Roasted tomatillo salsa (salsa verde) is endlessly tangy and garlicky with a zing of lime. With rich flavors from oven-roasted tomatillos, onions, jalapeño, and garlic, it’s an addictively delicious dip.
Serve this mouthwatering appetizer alongside tortilla chips, pile it on tacos, or add a drizzle to your fajita platter. It’s naturally vegan & gluten-free.
Last summer, our CSA kept us in supply with tomatillos – small fruits that look like green tomatoes with papery husks.
To make the most of our bounty, I made batch after batch of salsa verde. I quickly got addicted to the deliciousness of roasted green salsa.
Whenever I’d pull the baking sheet out of the oven and see the deep, dark blackened spots on the tomatillos, onion, and jalapeño, I’d know it was going to be another stellar batch of homemade salsa.
There’s tanginess from the tomatillos and lime, caramelized sweetness from the onions & garlic, and undertones of smokiness from oven roasting all of them to perfection.
It’s what makes roasted tomatillo salsa highly craveable.
Oven roasting intensifies and amplifies the ingredients’ natural flavors in the most inviting of ways. (But be warned, it may forever ruin store-bought, jarred salsa verde for you!)
This dip is ideal for serving at parties, cookouts, and get-togethers. It’s always a crowd-pleaser.
In this post:
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe.
Tomatillos: You can find fresh tomatillos at many supermarkets, including Mexican grocery stores and Walmart. In the late summer and early fall, you may also be able to get them at the farmers market or through your CSA.
For this tomatillo salsa recipe, I like to use medium-sized tomatillos. Do not use canned tomatillos for this recipe.
Onion: Yellow onion gets wonderfully flavorful and sweet when roasted. Choose one that is small to medium-sized.
Garlic: For best results, choose medium to large cloves. If your cloves are very small, you may need to remove them from the oven early, so that they don’t burn or get hard.
To protect the garlic inside, be sure to leave the peels on the cloves when roasting.
Oil: Use avocado oil or another neutral-flavored cooking oil.
Lime juice: Freshly squeezed is best.
Jalapeño: Jalapeño peppers vary by spiciness. So if you have a low tolerance to spicy heat, check the heat level of your pepper before adding it to the salsa. If desired, you can use less or omit it completely. If you like spicier salsa, add an additional pepper.
Cilantro: Look for fresh cilantro that is bright green, not slimy or blackened.
Tip: Don’t let the cilantro stems go to waste! They have the same terrific flavor as the leaves. You can discard any thick, hard parts of the stems, but use the rest in the salsa.
Salt: Salt makes the flavors pop.
Easy step by step instructions
Here’s how to make this recipe at a glance. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.
1. Remove the papery husks from the tomatillos. Then rinse & dry the tomatillos with a towel to remove any stickiness or tackiness.
Place tomatillos, a quartered onion (peel removed), jalapeño (with stem still attached), and garlic cloves (with the peels still on) on a rimmed baking sheet. Evenly coat them with oil.
Tip: For easy clean-up, line your baking sheet in parchment paper before roasting the vegetables.
2. Roast them in the oven at 435 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
(For even browning, use a spatula to flip all of the ingredients at the 10-minute mark, or whenever they’ve browned on one side.)
For optimum deliciousness, you want the tomatillos, onions, and jalapeño to get deep brown marks from roasting, and for the garlic to soften.
Remember: When roasting vegetables, don’t be afraid of some blackened spots. That’s where the flavor is!
Remove from oven, and allow the ingredients to cool slightly. Once they’re cool enough to touch, peel the garlic cloves, and cut off the stem from the jalapeño pepper.
3. Add the roasted tomatillos, onion, jalapeño pepper, and peeled garlic to your food processor along with fresh lime juice, chopped cilantro, and salt.
4. Blend in the food processor until the salsa has reached your preferred consistency. (I like mine a little chunky for a rustic feel, but if you prefer a smoother dip, keep blending.) If necessary, stop while blending to scrape down the sides.
Enjoy the salsa while it’s still warm. Or move it to an airtight container, and refrigerate until you’re ready to enjoy it.
5. When you’re ready to eat, transfer it to a serving dish, and serve with tortilla chips for dunking.
Heads up: After cooling in the fridge, your tomatillo salsa may solidify somewhat, because of the pectin in the tomatillos. To bring it back to life & loosen it up, simply give it a stir and let it warm up a bit.
