The Best Salsa Ever

Restaurant style salsa made the authentic Mexican way!!! Sure to become everyone’s favorite salsa. 

*This recipe has been updated with new photos*

Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, I am sharing with you the absolute Best. Salsa. Ever.

I am sure you might have a good recipe for salsa, I used to have what I thought was a good recipe too. But I can promise you, it probably does not compare to this. My recipe went something like this: fresh tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeños, lemon, garlic, and salt. Sound familiar? Yeah, well this recipe takes it to a whole different level.

A dear Mexican friend of mine, whom I will forever be grateful for, had me over for dinner one night a few years ago for some authentic Mexican food. She knew I was missing the good stuff here in Germany. We’re chatting over wine in her kitchen while she is cooking all the food. I noticed she had this on the stovetop:

I told her it looked good and she told me it was for salsa. Say what?!?! Don’t you just throw in some tomatoes, onion, etc. into the blender?

“This is Mexican cooking 101,” she tells me.

So I started paying attention. I tried when I got home a few days later and failed. So then, I had her to my house. I wasn’t going to screw it up this time; I took notes. For over a year now, I have been making my variation of Yesenia’s recipe. And now my dear readers, I am sharing with you. Oh and Yesenia did give me permission. She is not one of those that likes to keep good food a secret!

The key to this recipe is to char the tomatoes and peppers on the stovetop. I tried to do it in the oven once and roast the tomatoes & peppers, bad move. It will take you about 20 minutes, but sooooooo worth the wait. You’ll need to rotate the veggies from time to time, so all the sides are pretty even. Here is what the vegetables will look like once they are done:

There are some other interesting ingredients in here as well. She adds poblano peppers with the jalapeños, chicken bouillon powder instead of salt, and 1 cup of canned rotel tomatoes. She also adds chopped fresh cabbage, which I omit. The recipe will make a large bowl. You can half it if you want, but what’s the point? You’ll eat it within a few days. And if you’re making it for a crowd, it will be gone before you even serve the rest of your meal. My husband and I agree that it tastes even better the next day. Save leftovers! ENJOY!!!!

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The Best Salsa Ever

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 15

4.5 from 2 votes

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Ingredients

• 6 medium size vine ripened tomatoes stem removed
• 2 jalapeno peppers
• 1 poblano pepper
• 1 cup green onion diced
• 1 lime juice of
• 1 cup canned rotel tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tbsp chicken bouillon powder or sea salt

Instructions

1. Heat a large skillet to medium high heat. Place tomatoes and peppers in the skillet. 

2. Continue to saute, rotating the vegetables occasionally, so several sides begin to blister. See photos above. This will take around 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. Once cooled, chop off the stems of the peppers, and remove the seeds from the jalapeño (you can also keep some seeds for more heat in your salsa). Cut the vegetables into large pieces.

4. Place tomatoes, peppers, onions, lime, and rotel into a blender and pulse quickly until just mixed (about 5 seconds). Add garlic, cilantro, and bouillon. Pulse for another 15 seconds until well blended but chunky.

5. Place in a large bowl and refrigerate until cooled before serving. Serve with your favorite Mexican dish or with chips. 

Recipe Notes

This recipe tastes better after 24 hours. You can refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.