Salsa verde (cooked tomatillo salsa)
A bright, tangy green salsa of charred tomatillos, fresh green chilli and coriander. It lifts tacos, eggs, chicken and grilled fish.
Make this once, then cook it into 70 different dishes.
- Time30 min
- LevelEasy
- Costabout £0.33 a head
- Makesabout 650 ml, enough for 2 to 3 dishes for 4 people
Cost is worked out from Aldi and Tesco shelf prices in October 2026. Your shop and brands will differ.
Ingredients
Tick what you need to buy. It goes on your shopping list.
Method
- 1
Heat the grill to its highest setting. Put the tomatillos, chillies and unpeeled garlic on a tray lined with foil. Grill for 5 to 6 minutes, turn, then grill for another 4 to 5 minutes until blistered, olive green and soft. Keep any juices from the tray. If using tinned tomatillos, drain them and grill only the chillies and garlic.
10 min - 2
Let everything cool for 5 minutes. Peel the garlic and remove the chilli stalks. Remove the seeds from the chillies for a milder salsa.
- 3
Put the tomatillos with their juices, chillies, garlic, onion, water, lime juice and salt in a blender. Blend for 20 seconds until mostly smooth.
- 4
Add the coriander and pulse 3 or 4 times, just until it is chopped in and the salsa is bright green. Do not over blend.
- 5
Taste and adjust the salt and lime juice. It should taste lively, tangy and fresh. Add a splash of water if it is too thick to pour.
- 6
Pour into a clean container, cool and chill within 2 hours. Use as a table salsa, or in the dish recipes that call for your ready made salsa verde.
About salsa verde (cooked tomatillo salsa)
Salsa verde is a Mexican green salsa made from tomatillos, fresh green chillies, onion, garlic and coriander. Tomatillos are small green fruits wrapped in a papery husk, related to the tomato, and they give the salsa its sharp, lemony tang.
The tomatillos and chillies are cooked first, either charred under a hot grill or simmered, which softens the acidity and brings out a gentle sweetness. The onion, garlic and coriander are blended in raw for freshness. The result is vivid green, pourable and zesty, with heat you control through the chillies.
Use it with tacos al pastor and carnitas, on chilaquiles verdes, with eggs, spooned over grilled chicken or fish, or as the starting point for enchiladas verdes and pozole verde. In the UK, tomatillos are sold fresh in some specialist shops and tinned in many world food aisles. Both work.
Tips
- Cook the tomatillos only until they turn from bright green to dull olive and soften. Cooking them until they burst loses the fresh tang and turns the salsa murky.
- Use tinned tomatillos if you cannot find fresh ones. Drain them, skip the cooking step and blend them with the raw chilli, garlic and onion, then simmer the blended salsa for 5 minutes.
- Do not blend for long once the coriander goes in. A short pulse keeps the colour bright; a long blend turns it brown and bitter.
- Keep the chilli seeds for heat or discard them for mild. Two jalapeños with seeds is medium; four serranos is properly hot.
- If the salsa tastes too sharp, add a pinch of salt first, then a very small pinch of sugar. Tomatillo acidity varies a lot from batch to batch.
Storing and freezing
Cool within 2 hours, then keep covered in the fridge for up to 4 days. Freeze in 250 ml portions for up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the fridge and heat until steaming hot before cooking with it; the colour darkens slightly after freezing.
Dishes you can make with salsa verde (cooked tomatillo salsa)
Huevos en Salsa Verde (Eggs Poached in Green Salsa)
NFVTacos de Carnitas con Salsa Verde (Crispy Pork Tacos)
DFEFNFEnchiladas Suizas (Swiss Style Chicken Enchiladas)
EFNFTacos Dorados de Papa (Crispy Potato Tacos)
GFDFEFChicharrón en Salsa Verde (Crackling in Green Salsa)
GFEFNFPescado a la Plancha con Salsa Verde y Arroz (Seared Fish in Green Salsa)
GFDFEFCamarones en Salsa Verde (Prawns in Green Salsa)
GFDFEFPollo en Salsa Verde (Braised Chicken in Green Salsa)
DFEFNFCostillas de Cerdo en Salsa Verde (Pork Ribs in Green Salsa)
DFEFNFSopes de Frijol con Salsa Verde (Masa Cups with Beans)
GFEFNFTamales de Puerco en Salsa Verde (Pork Tamales in Green Salsa)
GFDFEFQuesadillas de Champiñones con Salsa Verde (Mushroom Quesadillas)
EFNFQuestions
What can I use instead of tomatillos?
Tinned tomatillos are the best swap and are sold in many world food aisles and online. In a pinch, use firm underripe green tomatoes plus the juice of 1 lime, but the flavour is not the same and the salsa will taste less sharp.
How long does homemade salsa verde last?
Up to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge, or 3 months in the freezer in portions. Cool it within 2 hours of cooking, and always use a clean spoon so it does not pick up bacteria.
Can I make salsa verde less spicy?
Yes. Remove all seeds and white veins from the chillies, use one jalapeño instead of two, and add a handful of extra coriander. The tomatillos give tang, not heat, so the chillies decide how spicy it is.
Is salsa verde vegan and gluten free?
Yes. It contains only tomatillos, chillies, onion, garlic, coriander, lime and salt, so it is vegan, gluten free, dairy free, egg free and nut free.
Can I make it without cooking the tomatillos?
You can blend them raw, which gives a very sharp, grassy salsa, but cooking them is traditional and tastes better. Charring or simmering for 6 to 8 minutes mellows the acidity and removes the raw edge.
Why did my salsa verde go brown?
It was blended too long, or stored for too long. Blend the coriander briefly, keep the salsa chilled, and eat within 4 days. A squeeze of lime juice helps keep the colour bright.
More base recipes
Double check before you cook. Recipes can contain mistakes. Any diet labels come from the ingredients as written in this recipe and are a guide, not a guarantee. Always check every ingredient and the packet label for allergens and cross contamination, and ask your doctor or dietitian what is right for you, especially with coeliac disease, diabetes or a serious allergy. This is not medical advice.