Salsa Verde

By Julia Moskin

Updated Nov. 1, 2023

Salsa Verde
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
10 minutes
Rating
4(426)
Comments
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Danny Mena, the Mexico City native who is a chef at Hecho en Dumbo, described a good salsa as being “poignant” with heat when he spoke with Julia Moskin in 2010. This recipe for his salsa verde employs a good number of chiles — anywhere between eight and 12 — alongside a couple of pounds of tangy tomatillos. Ms. Moskin described it as “a rounded, tomatillo-based trickle of concentrated flavor with Serrano chiles.” This cooked sauce is ready quickly, and just as good as a table sauce as it is in a larger main, like chilaquiles.

Featured in: Rediscovering Salsa, the Soul of Mexico in a Bowl

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Ingredients

Yield:About 2 cups
  • 3tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2pounds tomatillos, papery husks removed, cut in half
  • 8 to 12Serrano chilies (depending on heat tolerance)
  • ½onion, peeled
  • 1garlic clove
  • 6whole sprigs cilantro, stems included
  • Lime juice
  • Salt
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a wide skillet, heat oil until shimmering but not smoking. Add tomatillos, chilies, onion (cut-side down) and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, turning often, until vegetables are browned, turning to black, and seared on all sides.

  2. Step 2

    Add cilantro and purée with blender until smooth and creamy, adding a little water if needed to loosen. Season to taste with salt and lime juice. The sauce should be tart and spicy but rounded in flavor.

Tip
  • This salsa is good on fish and particularly good with tongue.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
426 user ratings
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Comments

diana

i recommend roasting all ingredients in the oven, covered in olive oil and salt, until everything has some brown roasted colour, and then blend. unbelievably good!

Angela

I am sure it works great. But, I recommend doing this dry roasting on the skillet, or 'comal' as called in Mexico. This is a technique in itself, and it develops a particular quality to flavours, and bestows the Mexican personality to the dish.

DarlaD

cooking the tomatillos releases all their flavor and softens them into an unctuous deliciousness....I don't recall anyone in mexico using them raw. They are often boiled to softness and then used.

eliza383

I love this recipe. It’s a little bit of a harmless mystery at times, as this type of recipe should be imo - if you’re gonna blend the onion you’re probably cut both sides of it, for example. And flipping frequently, well, both cut sides will go down, a lot. And no mention of time, well, that’s just bc it’ll take as long as it takes. I can’t imagine having a burnt up pan afterwards with this much oil and moisture. Everything turned beautifully brown, then bordering on black, and it was time to puree. Took two run throughs on purée in my Ninja to get nice and creamy It’s really delicious and fun to make!

Lulu Doesn’t Cook

Wow. Way too spicy for my families’ taste. Not to mention I absolutely destroyed the pan trying to get get the brown/burned veggie look. Made this once in a cooking class and I don’t recall it being such a disaster. Recipe for cleaning a burnt skillet?

Mosta Merica

"Spicy but rounded" and "particularly good with tongue." Well, I'm in.

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