Perfect for a Cinco de Mayo celebration, this is an incredibly easy tomatillo and poblano salsa that only requires a few ingredients and can elevate any dish you add it to. It’s got a bright and happy flavor, and it’s also great on its own as simple chips and dip.
Perfect for a Cinco de Mayo celebration, this is an incredibly easy tomatillo and poblano salsa that only requires a few ingredients and can elevate any dish you add it to. It’s got a bright and happy flavor, and it’s also great on its own as simple chips and dip.
When it comes to Salsas, I will almost always pick a green salsa over a red salsa. I also prefer verde enchiladas to your standard red sauce enchiladas.
For most of my life, I thought that green salsas came from green tomatoes, and I was actually embarrassingly old before I realized that tomatillos were NOT interchangeable with tomatoes. I had always seen tomatillos in the store, but I honestly thought they were just a harder to get to tomato. It wasn’t until far too recently that I received tomatillos in a meal kit service dinner and realized just how easy and delicious these little guys are to prepare on their own.
What Are Tomatillos:
Tomatillo translated means “little tomato” in Spanish, and these fruits (technically berries) are native to Mexico where they’ve been grown since 800 BC.
They are part of the nightshade family, along with tomatoes, peppers and potatoes. They’re low in calories and high in fiber, and have a bright citrusy flavor that goes incredibly well with all sorts of dishes – not just Mexican food.
The tomatillos you are most likely to find in a grocery store are the green variety, which are generally the size of a plum or a golf ball. You may also sometimes see a smaller, purple variety, but those are rare to find outside of a specialized grocery store. Ripe tomatillos are firm to the touch, and should fill the paper husk they come in almost or completely fully. To make the tomatillos, you need to remove the husk – the tomatillo will be sticky where the husk was attached – a quick rinse in water will remove that residue.
To Make Tomatillo and Poblano Salsa:
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Preheat your oven to 425. Start by removing the husks from the tomatillos, and rinsing the residue off of them. Slice them in half and lay them flat on a lined baking sheet.
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Cut the poblanos and jalapenos in half as well and lay them cut side down on the baking sheet. You can seed the peppers if you want – if you do, the salsa wont be very spicy. I like to seed half of the peppers and leave the seeds in the other half which makes a nice mildly spicy salsa.
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Peel the onion and cut into rings and lay the rings on the baking sheet as well.
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Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, and using tongs, carefully transfer the peppers to a bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the peppers sit and cool for 20 minutes in the bowl. Let the tomatillos sit on the baking sheet while the peppers cool. Once the peppers have cooled, remove the charred peels, and throw them away.
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Add the peppers, onion, and the tomatillos, as well as any tomatillo juice that has accumulated on the baking sheet to the bowl of a blender or food processor (food processor is a better choice here in my opinion). Add the cilantro, lime juice, and salt and process until the salsa is your preferred level of thickness. I like a smoother salsa, so I generally add a few tablespoons of water to get it a little smoother, but that’s not necessary.
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Refrigerate until cold, and serve with chips, or use as a topping for tacos, enchiladas, huevos rancheros, or you can mix some of it into rice for a green rice side dish. The possibilities are endless.
8
Sara Rauckhorst
5 Min
20 Min
25 Min
Tomatillo and Poblano Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds tomatillos, fresh, husks removed and sliced in half
- 2 poblano peppers, halved (seeded if desired)
- 2 jalapeno peppers, halved (seeded if desired)
- 1 large onion, peeled and cut into rings
- 1 cup packed fresh cilantro (stems are okay)
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- tortilla chips, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425.
- On a foil lined baking sheet, place the tomatillos and halved peppers cut side down. Add the onions onto the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until browned and tender.
- Using tongs, carefully remove the peppers from the sheet pan and place them in a bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the peppers cool for 20 minutes and then remove and discard the charred pepper skins.
- Place the tomatillos, onions and peppers along with any accumulated juices from the baking sheet into the bowl of a food processor. Add the cilantro, lime juice and salt as well, and run the food processor until the salsa reaches your desired consistency. If you like the salsa a little smoother, add a few tablespoons of water.
- Serve with chips.
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