Home Canned Salsa Verde

The annual canning extravaganza continues. I've been craving Salsa Verde. Nothing so hot you can barely stand to digest it. But also something that honestly does have a little bite to it. After perusing about six recipes and comparing and contrasting, I finally came up with something that was suitable for my taste. Lots of adjusted spices and herbs made this particularly good. I'll be making this every season for sure, to keep my pantry at home stocked. 

Lots of sweet onions cooking and caramelizing down. 

Freshly husked, farm picked ripe tomatillos roasted hot in the oven to bring out the flavor. 

Adding the roasted & blackened tomatillos to my canning pot of onions. 

A medley of peppers and garlic was charred to add more flavor. 

Adding the charred peppers to the tomatillo mixture. 

Lots of spices, dried herbs and fresh cilantro is added

A good amount of freshly squeezed lime juice was added to get the right level of acidity to make it suitable and shelf stable for water bath canning. 

Lots of kosher salt and cumin.

 Prepping for water bath processing. 

 Post water bath processing. 

Nine finished pints of home canned salsa verde. The possibilities are endless with what this can be made into. Or, just popped open and enjoyed with some fresh corn or flour tortilla chips. 


Dan's Salsa Verde

6 pounds tomatillos, papery husks and stems removed, rinsed

2 tbsp canola oil

3 medium onions, peeled, medium dice

5 jalapenos, stems removed, (seeds and all for added heat)

5 hatch peppers,

5 poblano peppers 

2 green bell peppers 

15 cloves garlic

2 tsp ground cumin, more to taste 

1 tsp ground coriander, more to taste  

2 bunches fresh cilantro, chopped

5 fresh limes, juiced 

2 tbsp kosher salt, or to taste

Fresh cracked black pepper

Approx 2 tbsp agave or honey, or to taste

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.  Place tomatillos on a lined baking sheet. Roast for 20-35 minutes, turning occasionally, until blackened in spots and the tomatillos are soft, collapsed and leaking. Prepare another lined baking sheet as roast peppers and garlic. Roast 30 minutes as well, until blackened in spots and the vegetables are soft, collapsed and leaking.  

Meanwhile, preheat a large stainless steel stockpot over medium high heat.  When hot, add canola oil and saute onions that have been lightly sprinkled with kosher salt and pepper. Cook until translucent.  Add roasted tomatillos and bring to a simmer. Add roasted peppers and garlic, and bring to a simmer again. At this point I used an immersion blender and puree the mixture to a consistency of my liking.  If you do not have an immersion blender, you can puree batches of this in the blender or food processor. Once pureed, return mixture to a simmer, add and mix in half the kosher salt, cumin, coriander, cracked pepper, chopped cilantro and the fresh lime juice.  At this point taste, add more salt if needed.  Use agave or honey to further balance the flavor should the salsa seem too acidic and it needs to be sweetened. 

Ladle the hot salsa into sterilized jars, leaving 1/2" head space at the top. Use a clean damp cloth to wipe the rims of the jars, then put a flat lid and ring on each jar. Screw bands on jars to finger tight. Place jars in a boiling water bath with water covering jars by at least one inch.  Bring to a boil, and process for 20 minutes.  Remove jars from bath and allow to cool on a towel. After one hour, check that the lids have sealed by pressing down on the center of each. If it can be pushed down, it hasn't sealed, and the jar should be refrigerated immediately. Sealed jars can be placed in your pantry for 12-18 months. 

Yields 8-9 pint jars.