Make it your own
Make this homemade salsa recipe your own by varying the ingredients. Here are some ways to personalize this recipe:
- Vary the amounts of lime juice, garlic, or salt for more/less garlicky flavor, tang, or saltiness
- For more heat, use a spicier jalapeño or add an additional pepper
- For less heat, use a milder jalapeño, add less of it, or omit it completely
- If you don’t have tomatillos, make roasted tomato salsa instead
Serving ideas
Homemade tomatillo salsa is a tasty snack on its own with tortilla chips for dipping. But it also goes beautifully with other dishes to elevate the flavors of the meal.
Here are more serving ideas:
- Add a dollop on chickpea tacos, soy chorizo tacos, tofu tacos, or raw walnut tacos
- Serve it alongside breakfast quesadillas or jackfruit taquitos
- Use it as a topping on air fryer tostadas or veggie fajitas
- Add generous splashes on a pile of dairy-free nachos
- Throw roasted tomatillo salsa on a vegan burrito bowl
Storage instructions
Store roasted tomato salsa in an airtight container in the fridge. It will keep for about 5 days.
Be aware that tomatillo salsa may solidify somewhat in the fridge, because of pectin in the tomatillos. So when you’re ready to enjoy it, simply give it a stir and let it warm up a bit.
After that, if you’d still like it to be thinner in consistency, warm it up on the stove, blend it further in the food processor, or stir in a splash of water.
Salsa verde also freezes well. Use a freezer-safe container, and be sure to leave some headspace for the salsa to expand.
When you’re ready to enjoy it, thaw it overnight in the fridge, or use the defrost function on your microwave.
FAQ
No. Green tomatoes are under ripened tomatoes that are commonly used for fried green tomatoes. If left to their own devices, green tomatoes would become standard (usually red) ripe tomatoes.
Tomatillos, however, are a tart fruit with a papery husk that’s related to ground cherries.
Tomatillos have a tart and tangy flavor with a subtle fruitiness. (That tartness is beautifully balanced with roasted onions and garlic in this salsa recipe.)
Salsa verde sometimes thickens when cooled, because of pectin in tomatillos. It’s the same substance that makes jams and jellies thicken and form gels.
No, this tomatillo salsa recipe is meant for storing in the refrigerator, not canning.
Canning is outside of my area of expertise, so I can’t make any recommendations about using this recipe for canning.
More tasty dips you’ll love
Want to serve more dips alongside your salsa verde? These dips go well with it:
If you try this recipe and love it, let me know! Leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comment section below. It truly makes my day and is such a help!
📖 Recipe
Oven roasted tomatillo salsa verde recipe
Ingredients
- 5 medium-sized tomatillos (about 1 pound, 4 ounces)
- 1 small to medium-sized yellow onion peeled and quartered
- 1 jalapeño pepper
- 4 to 5 garlic cloves unpeeled
- 1 Tablespoon avocado oil or other neutral-flavored cooking oil
- ¼ heaping cup chopped cilantro (Remove any hard or thick parts of the stems)
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 435 degrees. (If you like, line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper for easy clean-up.)
- Remove the papery husks from the tomatillos. Then wash and dry the tomatillos with a towel to remove any stickiness.
- Put the tomatillos, peeled & quartered onion, jalapeño pepper, and unpeeled garlic cloves on a rimmed sheet pan. Drizzle with oil, and use your hands to make sure everything gets evenly coated. Lay it all evenly across the baking sheet.
- Put the sheet pan in the oven, and roast for 15 to 20 minutes. For even roasting, use a spatula to flip everything after 10 minutes, or whenever they're brown on one side.
- Once the tomatillos, onion, and jalapeño have nice deep brown marks on both sides, remove the sheet pan from the oven and allow them to cool slightly. Once they're cool enough to touch, peel the garlic, and cut the stem off of the jalapeño.
- Put the tomatillos, onion, jalapeño, and peeled garlic into the food processor. Add chopped cilantro, lime juice, and salt. Then blend until it has reached your preferred consistency. (I like mine on the chunky side!) If necessary, stop and scrape down the sides for even blending.
- Once blended, taste and adjust for salt and lime juice as needed. You can eat the salsa right away with tortilla chips, or move it to an airtight container, and refrigerate.
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