This Whole 30 salsa verde is tangy, spicy, and brightened with lime zest. Roasting everything brings out even more complex flavors that pair amazingly with chicken, fish, and fried veggies or fried eggs.
Tomatillos popped up in our Imperfect Foods box and I knew only one thing to do with them, make salsa. Making salsa yourself means you can control the spice, a major win for my sensitive spicy meter. One jalapeno or two changes everything and you can even add the seeds if you’re mouth is begging for fire. You can also add cilantro in mass or if it tastes like soap to you then you can omit it. To make creamy salsa verde tomatillo salsa just add in an avocado.
The Flavors of Self Made Roasted Salsa Verde
Being a Texan means being intimately intertwined with our neighboring country Mexico. There’s a bit of a crazy history there, and now there’s salsa everywhere in Texas. Aun visited Mexico and says he rarely ran into salsa so it might be a Tex-Mex thing more than a Mexico thing. If you know the details please comment and let me know.
Making your own salsa is really like making anything else. More flavor, more love and you get to tailor it to your own tastebuds. I love making everything we consume because then I get to modify it. When to add more salt, more spice, more tomato flavor and even learning what makes salsa verde creamy, avocados, are all in my knowledge now just from creating one recipe. Also, it all comes together in less than 20 minutes of mostly hands-off work.
To create this spicy, slightly sweet, and roasted harmony of salsa you’ll need tomatillos, cilantro, jalapenos, shallots or onions, lime, and garlic. Roasted garlic is a new level of epic umami and background flavor. This salsa is definitely a summer recipe as you want peak flavors in tomatillos and they rarely pop up in stores when out of season. If it’s summer now grab them quick and if not feel free to sub tomatillos for regular tomatoes or pin this recipe for when summer comes along.
How is Salsa Verde Different from Salsa?
I honestly had no idea what the difference was between salsa verde and salsa, except that one was green, up until last week. I’ve always loved salsa verde and think I heard it was tomatillos when I was younger but I didn’t care enough to remember.
After getting tomatillos in our box I asked Aun what to do with them and he said to make salsa. When researching tomatillo salsa recipes it still took a while to click that it was verde and I thought it was a whole new thing to make salsa with tomatillos. Then, it clicked, salsa verde is tomatillo salsa. This is epic news because I’ve always loved salsa verde, and now I know how to make it myself!
Tomatillos have a slightly tangier and more zesty flavor than tomatoes. Tomatillos taste like they already have a little lime juice in their genes. When making the salsa feel free to try a bit of a tomatillo fresh and then roasted so you can know just how delicious they are.
What is Whole 30?
Whole 30 is a 30 day reset where you omit all the things, except for whole foods. This omission is meant to heal the body and allow you to know, on a personal level, what foods work for you. After 30 days you take the ingredients omitted and introduce them one by one.
Ingredients eliminated are grains, dairy, any sweetener, alcohol. legumes and your scale. For the full list of do’s and don’t check out this Whole 30 website article.
For Whole 30 tips check out my top 12 Whole 30 tips. I’ve done 5 rounds of it and each time I learn something new. Lately, it’s that adding rice because I like it means it’s not a Whole 30 (inner grumbling commences). I’ve also curbed my sugar dragon to the point I can eat half a cupcake and then get bored rather than eat five. Also, I can eat bread with very few side effects. Usually, I don’t but having the body healed to the point I can is epic.
What Makes this Salsa Verde Whole 30?
Honestly most salsa is going to be Whole 30 as long as it is fresh. The combination of onions, tomatoes, peppers and salt are all whole foods. Sometimes there are additives to salsa so double-check there and you’re good.
If you are getting store bought salsa go for the stuff in the refrigerator section as it is more likely fresh and doesn’t have any added funny business.
How to Make Whole 30 Salsa Verde Step by Step
Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.
Peel off the husks of one pound of tomatillos, the paper layer of the garlic (you don’t have to peel the skin yet because it’s easier to peel it after roasting), and the skin of one onion or two shallots. Halve the onion and add the onion, tomatillos, garlic, and 1-2 jalapenos to a sheet pan.
Drizzle with a tablespoon of avocado oil and move everything around to coat. Sprinkle the goods with sea salt then add them to the oven for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes flip everything over then add them back for another 8 minutes.
Wait five to ten minutes for everything to cool so it’s not too hot to the touch. Remove the garlic from its skin and cut the jalapeno in half and remove the stem. Remove the seeds or if you want an extra spicy salsa add a few of them to the blender. Add everything but the cilantro and lime juice to the blender.
Without blending use the pulse function on your machine to mix the ingredients. Add in the juice and zest of half a lime along with the cilantro. Pulse a few more times then check and keep pulsing and checking until it’s the texture you love, incorporated but not too smooth.
Enjoy! This salsa will last a week in the fridge.
Looking for other Whole 30 Summer Recipes?
Whole 30 Cilantro Lime Turkey Burgers
Easiest Lettuce Wrapped Sandwich – try it with basil for extra summer vibes
Whole30 Pork Chops with Lavender and Peaches
Whole 30 Sheet Pan Summer Baked Salmon with Cherries and Mint
Whole 30 Salsa Verde Recipe:
Ingredients
2 Pounds of Tomatillos
1-2 Jalapenos (mild to spicy)
4 Cloves Garlic
1/2 an Onion or 1 Shallot
1 Tablespoon Avocado Oil
Salt to Taste (I used 1/2 a teaspoon)
1/2 a Lime and its Zest
1/2 Cup Cilantro
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.Â
2. Remove the husks of the tomatillos, the outer paper of the garlic (you can skin it after it roasts and it is so much easier) and the skin of the onions.Â
3. Add one to two jalapenos, the garlic, tomatillos, onion, or shallots, and garlic to a sheet pan.Â
4. Drizzle everything with avocado oil and sprinkle with salt.
5. Roast for 8 minutes then flip and roast for 8 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool for ten to fifteen minutes so you can touch everything.Â
7. Peel the garlic clove and remove the stem from the jalapeno. Remove seeds from the jalapeno or if you want very spicy salsa add some of the seeds.
8. Add everything but the lime juice and cilantro to a food processor or blender.Â
9. Without blending use the pulse function on your machine to mix the ingredients. Add in the juice and zest of half a lime along with the cilantro. Pulse a few more times then check and keep pulsing and checking until it's the texture you love, incorporated but not too smooth.
Taste the salsa to see if you want more salt or lime juice and stir in whatever you wish.
Enjoy!!
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