Green Chile Salsa

10–15 minutes
to prep

40 minutes
to cook

2 cups

About this Recipe

This Green Chile Salsa recipe gets its kick from Anaheim peppers and jalapeños. It’s the perfect appetizer with chips or drizzled over your favorite Mexican dishes.

Recipe by: Evangelina Perez-Bechtel
Photos by: Kirby Johnson

Ingredients

10 tomatillos, outer husk removed
5 Anaheim peppers
3 jalapeño peppers
1 large onion, sliced
1 whole garlic bulb
½ cup water
1 – 2 teaspoons salt
Juice of 1 small lime
Cilantro (optional)

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1

Heat oven to 425 F.

Step 2

Remove the husk and slice tomatillos in half.

Step 3

Slice a small portion of the top of the garlic bulb off. This will allow you to remove the cloves more easily after the garlic is roasted. Wrap garlic bulb in foil.

Step 4

Cover a shallow baking tray with parchment paper. Place the sliced tomatillos, Anaheim peppers, jalapeños, sliced onions, and wrapped garlic bulb on the baking sheet, and place in the oven to roast.

Step 5

Watch carefully so your peppers, onions, and tomatillos char, but do not burn. After about 20 minutes, the skins of the chiles should begin to char. You want them to be well-roasted; the char adds a rich flavor. Turn them over to char on the other side. Total time may be 30 to 40 minutes depending on your oven and the size of the ingredients.

Step 6

When the other side is roasted, remove from the oven. Sweat the peppers by placing them in a tightly sealed container. This will help loosen the skin of the peppers and easily remove them. Keep them in the container for about 10 – 15 minutes to cool.

Step 7

After the peppers have cooled, remove the skins. Use gloves for this process so that your hands do not burn from the hot peppers. It is okay to leave a little bit of char if you can’t remove it, but too much will not taste good.

Step 8

For salsa that is not too spicy, remove the stem and seeds. If you love hot salsa, remove stems only.

Step 9

Unwrap the garlic from the foil. From the bottom of the bulb, squeeze out the roasted cloves towards the top of the bulb where you sliced the top off. The garlic should be soft enough to slide right out.

Step 10

Add garlic, onions, tomatillos, peppers, salt, water, and lime to your food processor. Begin with 1 teaspoon of salt—add more to taste if necessary.

Step 11

Blend the ingredients in the food processor until there is an even and consistent texture. Do not over blend. If salsa is too thick, add more water.

Step 12

Taste and adjust flavors as needed.

Step 13

If using cilantro, add it to the mixture and pulse only 3 or 4 times. Over processing the cilantro will cause it to become more bitter. Enjoy!