Just in case you are looking for a little different salsa, here is a recipe for Tomatillo Salsa with New Mexico roasted green chile. The chile adds a different flavor than other peppers but you still get the heat that you need in a salsa. Of course, if you don’t have any green chile, you can always substitute with another type of pepper. See the Kitchen Notes for some substitutions.
Like any salsa, you can use this Green Chile Tomatillo Salsa in a variety of ways – tostados, tacos, eggs, sandwiches, or with chips – just to name a few. Experiment and enjoy!
Green Chile Tomatillo Salsa Recipe
Yields a little over 2 cups
Prep time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
8 to 10 tomatillos, husked removed, washed to remove sticky surface, coarsely chopped (1.5 to 2 cups)
¼ cup onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced (use a roasted garlic clove is you have it)
¼ to ½ cup chopped roasted and peeled green chile
1/8 tsp. ground coriander, toasted
1/8 tsp. ground cumin, toasted
1 tsp. vinegar
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. sugar
Instructions
- Coarsely chop the tomatillo and transfer to a processor. Pulse until finely chopped. (Don’t over do it or you’ll end up with tomatillo soup.)
- Transfer tomatillo to a colander and let drain while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Transfer all ingredients into a bowl and stir.
- Use immediately or refrigerate until ready to use. Keeps in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days.
Tomatillos are more common in Mexican cuisine, but through the years they have found their way into New Mexican cuisine – which is not surprising given our location. Tomatillos and green chile make a mean green chile sauce which is perfect for people who want the flavor of the green chile but with less heat.
Kitchen Notes
The tomatillos – The greener smaller tomatillos are the best if you can find them. They are more tart which we like. For this recipe, avoid the lighter, yellowish fruit if you can. They are riper which yields a “softer” salsa as opposed to a crispy salsa. The riper ones work great in a sauce, but not in this salsa.
Tomatillos have a sticky, waxy film on the surface, so when you wash them, you might have to scrub a little harder than most fruit to remove the film.
I don’t roast the tomatillos because I love the tartness and texture of leaving them raw. In the fall I’ve been known to substitute the tomatillos with “small” green tomatoes. The result is not quite the same, but close enough.
The green chile – I use anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup chile, depending on how hot I want it and how hot the chile is. You can always substitute 1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh, minced jalapeno or pickled jalapeno as well as poblanos or your personal favorite green pepper.
The seasoning – Since I usually have coriander and cumin seeds, I toast about 1/2 tsp. of each type of seed in a skillet, grind them together, then add 1/4 tsp. of the mix. The remaining seasoning gets added to another dish during the week.
Some of you may be asking “what is the red?” Roasted New Mexico green chile usually has a few roasted red chiles mixed in because not all of the red chile gets pulled before roasting. So we get a mix with a lot of green and a little red. I love a little red because it makes things pretty – and it is my favorite color. 
If you like this salsa, then you’ll also like these red and green chile sauces.
This Tomatillo Salsa recipe has been linked up to the following blog hops. Be sure to click on the links for more fabulous recipes.
Freaky Friday, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Mix It Up Monday, Mouthwatering Monday, Hearth and Soul, Full Plate Thursday, It’s a Piece of Cake, Made With Love Mondays, Whole Food Wednesday, Fat Tuesday, Bizzy’s Recipe Box, What’s Cooking Wednesday?, My Meatless Monday
This recipe was featured on Full Plate Thursday over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage.
I want to spread some of this gorgeous salsa on my bread for the dinner! It looks absolutely appetizing!
Lovely photo of the tomatillos! I love tomatillo salsa and your recipe sounds delicious and simple to make. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!
I love your chile recipes.. you’re my guru on chile
The tomatilloes are beautiful and so is your salsa. I have heard of them but I think this is the first time I set my eyes on green tomatilloes… they kinda remind me of physalis. What beauties!
Interesting! I had never heard of physalis so I looked it up and another name for it is Cape Gooseberry. In doing more research on tomatillo I found that the tomatillo was a nightshade related to the Cape Gooseberry! I love learning something new everyday! Thanks for the comments and for stopping by!
This looks like a great twist on the traditional tomato and chili salsa.
The picture of the tomatillo is so striking!! Hope you are having a fabulous Memorial Day weekend! ~ Ramona
Oh my God – I’ve seen people talk about these but they’ve never posted a photo like you did… I just looked it up and yes – I had no idea you call them “tomatilloes”! We just call them physalis here – what a great use for them. I never would think to make salsa with them. I bet that’s a great flavour!
Thanks Charlies! You’re the second person to mention physalis so now I need to find some! Apparently they are related so it would be interesting to compare the flavors.
I’m all over this. I love tomatillo salsa and the addition of the green chile has just got to be good!
This salsa looks delish! I have never seen tomatillos in stores, but if I do, I will make this
Have a wonderful weekend!
This sounds like another winner and future staple in my kitchen. You know how I love your green clili sauce, so I’ll probably love this too.
I know your tastes and you would definitely love this!
I love that this is raw as well! It seems that the texture would make it have a little crunch, which sounds great as a salsa! I think I need some of this in my life, it looks so good!
This is hubbies favorite salsa and since meeting him, my favorite too. I’ve only made it once before, so I really need to get on it. Thanks for your recipe. I’ll grab some tomatillos on my next trip to the store.
Oh this sounds delish!I’ve never used tomatillos and this is one recipe I’m surely going to try MJ!Will go nicely with burgers in this grilling season too
Thanks Soni! Definitely great on burgers!
Something spicy and sour always jazz up any plain meal. Ooh! And I love this version of tomatillo salsa with some green chile.
Have a great week ahead!
I would love to have them on my wraps, such a great type of salsa.
