This vibrant Salsa Verde Recipe is made with fresh tomatillos, cilantro, lime, and green chilies for the most deliciously bright, tangy flavor! No roasting or cooking required-just 10 minutes and a food processor. Perfect for tacos, enchiladas, burritos, or tortilla chips!
Fresh tomatillos are the secret to my favorite Salsa Verde! While many recipes call for roasting the tomatillos, I love using them raw. They give this salsa an incredibly fresh, bright, tangy flavor and beautiful vibrant green color.
When tomatillos are in season, this is one of the first things I make. Just toss everything into a food processor, pulse, and in 10 minutes, you have a delicious homemade salsa that’s perfect for spooning over tacos, drizzling onto enchiladas, or scooping up with tortilla chips.
Once you try Salsa Verde this way, you may never go back to roasting your tomatillos!
Cindy’s 5-Star Review
This is the best salsa verde I've ever had, hands down! It's so fresh and tastes like summer and the recipe went immediately into my 'favorites' file!
Why you’ll love this salsa Verde recipe!
- Bright, fresh flavor! Made with raw tomatillos instead of roasted, this salsa is wonderfully tangy, zesty, and vibrant green.
- Ready in 10 minutes. No roasting, cooking, or complicated steps. Just add everything to a food processor and pulse!
- So versatile. Delicious with tortilla chips, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and enchiladas. Adjust the chilies to make it mild or spicy.
Salsa Verde Ingredients
- Fresh tomatillos - The star ingredient! Use raw, husked, and rinsed tomatillos for the brightest, tangiest flavor. Tomatillos are tart and fruity, more so than a tomato, but with a similar texture. They have an herbal, grassy flavor with a bright acidity.
- Cilantro - Fresh leaves and tender stems add vibrant, herbaceous flavor.
- Green chilies - Serrano peppers for more heat or jalapeños for a milder salsa.
- Garlic - Adds a delicious savory kick.
- Onion - White, yellow, or sweet onion all work beautifully.
- Fresh lime juice - Adds a bright, citrusy finish.
- Salt, sugar, and ground coriander - Balance the tartness and round out the flavor.
How to make Salsa Verde
Step one: Tomatillos are covered in a husk and the skin tends to be a little sticky. After removing the husk, rinse the tomatillos in warm water to remove the sticky film. Then cut and quarter them.
Step two: Place the raw tomatillos, cilantro, onion, garlic, fresh chilies, lime and seasonings in a food processor and pulse repeatedly until combined.
Step three: Place in a jar or bowl and refrigerate until using. This will keep 4 days in the fridge. Look at this incredible color! What gives the salsa verde its beautiful vibrant green color is using fresh tomatillos, fresh chilies and the addition of cilantro.
Chef’s Tips for the Best Salsa Verde
- Use fresh, firm tomatillos. Look for bright green tomatillos with snug-fitting papery husks. They should feel firm, not soft or shriveled.
- Keep the tomatillos raw. This is the secret to the salsa’s fresh, tangy flavor and vibrant green color.
- Adjust the heat. Serrano peppers bring more heat, while jalapeños are generally milder. Remove the seeds and membranes for a gentler salsa.
- Balance the tartness. Tomatillos vary in acidity. Taste and add a little sugar if needed to soften their sharpness.
- Pulse, don’t puree. A little texture gives the salsa a lovely homemade consistency.
Storage and Make-Ahead
Refrigerate: Store Salsa Verde in an airtight jar or container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The flavors will meld as it sits, making it a great make-ahead salsa!
Make ahead: Prepare a day in advance and refrigerate until ready to serve. Stir well before serving, as some separation is natural.
Freezing: For longer storage, freeze in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and stir before serving. The texture may soften slightly after freezing.
What to serve with Salsa Verde
I’m so excited for you to try this Fresh Salsa Verde – please let me know what you think in the comments below! Love Mexican food? Check out our 45 Fresh & Tasty Mexican Recipes!
More Salsas to try!
Description
You are only 10 minutes away from experiencing the most delicious Salsa Verde! This version is made with fresh tomatillos (not roasted), resulting in a vibrant and flavorful green salsa you will love! You’ll never want to roast your tomatillos again- I promise! Serve with tortilla chips, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas or burritos.
Ingredients
- 1 lb Tomatillos, husked, rinsed ( in warm water) and quartered
- 1/2 bunch cilantro- leaves and tender stems OK ( 1 cup, packed)
- 1–2 jalapeno peppers (or use more, for spicier) or 1–2 serrano chilis ( I like 2 serranos)
- 1 small garlic clove
- 1/3 cup diced white or yellow onion
- 3 tablespoons lime juice plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar ( or agave or honey)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 T olive oil (optional)
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until uniformly combined.
