Tomatillo Salsa with Avocado

This avocado and tomatillo salsa is so good that we’re hard pressed to think of any of our favorite foods that don’t benefit from a dollop of this gorgeously hued food.

Adapted from Roberto Santibañez | Truly Mexican | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011

Let me be dramatic for a second. I live for this tomatillo salsa with avocado! Few things make me happier than going to my favorite taquerias in Mexico City, ordering tacos with carnitas, barbacoa, or other tasty braised meats, and spooning on some salsa verde cruda.

Really, though, I’ll add it to almost anything that benefits from a bolt of tartness and spiciness. It always amazes me that a salsa that takes so little effort can deliver such tremendous flavor. You just toss tomatillos, such unassuming little fruits, along with a few other easy-to-find ingredients in the blender, purée, and you’re done.–Roberto Santibanez

LC Such A Cinch Note

“It’s a cinch to turn simple fresh tomatillo salsa into the kind of tart, creamy, slightly soupy condiment that you find in Mexico City’s incredible taquerias,” says the author of this salsa creation.

“You just blend in an avocado and add a little more salt. The addition of water gives it just the right texture. Even though it acts like salsa, strictly speaking it’s a guacamole— yet as long as you promise to spoon some on my taco, I don’t care what you call it!”

We’re not arguing. But the true beauty of this recipe—well, taste and ease aside—is that it’s just as swell minus the avocado, as you’ve still got a really swell tomatillo salsa. (Not that we have anything against avocado. Heck no. Just saying…)

☞ Contents

1

Tomatillo Salsa with Avocado

Each time you make this salsa, it’ll get even better as you get a sense of the balance of flavors—tweaking the level of tomatillos’ acidity with a little lime juice and adding just the right amount of salt to make it all sing.

Prep 20 mins

Total 20 mins

Condiments

Mexican

10 servings (makes 2 1/2 cups)

10 kcal

5 / 4 votes

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Ingredients 

USMetric

• ▢ 1/2 pound tomatillos (5 or 6), husked, rinsed, and coarsely chopped
• ▢ 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• ▢ 4 fresh serrano or jalapeño chiles coarsely chopped, including seeds, or more to taste
• ▢ 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped white onion
• ▢ 1 large garlic clove peeled
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fine salt or 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• ▢ 1 large or 2 small ripe avocados halved and pitted
• ▢ 1/2 cup water

Directions

 

• Toss the tomatillos in the blender jar, then add the cilantro, half the chiles, the onion, garlic, and salt. Blend until the salsa is very smooth, at least 1 minute. (It takes a minute or so for the blades of the blender jar to catch chopped raw tomatillos. Once they do, all the ingredients will be pulled toward them. Be patient, and do not add any water. If the tomatillos don’t liquefy after a minute or so, stop the blender, prod them with a wooden spoon, and try to blend again. The tomatillo seeds will still be visible when the salsa is properly smooth.)
• Scoop the avocado from its skin into the jar and add the remaining chiles and water. Blend until smooth. Season with additional chile and salt and blend again. This salsa tastes best no more than a few hours after you make it.

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Show Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 10kcal (1%)Carbohydrates: 2g (1%)Protein: 0.3g (1%)Fat: 0.3gSaturated Fat: 0.04gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.05gSodium: 234mg (10%)Potassium: 83mg (2%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 140IU (3%)Vitamin C: 10mg (12%)Calcium: 4mgIron: 0.2mg (1%)

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We’d love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Recipe Testers’ Reviews

Dawn English

Yum! This tomatillo salsa recipe is authentic, unique, simply delicious, and easy to make. The end result is quite impressive, as it is not your ordinary salsa. All the ingredients blend together to create a fantastic and harmonious flavor profile, one that will leave you wanting another taste. My family loved it. And I love that all the ingredients are raw. I whipped this up in the blender in just minutes. (I have a Vitamix and didn’t even have to chop my tomatillos, I just threw them in whole and they blended nicely.) I made the salsa as stated except I used 2 jalapeños instead of 4, seeds and all, which was just the right amount of heat. Even though the recipe states the salsa tastes best within 2 hours of making it, a day and a half later, my salsa is still a vibrant green with no discernible change in color or taste. This salsa would make a fabulous accompaniment to nachos, chips, flautas, taquitos, or any style of tacos or burritos. It was the perfect salsa for the Carnitas taco recipe found on the site.

Mary Kate K.

I really enjoyed this salsa. I did find it pretty spicy and would probably omit some of the seeds and veins (I used jalapeños). The salsa had quite a bit of heat but the tartness of the tomatillos was a good balance. The salsa came together quickly, in about 5 minutes from start to finish. I used kosher salt (2 teaspoons) and found that to be the right amount of seasoning.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.