I’m sending this link to my husband who is going to REALLY appreciate this recipe! He always love spicy salsa and he’s been trying all different kinds. I think he’ll LOVE it. I can’t believe I’m allergic. =(
Bummer! It would be very hard living here and being allergic to peppers! Hope your husband likes it!
MJ, you are so lucky to have tomatillos at a reasonable price I suppose. Here they are very rare and sold at a horrible price sometimes in “exotic food” department. The salsa recipe sounds excellent and I will certainly give it a try with what I can find here. I pickle peppers quite often, so I’d be tempted to increase vinegar and sugar content here and preserve it.
Preserving them would make a tasty pickle! We do get them for a pretty reasonable price especially if I go to the Mexican market. They are really cheap there! Thanks for the comments!
That makes me want Mexican food in the worst way! I think I may need to go and eat a little lunch now before I continue catching up on my blog reading… hope you’re having a fabulous holiday!
I have never before heard of tomatillos, nor have I ever made salsa at home! I’ve got to find some, this looks delicious!
I love this and would so love to make it from scratch, except we have difficulty finding tomatillos in my part of the U.K. I also tried to grow it once, in Scotland – unsuccessfully. Now that i have moved to Wales, U.K, I will try them next year.
I love turning almost anything into salsa. Oddly enough, I rarely do this with tomatillos – weird, because they work so well. You’ve got some really great flavors working in this recipe – tasting it mentally, it seems like it’s wonderful. Good stuff – thanks.
Wow MJ! Your chile recipes are just fantastic and so is this salsa! A nice spicy version. This would be really appreciated at my house.
Hi MJ! Wow…what a great recipe and my good fortune since I planted a couple of tomatillo plants this weekend! My boys are really now into salsas, chiles and hot sauces…so I’m always looking for variations! And your pictures are beautiful…I love how you captured the light in your lead photo! Hope you have a GREAT week ahead! : )
Anne – I’m envious! I would love to grow tomatillos! Hope yours are prolific! Thanks for your nice comments as always!
I like spicy food, is that spicy? but don’t put too much salt in it, good material for hamburg. you could log on my blog, it is also about food: tomato paste, that is also my favourite.
Using the green chile that I use – it is definitely spicy! Great on burgers, sandwiches and lots of things! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I used to think these are just weeds when I was a child..we were asked to weed them out from our garden regularly. Now that I have seen many a recipes on net..I feel I wasted my Tomatillos. This recipe is a keeper!
First of all, love. love. love. the photos in this post MJ – simply gorgeous.
I’m thrilled to have this recipe. Mexican cuisine resides (permanently) in my top 3 and I often use a salsa verde but frequently buy a store bought version because I can’t seem to find the right heat for my family when I make it from jalapeno peppers. The tomatillo and green chile combination sound just right. Not to mention delicious. I can’t wait to try this. Thanks MJ!
I’m a new tomatillo convert
I love them! And since I love all things fresh salsa, I’ll be making this for sure. Thanks for the recipe!
MJ, I’m behind in my reading, but I love this salsa. I don’t know what it is about green salsas that has me captivated, but I really have been craving them recently. I’m also glad you included the details about selecting a tomatillos – I’ve never used them and this was very helpful information…
Thanks so much for sharing this with Made with Love Mondays, MJ!
Thanks for sharing this MJ, I have never quite known how to deal with the tomatillo, great photos and descriptions. I love a good salsa, looks delish.
I’m loving everything in this salsa! I can’t wait to make a whole jar of this so I can top it on my eggs in the morning!
As always – thanks for all the wonderful comments! I hope everyone had a great weekend and those in the U.S. a great LONG weekend!
This looks so zesty and different
I love the spices you’d used for making this fabulous salsa! Thanks for sharing MJ!
MJ, you never cease to inspire me. The lovely glowing green of this salsa is absolutely stunning. Beautiful presentation in the glass as well. I´ll be back soon – as usual!
Whoa–amazing!
I’ve gotta cook more with tomatillos. I don’t use them nearly as often as I should. Love their bright, zingy flavor, too. Thanks for putting tomatillos front and center on my list.
Inviting you the Carnival of Home Preserving on my blog today and every Friday. Hope to see you there. Laura Williams’ Musings http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com
What? No cooking it? I’m in! Can’t wait to try this!
Fantastic I can think of so many uses for this salsa especially over the summer. Thanks for sharing it on foodie friday.
I make tomatillo stir fry, like your version of salsa, sure. I will try this recipe next time when I buy them.
Thanks for sharing with Hearth and Soul blog hop.
This sounds delicious! I love roasted green chilies and tomatillos. Thank you for linking this recipe up! I’m definitely bookmarking it
This looks amazing…love spicy goodies like this!
Tomatillos are one of my fav go to flavors!! I bet this would go great with eggs in the morning and a strong cup of coffee!! yummy!
Congratulations!
Your recipe is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you have a great week end and enjoy your new Red Plate!
Come Back Soon,
Miz Helen
Oh, this looks like a beautiful summer condiment. I would love them for my eggs topping at breakfast, or appetizer with warm tortilla… yum, the combo is endless!!
Thanks Yudith!! This is really good with eggs!
Looks great. I have never used tomatillos.
I found you via the Whole Food Wednesday linky party. I linked in a post about retro prawn cocktails
Have a super week.
I have always wondered what a tomatillo is but never bothered to look it up. I guess, I was waiting for you to do the work, for me and you did. Thanks for that photo.
So glad to be able to help out! I guess I’ll always be an educator.
Hi, I am visiting via Recipe Box. This reminds me of the Chinese type of green chillis which goes with many types of Chinese dish. You have such beautiful photos!
Thanks Mich! So glad you stopped by! I would assume this salsa would work great in a Chinese dish. I might just have to try it.