Skip the store-bought jars—this homemade tomatillo sauce comes together in under 30 minutes and adds a bright, zesty kick to just about everything. Also known as green enchilada sauce, it’s perfect for dipping chips, drizzling over eggs, or smothering chicken, tacos, or grilled veggies. It freezes beautifully too, so you can always have a stash ready to spice up your meals.
While you can buy green enchilada sauce in a jar from Victoria or Trader Joe's, homemade wins the fresh and flavor contest and it's super easy to make. Just chop, simmer, and puree! Make it in about 30 minutes, then freeze in portions for future use.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It's fresh, fast, flavorful and easy!
- Make it mild or hot.
- Use it in many ways (12 uses at the end).
- Freezes great.
Use tomatillo sauce over these grilled shrimp tacos. Skip takeout tacos and make these!
Recipe Ingredients
- Tomatillos: They come green, yellow and even purple! I use the green tomatillos.
- Chili peppers: You need an Anaheim pepper (mild) and jalapeno pepper (mild - medium).
- Onion: For punchy flavor and moisture.
- Garlic: Fresh cloves work best.
- Liquid I use water but you could use chicken broth or vegetable broth.
- Spices: Ground cumin and coriander (optional).
- Herbs: Fresh or dried oregano, Mexican if you have it. I usually use dried.
- Arrowroot starch: For optional thickening at the end if desired, or use cornstarch if not freezing.
Please see the recipe card for measurements, salt, and pepper.
Chef's tip: Buying tomatillos. When buying tomatillos, peel back a bit of the paper and look for a smooth flesh and bright green color. Don't buy any with black spots or shriveled areas. While they look like green tomatoes, they are a different fruit (they are fruits not vegetables).
My favorite thing to do with tomatillo sauce is make this easy Salsa Verde Chicken with boneless, skinless breasts. Dinner in under 30 minutes! Add rice and you're ready.
Substitutions and Variations
- Use yellow or purple tomatillos.
- For ore heat, swap serrano pepper for jalapeno pepper.
- If there are no Anaheim peppers, look for poblano peppers (both are mild).
Recipe Instructions
Step 1 - Slice the jalapeno in half lengthwise and remove the white membrane and seeds. The membrane is where most of the heat is, not the seeds. Wearing disposable kitchen gloves when working with peppers is a good practice.
Step 2 - Husk and wash the tomatillos. They have a natural sticky outer coating, so wash before making for tomatillo sauce. Chop tomatillos, onions, and garlic.
Step 3 - Add chopped tomatillos, peppers, onion, garlic, and spices to a large pan and simmer over medium heat until the salsa is broken down and juicy, about 20 minutes. Pulse briefly in a blender (either chunky or smooth), use right away or cool, refrigerate then freeze.
For a thicker tomatillo sauce, use arrowroot starch to give it more body. Normally you have to make a slurry for starches with water, but I've discovered I can add it right to the blend when pureeing and it works great!
Chef’s Tip: Choosing the Right Thickener. If you plan to freeze this tomatillo sauce, use arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch for thickening. Arrowroot is a grain-free thickener like cornstarch and is generally used as a 1:1 swap for cornstarch. Arrowroot holds up much better through freezing and thawing, keeping the sauce smooth and stable. Cornstarch can break down after freezing, making sauces watery or separated.
How to Work With Chili Peppers
Chili peppers add unique flavor and varying levels of heat to many dishes. Anaheim chilies are long, thin and a bright shiny green with mild heat. Jalapeno peppers are smaller and usually a darker green with more heat but not crazy hot.
For more information on peppers and heat levels with photos, check out this well done article. For the Scoville chart to pepper names and heat levels, go to the source, Scoville.org and be careful!
Chef's Tip: Depending on the heat of the peppers you are using to make salsa verde, wearing disposable kitchen gloves is advised. I always have a box on hand. The heat is not from the seeds, but from the white inner ribs or membranes. To take reduce heat, remove the seeds and ribs. If you don't wear gloves, do not touch your eyes after working with them, even after washing your hands!
Serving Suggestions
12 Ways to Use Tomatillo Sauce
- As a sauce: Over grilled or baked fish like cod, halibut, or salmon, shrimp or scallops.
- Use it as a marinade: Use tomatillo sauce as a marinade for chicken, pork, or fish to infuse them with a bright, tangy flavor before grilling or roasting.
- Make green chicken enchiladas (Enchiladas Suizas).
- Chips and salsa! My great weakness.
- Make dips: Combine the tomatillo sauce with cream cheese or Greek yogurt to create a creamy dip for chips, crackers, or fresh vegetables.
- Add a spoonful to top a bowl of chili.
- Rice and grain bowls: Stir the sauce into cooked rice, quinoa, or couscous to add moisture and flavor.
- Use it with Huevos Rancheros instead of the more traditional red enchilada sauce.
- Pour it over poached or scrambled eggs for a lift of flavor.
- Use it with any kind of tacos as the sauce.
- Alongside baked nachos with cheese.
- Serve aside grilled flank steak for a Mexican style dinner.
Storing and Freezing
Tomatillo sauce is good for 4-5 days. If you're not going to use it up, freeze it in jars labeled with the date and volume (like 8 ounces or 1 cup portions). Souper Cubes work terrific for freezing sauces.
Recipe FAQs
The terms are often used interchangeably as they are both green Mexican-style sauces made from tomatillos and chilies. It can be prepared either raw or cooked, each method offering distinct flavors and textures.
The spiciness of tomatillo sauce can be customized by using different types and amounts of chili peppers. For a milder sauce, use fewer peppers and remove their seeds and membranes, which contain most of the heat. For a spicier version, include more peppers or choose hotter varieties like serrano or jalapeño peppers.
Not really. Green tomatoes and tomatillos are different fruits with different flavors. Tomatillos have a tart, citrusy taste, whereas green tomatoes are more acidic and less fruity.
More Mexican Inspired Recipes
If you're making tacos, skip the packaged seasoning with crazy high sodium and make your own with my homemade taco seasoning blend.
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📖 Recipe
Tomatillo Sauce (green enchilada sauce)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ pounds tomatillos
- 1 Anaheim chili pepper
- 1 medium onion
- 2 large glaric cloves chopped
- 1 cup water
- 1 jalapeno chili pepper
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch optional
- 2 tablespoons water
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Instructions
- Start with your prep work. Remove paper husks from the tomatillos, wash and chop them. Chop the onion. Split the chiles in half lengthwise, remove seeds and membrane, then chop. Add everything to a medium (4-5 quart) saucepan with the garlic, water, cumin, oregano, coriander, and salt. Bring to a boil then turn down to low. Cover and simmer with a lid on for approximately 20 minutes.
- Carefully pour hot salsa into a blender. Fix the lid on tightly and pulse briefly for a few seconds to puree as thick or fine as you want. Mix the arrowroot starch with 1- 2 tablespoons of water until smooth (called a slurry) and add to the blender, pulse a few more times.Use as is or cool and refrigerate or portion and freeze. Salsa will last 5 days in the refrigerator or several months in the freezer.
Notes
Nutrition
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Margaret Bruckner says
What else do you add to this salsa and do you add a liquid before cooking them? Thanks!
Sally Cameron says
Hi Margaret. There is water in the recipe. Do you see it? The recipe is at the very bottom. 1 cup water is the third ingredient after 2 1/2 pounds of tomatillos and 1 small onion. Please let me know if you have any other questions. It's such a tasty, easy and versatile sauce.
Daisy @ DaisyLinden.com says
I am loving this spicy little thing. thanks