- Taste, then adjust salt, heat and lime. ( I find it helpful to taste with a chip, or whatever you are serving this with.)
- Refrigerate until serving!
Notes
This fresh tomatillo salsa will keep 4 days in the fridge.
If you like extra heat, serrano chilies are a great option.
If it ends up too spicy for your taste, you can temper it by adding cucumber or more tomatillo. Re-adjust with salt and lime.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼ cup
- Calories: 34
- Sugar: 2.6 g
- Sodium: 233.8 mg
- Fat: 2 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 4.2 g
- Fiber: 1.2 g
- Protein: 0.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This is delicious! Made the recipe exactly as written. My husband was basically drinking it. Even our 3 year old loved it. I cut the recipe in half (didn’t have enough tomatillos) and still had plenty for leftovers.
Glad you enjoyed Ashley! Appreciate you taking time to review.
This is the best salsa verde I’ve ever had, hands down! It’s so fresh and tastes like summer and the recipe went immediately into my “favorites” file!
Wonderful Cindy, so happy you enjoyed!
Thank you, my proportions would always end up slightly wrong. I’m not a fan of roasted tomatillos-it’s ok and I’ll eat it, but I like it fresh! This is fantastic on scrambled eggs.
Glad you enjoyed this Steph!
I’ve made this several times. It’s fantastic.
Wonderful Brad!
Made it multiple times. Big hit in our house and down to my 7 year old love it. I did double the garlic amount though. A total keeper!!
Great to hear Ria!
First time trying a fresh tomatillo salsa. I was pretty excited, I’ve never cared for roasted tomatillos but fresh is a different taste. I took the advice of another reviewer and added some avocado to it, and I thought it was just perfect. And the color is just beautiful. I might take some to our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow with some chips.
So glad you gave this a try Lori!
I was looking for a tomatillo recipe that I didn’t have to roast. Hubby doesn’t like a charred flavor. This was so delicious! We all loved it and will make it again.
Perfect Katie! So glad you both liked it.
can I freeze this recipe
I haven’t tried freezing this- but it seems like it should be ok?
Amazing!! We eat this spoonfuls at a time! It works well making big batch and freezing in little mason jars it thaws perfectly, the flavors and color staying intense!! Actually making it a head enhances the flavor!
You have started a tomatillo addiction in this family w/ all the gorgeous recipes here using it!! Kids looove it tooo!
Thanks Elzeline! That is really good to know that the color stays vibrant after freezing! Thanks so much!
This is the BEST green salsa ever!
I will never roast my tomatillos again. I did add one avacado at the end to make it creamier. Also, this recipe freezes well but if you are using the avacado, add after you freeze, not before.
YAY!!! One convert at a time. 🙂 Glad you gave it a go!
love this and all the health benefits of tomatillos vs tomatoes! followed the recipe and i can’t wait to make more!
So happy you gave this one a go! One of my favorites!
I had this at a restaurant last night. amazing ….
Oh good!
I have never attempted to make salsa of any kind! The first recipe wanted me to roast the tomatillos and I didn’t want to do that at all! I don’t like roasting my vegetables for salsa. Then I found your recipe. This recipe was very easy in every way. I only needed to purchase the tomatillos and the peppers. Followed the directions and was a little doubtful. But afterwards, OMG! I will be making this salsa for every dish that calls for salsa. It is truly delicious and it’s true, you won’t ever want to roast you tomatillos again.
So happy this worked for you. Yay for giving it a try!
I LOVE this amazing salsa! I froze it last summer and it was still good and still green even a year later. I use roasted salsa in a soup recipe, but this one is great on everything Mexican or even just stirred into plain yogurt and used as a salad dressing.
Love all of this Lola, such great suggestions!
I love everything fresh. I do have one question. Last time I made the salsa with Tomatillo, it got incredibly bitter. It was hard to get bitterness out even after simmering it for quite a while. No one talks about these subtle things for people who are working with new vegetables. Does the bitterness come from the film on the skin? or does it come if the tomatillo is too big? I would love to know from professional. I am trying to test out on one single one next time and see if I can figure out where the bitterness coming from. It was as bitter as bitter gaurd if you have used it before. I know for sure no other ingredients would do that.
I think it comes from the film on the tomatillo skin, so be sure to rinse well!
Its from it being too big. The smaller ones are less bitter. Roasting/boiling also cuts down on the bittness as it enhances the natural sweetness in the fruit.
add romaine lettuce in the mix when you are going to blend it and will take care of the bitterness
Oh interesting!