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Roasted Tomatillo Salsa (Real Food, Paleo, Whole30, Vegan)

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Enter any Mexican home, and I promise you, you will find some type of salsa readily available at any given time.  Every home cook has an 'every day' recipe - and experienced cooks have several recipes up their sleeve, each salsa specially designed to go with different types of meals, occasions, or holidays.  I am not joking!

And it really does not matter what meal is being served, salsa is always there waiting for someone to spoon into a nourishing soup, drizzle over the breakfast plate, or to jazz up some simply grilled or roasted meats and veggies for dinner.  Have leftovers?  Add some salsa and you've got a new meal!

This salsa is one of my 'every day' recipes, great to have on hand to spice up any meal, and perfect because it keeps well in refrigerator for several days.  My salsa uses tomatillos as the base, plus the typical dried arbol chiles, easily found in most well stocked grocery stores.  Dried arbol chiles can make salsas quite spicy, but less chiles can be used the first time around to test your palate - or, a few dried guajillo peppers, which are not normally spicy, can be used instead of the arbol chiles.

I place the tomatillos and garlic under the broiler, and keep a close eye while the ingredients char and soften.  Please remember to use a baking sheet to do this, and not a glass pan or a treasured Pampered Chef stoneware sheet.......I found out the hard way they will break under the broiler!

The chiles are toasted separately, and a close watch should be kept on the chiles.  They can go from toasted to burned rather quickly, and burn chiles will make your salsa bitter,

In a great, BIG pinch, canned tomatillos may be substituted for the freshly roasted ones, but the flavor may be dramatically different.


Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
  • 1/4 cup dried arbol chiles, stemmed (more or less, depending on heat desired - or substitute 4-5 dried guajillo chiles*, stemmed and seeds removed)
  • 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
  • 1 pound tomatillos, husked and rinsed
  • 1 teaspoon real salt
  • water

Preheat the broiler and line a baking sheet, for easier clean up.  Place the tomatillos and unpeeled garlic on the prepared sheet and slide under the broiler.  Broil for a few minutes, until the tomatillos and garlic are soft and have charred on one side.  Using tongs, flip the tomatillos and garlic, and broil on the other side until the ingredients soft.  Remove the pan from the broiler and set aside to cool slightly.

While the tomatillos and garlic are cooling, heat a small  skillet over medium heat.  Add the dried arbol chiles to the dry skillet and toast the chiles, shaking the pan and turning the chiles constantly, until they smell toasty and the color has changed slightly - about 30 seconds.  Place the chiles in a blender jar.

Add the roasted tomatillos, along with any accumulated juices, peeled garlic, salt, and 1/4 cup water to the blender jar with the toasted chiles.  Blend until the salsa is almost smooth.  If the salsa seems too thick, add a little additional water until you reach the desired consistency.

Pour the salsa into a glass container, and serve or store, tightly covered, the refrigerator.  Makes a little over 2 cups of salsa.

*If using guajillos chiles, toast the chiles on a dry skillet, pressing them flat with a spatula and taking care to toast both sides before adding them to the blender.

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