Roasted Tomatillo-Poblano-Avocado Salsa

Name: Roasted Tomatillo-Poblano-Avocado Salsa
Total time: 30 min
Yield: About 2 cups, serving 6 to 8
Cuisine: mexican
Ingredients: 1/2 pound tomatillos, husked and quartered; 2 poblano or Anaheim chiles, stemmed and quartered (cut in half lengthwise, pull out seeds and membranes, then cut halves in half crosswise); 1 to 2 jalapeño or serrano chiles (to taste), stemmed and seeded if desired; 1 medium white or yellow onion, peeled and quartered; 2 garlic cloves, peeled; 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; Salt to taste; 1/2 cup chopped cilantro; 1 teaspoon ground toasted cumin; 1 large ripe avocado, halved and pitted; Juice of 2 limes

By Martha Rose Shulman

Total Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 5(91)
Notes: Read community notes

One of my favorite new cookbooks of this season is “A Mouthful of Stars” (Andrews McMeel), by Kim Sunée. The book is a memoir, travelogue and cookbook all rolled into one, written by an author who earlier published another compelling memoir with recipes, “Trail of Crumbs.” Kim is a poetic world traveler who loves many cuisines. She is a big fan of taco trucks and loves salsa, the spicier the better. This salsa is based on her recipe for roasted tomatillo-poblano salsa. I love its balance of char, heat, acid and creamy. I’m a moderate when it comes to heat, but you can make this hotter by adding more chiles.

Featured in: Roasted Tomatillo-Poblano-Avocado Salsa

or to save this recipe.
Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
Subscribe
Share
Print Options
Include recipe photo

Ingredients

Yield:About 2 cups, serving 6 to 8

½pound tomatillos, husked and quartered
2poblano or Anaheim chiles, stemmed and quartered (cut in half lengthwise, pull out seeds and membranes, then cut halves in half crosswise)
1 to 2jalapeño or serrano chiles (to taste), stemmed and seeded if desired
1medium white or yellow onion, peeled and quartered
2garlic cloves, peeled
2tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
½cup chopped cilantro
1teaspoon ground toasted cumin
1large ripe avocado, halved and pitted
Juice of 2 limes

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment. Place tomatillos, chiles (both types), onion, and garlic on the parchment and drizzle on olive oil. Add salt to taste and toss together with your hands. Place in oven and roast 20 minutes, stirring halfway through, until blistered and softened. Remove from heat.
Step 2
Place roasted vegetables, with any juice from the pan, in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse until well blended but not puréed. Add cilantro, cumin, avocado and lime juice and pulse until blended. Taste and adjust salt. Serve at once or store in a well-sealed container in the refrigerator. Stir well before serving.

Tip

Advance preparation: This will keep for 3 days in the refrigerator.

Ratings

5 out of 5

91 user ratings

Have you cooked this?

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

Jay6 years ago

I made this essentially as written, with a couple modifications: omitted avocado (felt like a waste of precious avocado to me), and added ground coriander and black pepper (probably unnecessary). Delicious and fresh-tasting, excellent on eggs. Next time I'm going to experiment with roasting the chiles (I used two each of poblanos and jalapenos, most seeds removed) a bit longer (30-40 mins), as they were still quite pungent. 20 minutes was perfect for the tomatillos though, I think.

fn1 year ago

This is a delicious salsa and great for a topping for grilled chicken. Don’t change a thing. It lasts in the fridge for a while as the avocado doesn’t brown like guacamole. I’ve made this several times and always a crowd pleaser.

Anna2 years ago

The avocado made this less acidic to me. It was amazing. Total home run. I did have roasted garlic cloves on hand and was a bit more liberal with them but otherwise followed the recipe to a T. Martha Rose Shulman makes me very happy.

Mount Baker Lady3 years ago

Doubled the jalapeños and serranos and excluded the avocado for an extra kick. Yum!

VermonterK3 years ago

I loved this so much (omitted avocado) that I went back to the farmers market this weekend to get a lot more ingredients and canned 9 half pint jars. I used poblano, Anaheim, Serrano, and jalapeño. Fantastic depth of flavor and acid/spice balance. Really good on egg tacos or over grilled chicken. Or out of the spoon.

VermonterK3 years ago

This is fantastic! I forgot the cumin. I agree that the poblanos could use a bit more time. I threw in a chicken breast for a sheet pan dinner. It smells so good in here!!!

PL5 years ago

No poblano to hand but very good with that missing. I also didn’t add the cumin.

Nancy6 years ago

This salsa is amazingly delicious!!! Make lots of it to freeze.

Jay6 years ago

M.G.6 years ago

This is an easy, healthy, and delicious recipe. I sometimes also add a smoked chipotle chile or some small Thai chilis for extra flavor and spice.

Private notes are only visible to you.