Salsa comes in many wonderful varieties, from mild to hot, chunky to blended, and with a myriad of flavors and ingredients. Salsa cremosa, is unique, though. It's blended to a smoothness with almost zero visible "pieces" or chunks. This recipe has a beautiful green color, and is among the various types of salsa verde (green salsa).
It's a stark contrast to something like my Chunky Artichoke Salsa, which has visible pieces of all the ingredients. Think of salsa cremosa more as a sauce than what you might traditionally consider salsa. (After all, the Spanish word "salsa" simply translates as "sauce" in English!)
How to Eat Salsa Cremosa
The most obvious way to enjoy salsa cremosa is to eat it with tortilla chips. I also enjoy it on pita chips and on carrot slices.
It's also delicious on Mexican dishes like enchiladas, tacos, burritos, and more.
Salsa cremosa pairs quite well with sour cream and with guacamole, so don't feel like you have to pick and choose!
Ingredients
Rather than raw ingredients, this recipe uses cooked vegetables for a delicious, roasted flavor. Cooking the vegetables produced a creamy jalapeno salsa. Here is a picture of all of the simple ingredients you'll need to make salsa cremosa.
- Tomatillos - a tomatillo looks like a small, green tomato with a paper husk. Both tomatillos and tomatoes are in the nightshade family, but a tomatillo is not simply a "green tomato". Make sure to peel off the husk before roasting! If you can't find it at your local grocery store, look for a Latin grocer in your area.
- Jalapeño peppers - a fairly mild-heat pepper, I promise jalapeños will add enough spice to this recipe! But if you prefer, you can substitute serrano peppers or another variety.
- Garlic - roasted garlic is one of the most amazing tastes on the planet, and it adds beautiful flavor to this sauce.
- Yellow onion - if you prefer, you can use a Spanish or white onion instead
The fresh ingredients listed above are all roasted before blending. The remaining ingredients are not:
- Fresh cilantro - the quintessential herb for many Mexican and Latin-American dishes
- Lime juice - adds flavor and helps with consistency
- Salt
- Avocado Oil - you can use olive oil, but avocado oil produces a better result. It makes the sales extra creamy!
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
The first step is to prepare the produce. This involves peeling and washing the tomatillos, de-seeding the jalapeño peppers (reserve the seeds for later), and quartering the onion. The part that may be new to you is preparing the garlic so you can roast the entire head. Start by peeling the outer "paper" layer from the garlic. (There will still be a peel around each clove, but we'll remove that after roasting.) Chop a small amount off the top end to expose the garlic cloves, leaving the cloves all still attached to the base. Place cut-side up on the parchment paper.
Roast all of these healthy and amazing veggies in a 450℉ (232 ℃) oven for 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. I use a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for this step.
Allow the garlic to cool enough that you can touch it, then separate the cloves. Use your fingers to squeeze each clove out of its peel, or you can use a small knife or fork to pry out the cloves. Discard the peel.
Place all ingredients in a blender, and pulse until smooth. If it's too thick, you can add additional avocado oil or lime juice to thin it out. If it's not spicy enough for your taste, add additional roasted peppers, or add some of the seeds you removed earlier, and blend more. The end result should be a green sauce with a creamy texture.
Substitutions
First of all, the measurements of all of these ingredients are subject to taste. Feel free to use fewer or more peppers to change the spiciness, or more garlic for additional aromatic smell and taste.
This recipe has a kick, but if you want it to be even spicier, trade out the peppers for serrano, habanero, or ghost peppers!
If it's too spicy, you might swap the jalapeño peppers for a couple of poblano peppers, or just reduce the quantity of peppers.
Equipment
A good blender is really helpful to produce the creamiest, un-chunky version of this salsa. This is the one I use and love.
Storage
Store the salsa cremosa in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
FAQ
Tomatillos are a plant in the nightshade family, just like tomatoes are. They're green and have a papery husk that you peel before cooking.
Simply, a creamy salsa, or even just "creamy sauce" as a literal translation from Spanish to English.
It's originally a Mexican recipe, but salsa cremosa is now popular in a number of Latin American countries.
Recipe
Salsa Cremosa
Equipment
- 1 Blender
- 1 baking sheet or shallow roasting pan
Ingredients
- 3-4 tomatillos
- 6-8 jalapeño peppers
- 1 head garlic
- 1 yellow onion small
- cilantro to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or more as needed
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 450℉ (232 ℃)
- Peel outer papery covering of 1 head garlic, leaving the individual cloves attached to the base. Chop off a small amount of the top of the garlic to expose each bulb. There no need (or way!) to remove the covering of the individual cloves; we'll do that later.
- Remove the seeds and "ribs" from the 6-8 jalapeño peppers. If you would like, reserve some of the seeds to add additional heat to the salsa.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place tomatillos, peppers, garlic, and quartered 1 yellow onion on top, and roast in oven for 25 minutes. Rotate halfway through.
- Allow the roasted garlic to cool enough that you can touch it without burning your skin. Using your fingers or a small knife or fork, squeeze or pry each clove out of its covering.
- Place tomatillos, peppers, garlic, and onion in a blender. Add chopped cilantro (pick out the stems if you can), and squeeze in the juice from 1 lime. Add 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon avocado oil. Blend until smooth and creamy. If to achieve consistency, add more avocado oil and/or more lime juice.
Notes
- The ingredients for this salsa are very much "to taste". If you've never made salsa before, start with the recommended amounts. If you know you prefer it spicier, you can add the reserved jalapeño seeds or additional jalapeños. If you prefer more /less garlic or onion flavor, you can also adjust those.
Mona says
Big time winner at the football party over the weekend! Thanks for this one!!