My first experience with Salsa Verde was a jar I bought at Trader Joe’s about 5 years ago. Before that I’d never even heard of a green salsa or a tomatillo. A friend of mine recommended it as a base for a chicken and white bean chili that she made which was delicious and made me a fan of it forever.
Since then I have found many other uses for Salsa Verde and the best I’ve ever had is out of a taco truck in Ladson, SC. I have yet to make a batch as good as theirs but this recipe is quite tasty. It doesn’t call for roasting them beforehand, but if you do it does add a nice flavor to it.
Just put the husked and washed tomatillos, onions, garlic cloves and peppers in a roasting pan and hit them under the broiler until they get roasty and a little charred. Or you can even grill all the veggies first.
This recipe starts with all fresh raw veggies that get blended and cooked in a pot. I got my tomatillos from a farmer’s market but I hear they are easy to grow and next year I’m going to try it.
PrintEasy Salsa Verde (Tomatillo Salsa) for canning
- Yield: 12 pints 1x
- Category: Condiment
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
- 9–10lbs tomatillos husked, washed and cored
- 3 onions quartered skins removed
- 3 jalapeno peppers (remove seeds to reduce heat)
- 1 habanero pepper (remove seeds or omit altogether if you want a mild salsa)
- 8 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 bunch cilantro (washed well),
- 1cup lime juice (lemon will also work)
- 2 Tbsp dried ground cumin
- 1.5 Tbsp kosher salt (or to taste)
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper (or to taste)
- 4 dried & smoked chili’s – optional (can find in produce section of most grocery stores)
Instructions
- The easiest way to make this is to put the ingredients into a blender or food processor. I used my vitamix blender on a low setting so it wasn’t completely liquefied. You can chop all of the ingredients by hand it just gives you a chunkier salsa (not a bad thing) and takes much longer. If you use a blender, do the tomatillos first in batches and add to a large saucepan. Then blend the onion and garlic and add to pan. You can blend the peppers, lime juice, and entire bunch (cut off roots if attached but leave stems) of cilantro together and add that to the pot. Then add your salt, pepper, cumin and dried chili’s to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Ladle into hot pint jars and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Makes about 12 pints.
Just a heads up,15 minutes wasn’t enough processing time for me. I put them in for another 30 and sealed up fine. Great flavor!
When I broil all the veggies for the salsa, it gives out lot of liquid. Should I through the liquid out?
Nope, add it to the salsa!
Could you use this when making tamales?
Is the lime or lemon juice enough to safely can this? I am just wondering since I have always used vinegar. I use homemade flavored vinegar to add a little special taste :)
★★★★★
I checked and lime juice is actually more acid than vinegar..
Just made my first batch! I know it will be wonderful just by the smell!
This sounds wonderful…is there a way I can cut it down to a few jars? I’m not good with measuring.
Also wondering about “dried and smoked chili” would you mean powdered chipotle pepper? Love your recipes, makes me want to cook all of them!! Thanks for posting this and so many recipes!! Have a great 2013 year!!
Thanks Roberta! You could certainly cut this recipe in half or even quarter it depending on how much you want to end up with. The dried and smoked chili’s are sold whole in cellophane bags – either in your grocery store’s mexican aisle, or near the produce section. You don’t have to use them if you can’t find them, they just add a nice flavor.
Thanks for your reply, now I know what you’re talking about…dried chile in cellophane bags.