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Mexican Salsa Verde

Charred tomatillos give this spoonable green salsa a concentrated, gently sweet edge, while cooling before seasoning keeps its lime and salt in balance.

Thick Mexican salsa verde with charred tomatillo flecks and fresh cilantro fills a small ceramic bowl.

This salsa uses a quick broil to soften tomatillos and concentrate their juices before blending. The method keeps the texture thick and spoonable, with a mellow tartness and a faintly smoky edge.

Choose the flavor of the tomatillos

Broiling gives the tomatillos blistered skins and evaporates some surface moisture, which concentrates their flavor and makes the salsa a little sweeter and less sharply acidic. Simmering them instead keeps a cleaner, brighter tartness, but it releases more liquid and produces a softer, less smoky body.

Keep the blend spoonable

Pulse the cooled vegetables rather than running the blender continuously; small pieces give the salsa body and keep it from turning into a thin puree. The roasted tomatillo juices usually provide enough moisture, so add water only if the mixture will not fall from a spoon.

Tomatillos, onion wedges, garlic, and green chile blister on a tray beneath the broiler. — Tomatillos, onion, garlic, and green chile blister together under the broiler.

Season when cool

Warm vegetables can blur the way salt and lime taste, so let the roasted mixture cool before blending and tasting. Add salt in small pinches and lime a teaspoon at a time; the goal is a clear tart finish that supports the char rather than hiding it.

Let the flavors settle

A short rest lets the roasted aromatics and green chile distribute through the tomatillo base. Serve the salsa by itself in a bowl at cool room temperature, where its spoonable texture and balanced acidity are easy to taste.

A spoon lifts coarse green salsa with glossy tomatillo pulp, char flecks, and cilantro. — A spoonful shows the salsa's thick texture, dark char flecks, and fresh cilantro.

Mexican Salsa Verde

1.5 cups

52 minutes total

Ingredients

• 1 lb tomatillos, husked and rinsed
•
• 1/4 small white onion, cut into wedges
• 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems, loosely packed
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice, plus more to taste
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste after cooling
• 2 tbsp cold water, divided and added only as needed

Method

Heat the broiler
Set an oven rack about 6 inches below the broiler element and preheat the broiler on high while you prepare the vegetables.
Look for: The broiler element is fully hot before the tray goes in.
Prepare the produce
Pat the rinsed tomatillos dry, then arrange them with the onion wedges, unpeeled garlic, and either the 2 serranos or 1 medium jalapeño on a rimmed metal tray.
Look for: The tomatillos have no loose water that could delay blistering.
Char until tender
Broil the tray, turning the tomatillos, onion, chile, and garlic once, until the tomatillos blister in dark patches and soften, the onion edges char, and the garlic is fragrant, about 8 to 12 minutes.
Look for: Tomatillos are soft and blistered, with some dark spots but no completely collapsed puddle.
Cool and peel
Let the vegetables and their tray juices cool for 20 minutes; squeeze the garlic from its skins, remove the chile stems, and, if using jalapeño for less heat, scrape out its seeds.
Look for: The vegetables are cool enough to blend without trapping hot steam.
Pulse the salsa
Add the cooled tomatillos, onion, chile, garlic, cilantro, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon water to a blender; pulse just until spoonable with small pieces remaining.
Look for: The salsa mounds briefly on a spoon instead of running like a thin puree.
Balance after cooling
Taste the cooled salsa, then add salt in small pinches and lime juice in 1 teaspoon additions until its savory, tart balance is clear without masking the roasted tomatillos.
Look for: The finished salsa tastes bright and seasoned, with neither salt nor lime dominating.
Adjust the texture
If the salsa is too thick to spoon, pulse in the remaining cold water 1 teaspoon at a time; stop as soon as it loosens, since roasted tomatillo juices already provide body.
Look for: A spoonful holds together but falls off the spoon with a gentle tap.
Rest and serve
Rest the salsa for 10 minutes so the chile and roasted aromatics settle into the tomatillo base, then spoon it into a serving bowl at cool room temperature.
Look for: The salsa has a cohesive green flavor and remains thick enough to scoop.