Salsa Verde or Green Sauce. That’s a pretty straight forward name for a recipe, but oh, how good it is! The ingredients are simple. The process takes minutes. And the versatility is remarkable.
We make this recipe and serve it with chips for an easy appetizer. Or add a couple of cups of chicken stock and transform it into a delicious braising liquid for chicken. Or slightly dilute it, warm it and drizzle it on pork steaks as an incredible sauce that will upgrade any meal. It’s a magical recipe, leveling up whatever it comes into contact with.
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Tomatillo Salsa, The Early Days
Originally, this began as something Kirk’s sister would make for us whenever we went to visit her. It was essentially a tangy tomatillo salsa, bright and acidic, which is the nature of tomatillos and it becomes completely addictive when paired with a bowl of salty tostada chips. The acid and salt really contrast, yet compliment each other, resulting in a simple pairing, with big flavors.
Salsa Verde 2.0
Over the years, Kirk has become obsessed with this recipe, making it more times than I care to recount. He eventually took to fire roasting all of the ingredients on the Big Green Egg for a richer, earthier flavor. Then he started adding our Green Chile Rub to the mix, maximizing that savory finish. The recipe, as it stands now, is one of our tried and true “go-to”s with lots of uses.
We frequently serve it as is with tostada chips and various other dippers, but a favorite thing to do is add a little chicken stock and turn it into a braising liquid. The Tomatillo Braised Chicken Thighs pictured above is probably one of my favorite meals in recent memory. We’ve also slightly diluted the sauce and heated it in a pan with freshly fried corn tortilla chips to create an impressive Salsa Verde Chilaquiles. And I don’t want to be remiss in mentioning the stunning pork steaks we added it to along with a shower of melted shredded Oaxaca cheese. The list goes on!
You’ll find the base recipe below. Tweak it and use it as you will. It’s great on pretty much everything! And a nice little magic trick to have in your recipe arsenal.
Salsa Verde, The Process
You can find the detailed recipe for Salsa Verde below. But here’s a few pics to aid in your Salsa Verde journey. In these pictures we’re making a double batch, so don’t let the quantities fool you. As you scroll down, you’ll also see how we’ve used it in the past to create some of our favorite dishes. I’ll give you a brief overview of how we made those dishes, but really, this post is all about the Salsa Verde.
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Tomatillo Braised Chicken Thighs
I’m going to wax poetic about this pan of Tomatillo Braised Chicken Thighs. It seems pretty basic and truly it was, but in the best possible, most delicious way. The secret to this dish is that we started with the base Salsa Verde recipe and added 2 cups of chicken stock to create an incredibly tasty braising liquid for the chicken to cook in.
First, Kirk seasoned bone in and skin on chicken thighs with our AlbuKirky Seasonings Green Chile Rub, top and bottom. Then he cooked them skin side down in a lightly oiled cast iron skillet. No oil on the chicken thighs, just the pan. He wanted to encourage lots of browning on the thighs, so it was best for them to cook in their own fat. This took about 10 minutes. Then we flipped them over in the pan, and added the braising liquid being careful not to cover the tops of the thighs in an effort to preserve that beautiful golden brown skin. He cooked them another 15-20 minutes, until they reached in internal temperature of 165 degrees.
We served them alongside rice cooked in more chicken stock and finished with butter, and brothy pinto beans. And we made sure to spoon lots of that savory Salsa Verde broth over the top of everything.
Salsa Verde Chilaquiles
We started this dish by cutting a stack of corn tortillas into wedges and frying them until crispy. Next, we tossed these warm crunchy chips into a pot of Salsa Verde, diluted slightly with water to reach the perfect consistency for coating our chips. We piled these salsa laden chips onto a plate, topped them with leftover pulled pork, shredded Oaxaca cheese, Mexican crema lightly infused with our Green Chile Rub and a perfect over-easy egg. The finished dish tasted just as good as it looks.
Salsa Verde
Ingredients
- 1 lb tomatillos
- 1-2 serrano chiles
- 1-2 jalapeños
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/2 red or white onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp AlbuKirky Seasonings Green Chile Rub
Instructions
- Wash the tomatillos with warm water to remove the husks and sap.
- Roast the tomatillos over hot coals until charred. Do not brush the tomatillos with oil, instead let them char and blacken on the outside (10-15 minutes). Place them in a bowl to cool.
- Roast the serranos and jalapeños aiming for a good char all over the peppers. Do not remove the skin.
- Add the tomatillos and any liquid that has rendered to the canister of a blender. Pulse until the tomatillos are chopped.
- Wearing gloves, remove the seeds and pith of the chiles if you prefer less heat. Keep them whole if you prefer more. Start with 1 Serrano and 1 jalapeño and add more another, if necessary. Cut off the stems of the chiles and add them to the blender with the tomatillos. Pulse until blended.
- Next, add 2 cloves of garlic and pulse.
- Add the lime juice and pulse.
- Add the Green Chile Rub and pulse.
- Pour the salsa into a bowl and stir in the finely chopped red onion.
- It is ready to serve, but for the best flavor, refrigerate overnight. It will last a week in the fridge.
Notes
- Perfect to serve with tostada chips or drizzled on tacos.
- Heat it up to serve over the top of pork steaks and top with shredded Oaxaca cheese.
- Add 2 cups of chicken stock to create a delicious braising liquid for chicken.
- Don’t have a red onion, use a white onion.
- Don’t feel like roasting the chiles and tomatillos, then don’t. This is equally delicious using fresh, unroasted ingredients.
Drizzle it! Here, there & Everywhere!
Honestly, we add it to lots of things! Tacos, eggs, or grilled pork steaks like the plate pictured above. There is no wrong way to use this tasty sauce. If you make it, tell us what dishes you have added it to. We want to know how you use it!
Stock up on our rubs and sauces at AlbuKirkySeasonings.com and keep up with what we’re cooking on our Facebook and Instagram pages. See you next time!
