Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

This roasted tomatillo salsa verde is full of flavor and is a fantastic snack, dip, side, or condiment for your favorite Mexican dishes. Packed with roasted tomatillos, jalapeño, poblano pepper, and tomato, it’s zesty and bright with just a little kick. Once you’ve tried this restaurant-quality homemade salsa, you’ll never go back to store-bought again.

🌶️ What Makes This Recipe So Good

• If you love rich, bright, deep, smoky salsas, then roasted tomatillo salsa is everything you could possibly hope for. We don’t stop at roasting the tomatillos. No, no. We also roast the jalapeño, the poblano, the onion, and the tomato for even more layers of even deeper flavors. Add plenty of garlic, cilantro, and a touch of white vinegar and salt to round things out. Oh, man. It’s almost hard to believe how delicious a bowl of salsa can be.
• Tomatillo season peaks in late summer and early fall, making roasted tomatillo salsa a perfect recipe for August, September, and October. Maybe not the best snack to have alongside your pumpkin spice latte, but definitely a -ber month staple in its own right.
• This salsa is perfect with your favorite tortilla chips, but don’t stop there! It’s a fantastic base for tortilla (or tortilla-less) soup. Drizzle plenty of it over your carnitas bowls. Add it to your tacos, nachos, burrito bowls, or even a Mexican omelette. Seriously, you have so many potential uses for this salsa, it’s a little out of control.

🌮 Serve It With…

Slow Cooker Carnitas (Pork Carnitas with Pork Loin or Tenderloin)

Frozen Burrito in the Air Fryer

Healthy Mexican Chicken Meal Prep (Whole30, Paleo, Keto)

Easy Chicken Burritos

browse all mexican-inspired recipes

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Tips

• Give the salsa a little time to rest before you serve it. Honestly, if you’ve got the time to chill the salsa for a couple of hours, do it. Roasted tomatillo salsa is amazing as soon as it’s prepared, don’t get me wrong. After a couple of hours, though, the flavors are even deeper, even richer, even more bold. Everything melds together in that window and it really enhances the dish.
• The salsa gets a little thicker as it stands. If it thickens too much, though, don’t worry. Just thin it back out with a little water. You may want to add a little more salt or cilantro to account for the extra fluid. Just give it a taste and adjust as needed!
• I don’t find this salsa hot by any means. I would absolutely say it’s very mild, given that both the jalapeño and the poblano (which is naturally more mild than the jalapeño) lose some of their heat when they’re roasted. If you’re at all heat-sensitive, be sure to remove the seeds and ribs from the peppers before you blend everything together. The white vinegar also neutralizes the peppers’ capsaicin, so you should be fine to make this recipe without any ingredient changes.
• When you’re shopping for tomatillos, keep these things in mind. 1) They should still have the husk intact. 2) You want them green, not yellowed or browned. 3) When you squeeze them gently, tomatillos should be firm, but not hard, and definitely not squishy.

💃🏼 More of Our Favorite Salsa Recipes

• Roasted Chili Corn Salsa (Chipotle Copycat)
• Tomatillo Red Chili Salsa
• Roasted Salsa
• Smoky Guajillo Salsa Recipe (Whole30, Vegan, Paleo)
• Best Restaurant Style Salsa Recipe
• Avocado Salsa
• Keto Salsa
• Cucumber Salsa

Hey – you’ve made it this far, so now we’re basically best friends! If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a quick review & star rating ★ below. Make sure you follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Facebook, too!

5 from 3 votes

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Prep:15 minutes minutes

Cook:15 minutes minutes

Total:30 minutes minutes

Packed with roasted tomatillos, jalapeño, poblano pepper, and tomato, this vibrant salsa verde will become your new favorite salsa.

• Pin

Print Save Saved! Click Here to Remove Ads

6 servings

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 ½ pounds tomatillos approximately 10-14 large tomatillos; husks removed, tomatillos washed
• ▢ 1 medium jalapeño pepper approximately 1 ounce
• ▢ 1 medium poblano pepper approximately 4 ounces
• ▢ half of one medium white onion approximately 3-4 ounces, quartered
• ▢ 1 roma tomato approximately 2 ounces, halved
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic peeled
• ▢ ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro plus more as needed
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons white vinegar
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt more or less to taste

Equipment

• Broiler
• Large baking sheet
• Tongs
• Sharp paring knife
• Food processor
• serving bowl or airtight container

Instructions 

• Preheat broiler on high and position rack approximately 8 to 10 inches beneath heating element.
• Place 1 ½ pounds tomatillos, 1 medium jalapeño pepper, 1 medium poblano pepper, half of one medium white onion, and 1 roma tomato on baking sheet, spreading ingredients out across pan so each can roast evenly.
• Place baking sheet under preheated broiler. Broil, turning all ingredients over occasionally, until tomatillos, jalapeño, and poblano are blistered and charred on all sides.
• Remove baking sheet from broiler and set aside to cool slightly.
• Once cooled enough to handle, pull stem out of poblano pepper and discard. Remove seeds and ribs from poblano and discard. Repeat with jalapeño pepper if desired.
• Place roasted tomatillos, jalapeño, poblano, onion, and tomato in bowl of food processor. Add 2 cloves garlic, ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, 1 ½ teaspoons white vinegar, and ½ teaspoon salt, then secure lid on food processor.
• Pulse ingredients in food processor until all ingredients are mostly uniform in size. Taste salsa and add more cilantro and/or salt if desired.
• Continue pulsing salsa until desired texture is achieved, then transfer salsa to serving bowl and serve immediately. Alternately, transfer salsa to airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

• Jalapeño Pepper: For a spicier salsa, replace the jalapeño with a serrano pepper.
• Leftovers: Refrigerate any unused salsa in an airtight container up to 2 weeks. Ingredients may settle during storage – just stir well to recombine before serving.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1serving, Calories: 53kcal, Protein: 2g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 0.2g, Sodium: 197mg, Potassium: 406mg, Total Carbs: 10g, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 6g, Net Carbs: 7g, Vitamin A: 374IU, Vitamin C: 37mg, Calcium: 18mg, Iron: 1mg

Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

 

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

 

To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

© Author: Cheryl Malik