It’s day two of Fourth of July eats, and today we’re moving to appetizers! Whether your cookout is lunch or dinner time, you know you’re in for some snacking before the main event. And salsa is always the right move. Especially if it’s a homemade roasted salsa verde. With margaritas, of course.
When I first started messing with proper homemade salsa recipes, I was simply mixing up a few ingredients and calling it salsa. But a little birdie (a.k.a. a serious Texan who knows everything about good salsa and good chili) told me that the best salsa needs to have roasted vegetables. So I tried roasting my tomatoes and vegetables for a homemade salsa recipe I made for work, and well, she was right. So naturally, a homemade salsa verde recipe needs to have the same quality of awesomeness.
Tomatillos are the key ingredient for salsa verde
For a homemade salsa verde, you actually use tomatillos instead of tomatoes. Unlike green tomatoes, tomatillos don’t turn red when they go ripe, and they are covered by a skin. When you unwrap them, they’ll be a little sticky and harder than a juicy tomato.
My homemade salsa verde recipe calls for 10-12 tomatillos. I like to use 12, but 10 also works fine. The fewer tomatillos you put in the salsa, the more limey the salsa will taste. So keep that in mind. If you can get your hands on 12 tomatillos, grab them. I was able to easily find these at Stop & Shop.
Alright here’s a step-by-step process on how to make homemade salsa verde.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Unwrap the tomatillos
You want the tomatillos to roast without the skins, so unwrap them. The outer layers will easily come on, so you won’t even have to use a knife or a peeler. Compost the scraps.
Roast with other vegetables for 30 minutes.
To make salsa verde, you’ll need to roast 10-12 tomatillos, one onion, three garlic cloves, and one jalapeño. Peel both the onion and the garlic cloves, and cut the onion in half before adding to the sheet pan, and make sure to spray down the sheet pan with an olive oil spray before the veggies go on it. Roast the vegetables in the oven for 30 minutes.
Add to a food processor with lime juice and cilantro
When the vegetables are finished roasting, add them to a food processor with the juice of one lime and a handful of fresh cilantro. As you can see, I even left the stems. Blend them up, too, no food waste!
One note about the jalapeño: After I roast the vegetables, I simply remove the stem of the jalapeño pepper and add the whole thing in—seeds and all. It gives the salsa a bit of a kick, but not too much. Basically, if you’re into having a medium salsa, this is the perfect heat for you.
Pulse for 15 seconds
When it comes to homemade salsa, you don’t want to just blend it up. You’ll want to keep some of those chunks that people can scoop up with their chips. I like to pulse the roasted salsa verde for at least 15 seconds, or until the salsa is semi-smooth. I took a photo of the consistency so you can see what I mean.
Looking for more appetizer ideas?
Here are a few of my faves—and perfect for the Fourth of July! Or any gathering you’re having.
- Italian Bruschetta with Goat Cheese
- Roasted Artichokes
- Prosciutto Cucumber Bites
- Charcuterie board
- Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Dip
Salsa Verde
Ingredients
- 10-12 tomatillos skins off
- 1 yellow onion peeled and halved
- 3 garlic cloves peeled
- 1 jalapeño
- Juice of a lime
- Handful of fresh cilantro about 1/2 cup loosely packed
- Olive oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray down a sheet pan.
- Place the peeled tomatillos, onion halves, garlic cloves, and the entire jalapeño onto the sheet pan.
- Roast for 30 minutes.
- Take the stem off the jalapeño pepper and compost.
- Place all the roasted vegetables in a food processor with the juice of one lime and a handful of fresh cilantro.
- Pulse for 15 seconds.
- Serve with chips, fresh-cut veggies, and margaritas!
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