Charred Vegetable Salsa
This recipe for charred vegetable salsa is one of the Mary Sue Milliken recipes my kids made at the Kids’ (good-for-you) Cooking Academy, which we all really loved. Charring the vegetables gives the salsa a deep, rich flavor, and the tomatillos give it a nice tang. Sue’s recipe calls for 3 Roma tomatoes, but I used what I had on hand, and it turned out great. It’s simple to make, tastes so much better than store-bought salsa, and pairs nicely with tortilla chips, tacos, tostadas, and taquitos.
Charred Vegetable Salsa
Ingredients:
- 1Â vine-ripened tomato
- 11Â small Campari tomatoes
- 3Â small tomatillos
- 1 jalapeño
- ½ red onion, sliced
- 1 large clove of garlic, peeled
- ½ bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
- ½ lime, juiced
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
How to Make Charred Vegetable Salsa
Preheat the oven to broil. Place the tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapeños, and onion slices on a baking sheet lined with foil (easier clean up).
Place under the broiler, turning occasionally for 5-6 minutes.
Add the garlic clove to the baking sheet and broil with the rest of the vegetables for 5-6 minutes or until nicely charred.
Remove from the oven and when cool enough to touch, remove the stems and seeds from the jalapeño.
Combine the charred vegetables (and the juices from the baking sheet) with cilantro, lime juice, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste, in a food processor or blender.
Puree until smooth. Taste and re-season if necessary.
Serve with tortilla chips or with any of your favorite Mexican foods. Enjoy.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 vine-ripened tomato
- 11 small Campari tomatoes
- 3 small tomatillos
- 1 jalapeño
- ½ red onion sliced
- 1 large clove of garlic peeled
- ½ bunch of cilantro roughly chopped
- ½ lime juiced
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to broil. Place the tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapeños, and onion slices on a baking sheet lined with foil (easier clean up).
- Place under the broiler, turning occasionally for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the garlic clove to the baking sheet and broil with the rest of the vegetables for 5-6 minutes or until nicely charred.
- Remove from the oven and when cool enough to touch, remove the stems and seeds from the jalapeño.
- Combine the charred vegetables (and the juices from the baking sheet) with cilantro, lime juice, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste, in a food processor or blender.
- Puree until smooth. Taste and re-season if necessary.
- Serve with chips or on with any of your favorite Mexican foods. Enjoy.
This salsa Is amazing…I am finding Mexican recipes just for an excuse to make it. I have made it 3 times. I now add more jalapeños for the heat. It is healthy and full of flavor. Try it.
I agree! This tastes just like Uncle Julio’s. We’ve made this four or five times. Depending on who we’re serving, we add or subtract jalapeños. If we have time, we char the vegetables on the charcoal grill–even yummier!
I just made this for my son’s graduation party. I tasted it and something was missing…it was chipotle in adobo sauce! I added a tsp at a time till it was that perfect smokiness. Tastes identical to Uncle Julio’s 🙂
JS – how many tsp of the chipotle in adobo sauce did you add?
Does the original recipe call for only three Roma tomatoes or 3 Roma tomatoes and the compari tomatoes?
Yes, she used three large roma tomatoes. I used 1 small vine ripened tomato and 11 small campari tomatoes. I wanted it to have a bit more tomato flavor.
~Pam
Can this be made a day ahead?
Yes, it’s even more flavorful the next day.
~Pam
Have you ever canned this salsa recipe before? I’m wondering if it would taste good if you were to can it.
Angela,
I am sorry, I have never tried canning it. If you do, pleas let me know how it turns out!
~Pam
How much is a “punch of cilantro”
Misspelling! I have corrected the recipe to read: 1/2 bunch of cilantro.
Pam