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Authentic Mexican Chunky Roasted Salsa has roasted tomatillos, onions and garlic, along with heat from chiles de arbol, to flavor the tomatoes. Use it on everything!
Today’s authentic Mexican Chunky Roasted Salsa comes to me via a family recipe from John and Veronica Galanis. He works with my husband, and there is no better gift to a coworker than to present your family’s heirloom recipe — your pride and joy — to a new colleague.
We are all the lucky recipients of his gift today. His chunky roasted salsa is so fresh tasting, so perfectly spiced, so incredibly good (shall we say even shockingly delicious?), that you might end up using it on everything.
In fact, he advises, “In real Mexican kitchens, salsas are used to garnish all food, from eggs, to meats, to poultry and fish, or anything you wish to use them on (including chips). For quick meals, you can always add any kind of homemade salsa to cooked meat dishes and simmer. Enjoy.” We did enjoy, John and Veronica, we did!
How to make Authentic Chunky Roasted Salsa
1. Get the vegetables ready to roast on a dry baking sheet.
2. They’ll emerge a little bit charred after broiling.
3. Toast the chiles de arbol in a dry skillet.
4. Grind them all up with tomatoes and spices in a food processor or blender! The picture above shows the rough texture you want. (I ground them using a different appliance, but you can use a food processor or blender to do it.)
What to use Authentic Chunky Roasted Salsa On
1. Scrambled or fried eggs
2. Meats. For quick meals, you can always add any kind of homemade salsa to cooked meat dishes and simmer.
3. Poultry — roast chicken, slow-cooked chicken, Chicken Tinga
4. Fish — poached, pan fried, lightly grilled…however you want to cook it.
5. With corn chips, of course!
I could see making vats of this stuff during the high summer months of tomato season. Instead of leaving a bag of zucchini on your neighbor’s doorstep, how about a jar of this incredible salsa?
Authentic Mexican chunky tomato salsa has roasted tomatillos, onions and garlic, along with heat from chiles de arbol. Use it on everything!
Ingredients
- 6-10 tomatillos
- 1 smallish onion (or ½ a larger onion), peeled
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 4 dried chiles de arbol {original recipe recommends 10-15 chiles}
- 3 ripe medium tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
- Prepare the tomatillos, onions and garlic: Remove husks from tomatillos and wash the tomatillos thoroughly with warm water (they might feel sticky). Cut onion into chunks
- Place tomatillos, onion chunks and whole garlic cloves on a dry baking sheet. Heat the oven broiler, and broil the vegetables, making sure you flip the tomatillos on all sides to roast the outside. You might need to use a tongs to flip the garlic cloves, as well. Watch broiling carefully; do not walk away or you might return to a burned pan of vegetables. It will take several minutes to broil the vegetables; the tomatillos will soften, collapse and lose some of their liquid. Remove pan from oven and set aside on a heat-proof surface.
- Prepare the chiles: Once you are finished broiling the vegetables, remove the stems of the chiles (Dorothy’s note: I cut them off with my kitchen shears). Heat a dry skillet on medium high and add the chiles, tossing and roasting until they turn brown; this will take a minute or 2. (The chiles will give off a fragrance and oils, so cover your nose and try not to cough.) You may adjust the amount of chiles for a medium to high heat, as you please. (Dorothy’s note: I used 4 for plenty of good heat; the original recipe calls for 10-15, which will make it quite hot.)
- Prepare the tomatoes: Cut the tomatoes into quarters.
- To use a blender: Put tomatillos, onion, garlic and chiles in blender and pulse a few times. Add tomatoes and cumin and whirl or pulse until it is chopped to a texture you like (perhaps 15-30 seconds). Some people like it chunky, some like it smoother. Pour the mixture into a serving dish and gently stir in the cumin, salt and chopped cilantro. The salsa may still be warm if you serve it immediately (this is fine!).
- Makes 2-3 cups.
Notes
Recipe source: John and Veronica Galanis’ heirloom recipe they call Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic con Chiles de Arbol.
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This post was originally published July 7, 2016 and has been refreshed and republished today.
This post may contain affiliate/referral links. It is a way for this site to earn advertising fees (at no cost to you) by advertising or linking to certain products and/or services that I approve and prefer.
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At ShockD, you’ll find scrumptious, tried & true, "scary good" recipes, tips and coaching to make YOU a fabulous home cook! Don't blame me if you need a 12-step program to wean yourself away!
E-mail me: Dorothy.Reinhold@gmail.com
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This is the way salsa should be made! YUM!
Amy,
Oh yeah, I am a believer!
Dorothy, this salsa looks so fresh and delicious. How nice of your friend to share his family recipe and thank you for sharing it. Can’t wait to try it.
I wish that I had a big bowl of this and some chips right now! My brother would love this too!!
The additional flavor you get from roasting the ingredients first must be astounding. Of course, shockingly delicious is also another way to describe it. LOL This looks wonderfully tasty!
Renee,
The roasting really adds a LOT! And the cumin and cilantro undertone is also key.
Roasting the ingredients makes for a GREAT salsa! Definitely trying this one 🙂
Amanda,
Oh yeahhhh, roasting gives deeper flavor to it, definitely! Hope you like it!
This looks delicious! I am going to have to make it!
This totally looks like my kind of salsa! I’ll have to look into getting one of those saucemakers!
I just love a good homemade salsa! This one looks and sounds absolutely delicious. 🙂
This looks so fresh and tasty! I loooove tomatillos! Can’t wait to give this a try – pinning 🙂
What a wonderful gift to be given this recipe! Salsas with roasted tomatillos are absolutely my favorite – bookmarking this.
Cookin,
I really do feel like it is a stupendous gift!
I love salsa on my eggs and just had that yesterday! This salsa looks fabulous.
Marlynn,
Salsa really dressed up plain eggs nicely!
This is a must-make recipe – and in fact, we just got some chiles de arbol, so we are all set! The only drawback is that salsa would last probably no more than three minutes at our house with our salsa lovers. We’ll have to make at least a gallon!
Jeanne,
You are right. It isn’t going to last long! It’s a seriously tasty recipe. You can amp the heat up or down, as you like.
This salsa is all I want this summer!
Amanda,
I spooned it over a store-bought tamale last night. I had it on my quesadillas. I intend to put it on steak this weekend. It goes on EVERYTHING!
Oh, my…. that is one good looking salsa! The gadget is interesting, but if I bring one more gadget home my beloved husband will have a fit. Seriously. But I love the recipe, tomatillos rule!
Sally,
Tomatillos DO rule!
Nothing beats homemade salsa. So much better than store bought!!
Eat Good,
It is shockingly how much better it is!
I used to make fresh salsa with my mom and aunt every summer–can’t wait to try this!
That salsa looks absolutely perfect, like the best stuff you find in the best Mexican restaurants!
Kimberly,
Thanks! It does rank right up there with the best salsa I’ve ever had at great Mexican places.
I love trying new salsa recipes! I can’t wait to try this one!
So authentic! Sounds delicious – I love tomatillos in salsa!
We love salsa on our eggs! Never realized that was the norm, but hey, I am now even more excited to whip up a batch!
Kacey,
Yep, it IS the norm! Now you have to figure out something else so you can be an outlier. 🙂