyone have any idea what happened?

Paul8 months ago

Easy-peasy. Made a double recipe with tomatillos from the garden and used half for Sam Sifton's enchiladas with salsa verde recipe (which has a suspiciously identical salsa verde recipe). The only variation was not blanching the white onion. Delicious!

Sally8 months ago

It may be anathema, but I didn't have any cilantro and my goal this morning is to cook up everything from my CSA so I didn't want to go buy anything. I did have Italian parsley and I swapped it in instead. Who knew? It's really delicious and adds a nice brightness to complement the heat of the jalapeños. It's great with corn chips. This recipe is so quick and easy, I'll definitely make it again when my cilantro is restocked.

MeBoat8 months ago

Perfect

Sharry8 months ago

I made this recipe and added a little chicken broth. The best tomatillo recipie I've come across yet

Tammy9 months ago

I also add diced avocado.

Adam9 months ago

Great recipe, but needs a half a lime added at the end

philip orton10 months ago

Loved this salsa. The broiling (burning!) gave it a more earthy flavor than my usual raw tomatillo salsa. Tomatillo salsas typically call for water and not lime juice, but it might be good to try the latter here. This was devine but two days later was a bit off, I think already turning due to not having any acid to prevent spoilage.

Valerie10 months ago

I roasted the tomatillos in my toaster oven on the air fryer setting at 400. It gave them a good color, and kept the temp down in my kitchen. Threw everything into a Tupperware pitcher and blended with my immersion blender. Everyone raved about it! With my prolific tomatillo plans this year, I’ll make more of this for sure!!

Tim10 months ago

Feel free to toss the corn out since it's not used

Sandi1 year ago

I roasted the tomatillos and jalapenos on the grill since we were grilling anyway. A little lime added some needed acid. The results were "crowd-pleasing", for sure! Will definitely make again.

Clint1 year ago

Definitely needs acid. Just a couple limes juiced made it a ton better. Also, I think a healthy dose of cumin adds a lot of complexity.

Peggy chaikin1 year ago

I had a few garden tomatillos and cherry tomatoes. Broiled them in toaster oven. Blended this with cumin, red onion, garlic clove and chipotle chili powder… made do with what I had.

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