Mexican food is a regular staple in our household and my mother-in-law would love this roasted tomatillo salsa verde. One of the first things she taught me was how to make enchiladas, which happens to be my husband’s favorite Mexican dish, and this salsa is amazing with chicken enchiladas.

For the last 26 years I have been experimenting and learning how to make Mexican food from scratch. I don’t know what took me so long but last year I added homemade Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde to my recipe collection and I can’t get over how easy it is to make.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde Ingredients

• 10-12 medium size tomatillos, husks removed and washed
• 4 poblano peppers
• 2 jalapenos
• 1 large onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, stems removed
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• lime juice, half of lime (optional)

• Peel and wash the stickiness off the tomatillos.
• Peel and cut the onion into quarters.
• Peel the paper skin off of the garlic but leave it whole. Rinse poblano and jalapeno peppers but leave them whole.
• Place all items on a cookie sheet and coat well with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.
• Roast in 400 degree oven until peppers and tomatillos are browned and charred. (approximately 15 minutes and turn once)

Roasting the veggies is what brings the flavor intensity up in this salsa recipe so don’t be worried about the dark charred spots that will appear, you want that to happen. Once you have roasted and charred your veggies, peel the garlic out of it’s skin and place into a food processor with the quartered roasted onion and roasted tomatillos. Add the fresh cilantro leaves, cumin, salt and pepper.

Put the jalapeno and poblano peppers into a bowl with a tight lid while they are still hot. This will steam the peppers and help with peeling of the poblano pepper skin. Once steamed for about 15 minutes, cut off the end of the poblano peppers and immerse in cold water. Gently rub the thin, charred skin off of the poblano peppers. {You only have to de-skin the poblano peppers.} You do want some of the charred bits to remain but take most of the skin off because it has a thin waxy, paper like consistency. Split open the jalapeno and poblano peppers and remove seeds along with the stringy membranes. You might want to wear gloves and whatever you do don’t rub your face or eyes. (I am speaking from experience here.)

Now you can add the jalapeno and poblano peppers to the food processor with your other roasted veggies.  Pulse the food processor a few times to break up the veggies and then flip the switch and let it blend until pureed. For a little tang I squeeze in some lime juice but that is optional.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde is great with tortilla chips, dipping taquitos or drizzled on top of a heaping plate of cheesy nachos. But what I truly love about this fresh, homemade salsa verde is that it is Whole30 compliant and I do eat it often when I am doing the Whole30 challenge.