Charred Tomatillo Salsa Verde with Avocado is going to be your new favorite party appetizer! Fresh, green, and delicious—it’s the perfect for pairing with tacos, bowl meals, and chips!
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Latin inspired cooking is a big deal in our house. Growing up the closest thing I had to “authentic” Latin cuisine was the Old El Paso taco in a box kit and enchiladas and fried ice cream at ChiChis. I really had no idea! Fast forward to my adulthood when I married a Dominican and fell in love with all of the flavors South of the Border. Cilantro, lime, avocado—all of it! Oh, and Irving too! These ingredients are now part of our weekly meals—from black beans to tacos, pastelitos to mojitos, Latin foods play a major role in our house.
Charred Tomatillo Salsa Verde with Avocado
Last summer the boys and I made a weekly trip to our farmer’s market, and we could not pass through without a stop at our favorite salsa stand. We would grab about 6 containers of salsa, several bags of chips, and as many samples are we could consume in the time it took to pay. Thank you Niño Blanco! So towards the end of the summer I grabbed some tomatillos and decided to mess around with my own salsa. I charred the ingredients in a pan, added avocado to give it a creaminess and voilà, my own version of salsa verde was born!
So fresh!
A few weeks ago my good friend had a baby, so I was eager to sign up to bring her dinner….and visit her sweet little boy! I know her family loves tacos, so I made her a full meal, with black beans, seasoned soy curls, cabbage slaw, and this Charred Tomatillo Salsa Verde with Avocado. The very next day I received a text from her saying how much they loved it, and appreciated something so fresh and light in the midst of December! One week later I received another text saying she had to have the recipe!!! So here it is! You can thank my friend Michaela for this!
Tomatillos
Most people think that tomatillos are just a variety of tomatoes, but they are actually their own variety of fruit! They come in their own handy “wrapper,” and are typically bright green. They’re really simple to prepare. Just remove the husk, give them a rinse to remove the stickiness, and they are ready to go. They can be eaten raw if you’d like, but I like to char them in my cast iron pan for a minute to deepen the flavor.
Bright and Green
This Charred Tomatillo Salsa Verde is best served immediately, of course! But, the lime juice in this salsa will keep the color fairly bright for about 24 hours! After that the avocados do tend to take on a duller green. To help it stay fresh (that is, if you don’t eat it all right away), you can place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the salsa to prevent contact with air.
Fiesta!
Looking for more south of the border inspired recipes? I’ve got you covered!
- Braised Asparagus Tacos in Escabeche
- 3 Ingredient Vegan Pastelitos de Guayaba
- Oil Free Vegan Refried Beans
- Vegan Black Bean Soup
- Cranberry Salsa
- Easy Vegan Kid Friendly Guacamole
- Vegan Queso Dip
I hope you enjoy this Charred Tomatillo Salsa Verde as much as we do! Drop me a note in the comments when you make it and let me know what you think!
Charred Tomatillo Salsa Verde with Avocado
Ingredients
- 1/2 white onion, cut in large chunks
- 2 tomatillos, husks removed and quartered
- 1 jalapeño (seeded and deveined, see notes)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 avocado
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 handful of cilantro
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place the onion, tomatillos, garlic, and jalapeño into a dry skillet. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, charring the ingredients.
- Transfer the charred ingredients to a food processor.
- Add the avocado, lime juice, cilantro, and salt to the food processor.
- Pulse several times, stopping to scrape down the sides. You'll want the texture to have a bit of chunkiness, but still be smooth enough to dip a chip!
- Give it a taste test and adjust the salt as necessary. Enjoy!
Notes
Jalapeños
- I'm a spice wimp, so I put about 1/3 of a jalapeño into this salsa, with the veins and seeds removed. If you like it spicy feel free to add the entire jalapeño. Most of the heat is in the veins and seeds, so remove those to give it slightly less of a kick.
The BEST!! The flavors are perfect, the color is bright – it has become our family’s go-to for a light, cheery condiment to so many Latin foods! Thank you for this delicious recipe, Sarah!
Aw, thank you friend! I’m so glad you guys like it! I’m still waiting for a bumper crop of tomatillos in my garden so I can make it again!!! Hopefully soon!
Yum! Yum! Yum! And I will say it again…YUM!
I’m so glad to hear that!!! Thank you!!!
This sounds so good! I love charred flavors, and I haven’t worked much with tomatillos. This would be a great place to start. I recognize your chip bowl from Target! I love that new series.
Ha, this is the only thing I’ve made with tomatillos! I think they are so pretty, and so interesting, but I don’t know much about what to do with them. And yes, LOVE the new Target line. I grabbed this bowl earlier this week and plan to go back next week to get the rest. Love the color, and love that they are matte, so there’s no reflection issue. So pretty!!!