Name: Bigly Salsa Verde
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 1.5 lb (about 10 medium) tomatillos, husked and rinsed; 2 jalapeños; 1/2 white onion, halved; 3 cloves, unpeeled garlic; 1 large handful, about 1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro (leaves and tender stems); 2 tbsp lime juice, fresh; 1 tsp, plus more to taste kosher salt; 1/4 tsp sugar; 2-4 tbsp, as needed water

Bigly Salsa Verde

Prep

Cook

10m

Total

15m

Bigly says

I want to talk about salsa verde. We HAVE to talk about it. Because what's happening at the grocery store in the salsa aisle — and I've walked that aisle, I've walked every aisle in America, I'm an aisle guy — what's happening there is a CRIME. They take a jar, they pour green liquid in it, they slap a label on that says 'salsa verde,' and they CHARGE you for it. Inside? Water. Vinegar. Something that USED to be a tomatillo before being boiled into submission. Sad.

The best salsa verde of my life was in a tiny kitchen behind a gas station outside Albuquerque. A man named Ramón made it. He didn't speak. He charred the tomatillos on a comal until they were almost black, he tossed them in a stone molcajete with chiles and lime, and he slid the bowl across the counter without making eye contact. I ate it standing up. I almost cried. Real salsa verde has BONES. It has structure. It has tomatillos put under fire until they BLISTER, until they get those beautiful little burnt spots, until they SCREAM. Char is flavor. The chefs who tell you to BOIL tomatillos — like a kidnapping, into a pot of water — those chefs have failed you. Boiled tomatillos taste like a wet sock. Charred tomatillos taste like Ramón's kitchen.

This salsa takes fifteen minutes. FIFTEEN. The other sites would still have you scrolling past their cookie banner with 18 toggles. In fifteen minutes you'll have a bowl of green fire that goes on tacos, eggs, chicken, chips, fish, your finger if you're standing alone in the kitchen and nobody's looking — and look, I'm not judging, the finger move is what real cooks do. Tremendous salsa. Let's go.

Ingredients

1.5 lb (about 10 medium)tomatillos, husked and rinsed(the sticky residue under the husk is normal, rinse it off)
2jalapeños(drop to 1 for mild, add a serrano for heat)
1/2white onion, halved
3 cloves, unpeeledgarlic
1 large handful, about 1 cup loosely packedfresh cilantro (leaves and tender stems)
2 tbsplime juice, fresh
1 tsp, plus more to tastekosher salt
1/4 tspsugar(balances the acid, do not skip)
2-4 tbsp, as neededwater

Steps

1
Position an oven rack 6 inches from the broiler element. Set the broiler to high.
2
Place the tomatillos, jalapeños, onion halves, and unpeeled garlic on a foil-lined sheet pan. Slide under the broiler.
3
Broil 6-8 minutes, until the tomatillos are blackened in spots, blistered, and softened. Flip everything halfway through with tongs. The garlic may finish first — pull it early if the skins darken too fast.
4
Pull the pan from the oven and let everything cool for 5 minutes. Peel the garlic cloves once cool enough to handle.
5
Transfer the tomatillos (and all their juices from the pan), jalapeños, onion, and peeled garlic to a blender. Add the cilantro, lime juice, salt, and sugar.
6
Pulse to break everything down, then blend on low to medium speed until you reach a coarse, spoonable salsa — not a smoothie. Add water 1 tbsp at a time if it needs loosening.
7
Taste and adjust salt and lime. Pour into a bowl and let rest at least 10 minutes before serving — the flavor sharpens as it sits.
8
Refrigerate any leftovers in a sealed container for up to 5 days.

One more thing

This salsa is the universal donor. Eggs in the morning? Put it on. Tacos at lunch? Put it on. Plain grilled chicken that you forgot to season? Put it on, fix the mistake, nobody has to know. It is the great improver. Cookbook authors will tell you to make a different salsa for every dish — they want you running FORTY salsas, total disaster, who has time — but here at BiglyEats we believe in ONE great salsa that does the whole job. This is that salsa. Now go eat.