Tomatillo green chili salsa is the backbone to a host of Mexican dishes. I use my blender for this salsa, mixing a few basic ingredients (tomatillos, onion, garlic, cilantro, and a jalapeño pepper), and then adjust the flavor to my preference.
Tomatillo Green Chili Salsa Recipe
Some of my favorite salsa ingredients are cilantro, onion, and garlic, so I use plenty in this recipe.
On the other hand, I’m a wimpy salsa eater when it comes to the added heat from chili peppers, so I start with half a jalapeño.
Once I get the basic ingredient then I taste the sauce along with my husband and son’s taste testing opinions.
They like a hotter salsa, so between the tweaking the spices we quickly end up with a medium full flavor salsa.
This chili verde recipe has just enough heat from the jalapeños that doesn’t leave us sniffling or dabbing perspired foreheads!
What are tomatillos?
These funny looking fruit are a relative of the tomato family with a papery outer skin, leaving behind a sticky residue.
Tomatillos are not sweet like the red tomatoes we serve with our salads. This fruit (yes, tomatoes are fruits!) are tart giving it the unique taste to sauces.
How to Prepare the Jalapeños for Tomatillo Green Chili Salsa
I use jalapeño or serrano peppers for this sauce.
The seeds in the chili peppers are potent, so protect yourself by using gloves or after handling the peppers rinse in cold water.
DO NOT touch your lips or eyes after touching the peppers.
First, clean the peppers and then cut the stem off and slice in half.
Should the Seeds be Removed When Making Tomatillo Green Chili Salsa?
If you are concerned about the heat it’s important to know that the pungency (or heat factor) of chile peppers is measured in multiples of 100 Scoville units.
Jalapeños range from 5,000 – 25,000. The hottest pepper is the Ghost Pepper coming in at 1,000,000 units. Now that is HOT!
Also note that the heat doesn’t come from the seeds. Capsaicin is the compound where the heat comes from and is located in the white pith or membrane or the pepper.
A little bit of the capsaicin will be on the seeds, but not nearly as much as in the pith, so use your judgement when leaving or removing the seeds.
Personally, it’s a habit for me to remove the seeds when making green chili salsa because they don’t blend up well.
Pepper Heat Index
When shopping for peppers, I always remember, the smaller the chili the hotter the bite!
Recipe Ideas Using Tomatillo Green Chili Salsa
You can get super creative with this green chili salsa. Here I browned some pork, added the sauce for a Pork Chili Verde dish.
The sauce is tasty all on it’s own, and great with chips. Make your own Baked tortilla chips and salsa!!
Mmmmm, now we’re going to add it as a condiment on top of fried or baked chicken taquitos!
The Tomatillo Salsa Verde is so versatile. Add it to any protein, use the sauce for green enchiladas, add it to eggs.
The possibilities are endless!
Tomatillo Green Chili Salsa For Mexican Dishes
Make your own tomatillo green chili salsa and adjust the heat to your preference. Use as a dip with tortilla chips or as a base for Mexican dishes like chile verde or enchiladas.
Ingredients
- 5-6 (approximately 2 lbs) tomatillos
- 3/4 cup white onion, chopped
- 3/4 cup cilantro leaves
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 lime, freshly juiced
- 1-2 jalapeño peppers (stemmed, seeded, and chopped)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 19Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 179mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 1g
Please note that the nutritional information provided are guidelines and may vary based on the brand of products used. For your specific nutritional goals use My Fitness Pal or Verywell Fit recipe calculators. All content within this site is not intended as medical diagnosis or treatment and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical expertise.
Thirsty For A Mexican Cocktail?
Give this green chili salsa a try, and serve it with a cold cerveza, paloma cocktail, low sugar margarita or Spanish sangria!
Sandra
Hi Jasline! You can leave the chili peppers out, and add some cumin (1 tsp) or chicken broth (1 tsp, instant granules) for added flavor without the spice! Definitely play with the flavors to suit your preference!
Sammie
ooh wow! This looks amazing! I didn’t know that smaller peppers = more spicy! Wow, your tomatillo salsa verde (did i spell it right? yes. phew! lol) looks amazing and it’s so versatile. I think I would love this one since I’m crazy about spice!
Sandra
I missed your comment, Sam! Yes, don’t be fooled by small cuteness! They’re packed with itty bitty spicy seeds.
Heather @ SugarDish(Me)
I am all over this salsa, Sandra! It’s bee-yew-tee-full! I always wanna play with tomatillos when I see them at the store. Now I have an excuse! Chips, taquitoes, chili verde… yuuuuuuuuum…………….. 🙂
Sandra
It’s so easy to make too! I’m lucky because I have a few Latin grocery stores to shop at, and they stock the best tomatillos!
Norma Chang
A pretty and versatile sauce. Just wondering if this sauce would freeze well.
Sandra
Hi Norma, it does freeze well, but I actually prefer canning it. I can’t keep it stocked though!
Karen (Back Road Journal)
Tomatillo salsa is so good. I use it when I make pozole verde. It has to be great on the taquitos.
Sandra
Mmmm, a bowl of pozole sounds wonderful right now! I don’t think I’ve ever had it with a green chili base, only red chili. I bet it is just as tasty!
Sandra
I like it a lot. It does add a lot of flavor to the dish.
Zoe
Everything looks very delicious. You just have to make sure that no one will double-dip in this yummy salsa.
Sandra
No double dipping!! I have a mini spoon nearby, so we’re safe 😉
Sandra
It’s so easy to make too!
Roger
Our Latino neighbors planted 1/2 acre of tomatillos in our garden. They harvested probably close to a ton of them and we put about 100 pounds in our freezer. Many of the tomatillos were ripened to dark purple. They showed us how to make salsa, which also included a Roma tomato. Using riper tomatillos, our salsa turned out purple. They put water to cover the tomatillos, tomato, and jalapeño peppers, but I will chop them and use less water next time . Also they didn’t add any acid, but I will add some lemon or lime juice.
Sandra Shaffer
Wow, you’re so lucky to have neighbors that share their amazing harvest. Your method sounds nice and easy. I definitely like that. Thanks for stopping by!