Norma's Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
Norma's Roasted Tomatillo Salsa—we met over Loteria and Rummikub.
I spend a lot of time with my good friend Alejandra, who always keeps an abundant stash of Norma’s salsa at her house. We always have some while we play Loteria and Rummikub, tell our latest travel stories, and chat about our kids. We may or may not joke about our husbands. You know—we have fun!
When I met Norma through Alejandra, she was generous enough to share her amazing salsa recipe with me. Now you can enjoy it, too! It’s so much better than anything you’ll ever find at a restaurant—yes, even a really good one.
Pro tip: you can adjust the number of jalapeños for a mild or spicy tomatillo salsa.
Norma’s salsa is traditional, richly flavored, and perfectly puréed. It’s a little on the spicy side, but it’s not too spicy. It’s actually perfect, in my opinion. If you want to change up the spice level, go ahead! But honestly, there’s no need to tweak it if you can handle a little bit of heat.
Last but not least, let’s go over how to husk and prepare tomatillos.
As for the tomatillos—they can be a little intimidating if you haven’t worked with them before. But let me tell you, the little bit of prep work is TOTALLY worth it! When you buy tomatillos, they’ll have this beautiful feathery, peely skin around them. Most of it will just peel off, but tomatillos are a little bit sticky, too. After your tomatillos are peeled, rinse them under cool water to remove any remaining skin, then dry them off. That’s it! Now you’re ready to make my friend Norma’s amazing roasted tomatillo salsa.
Norma’s Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds tomatillos
- 4 to 5 jalapeño peppers, depending on how hot you like it!
- 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- ½ cup packed cilantro leaves
- Water or chicken stock, as needed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Remove the skins from the tomatillos and rinse them with cool water. Remove the stems from the jalapeños but keep the peppers intact.
- Place the tomatillos, jalapeños, garlic cloves, and the quartered onion on a foil-lined baking sheet. If you don't want too much heat, make sure to remove the seeds from the jalapeños before roasting them. Roast in a 400 degree oven. Remove the garlic cloves after 5 minutes, and roast the rest for a total of 15 minutes or until the tomatillos are soft.
- Place the tomatillos, jalapeños, onion, and cilantro into a blender or food processor. Pulse to combine, adding a bit of chicken stock as needed to get the consistency you want. The mixture should be chunky, so be careful when processing. A few good pulses should do the trick.
- Sample your salsa, then season with salt and pepper to taste.