Easy Roasted Tomato Salsa
- PREP 15min
- COOK 15min
- TOTAL 30min
For this easy roasted tomato salsa, we char tomatoes, garlic, and peppers and then add them to onion, cilantro, and lime for a flavorful and addictive homemade salsa. As this tomato salsa cools, it becomes really flavorful. In fact, if you have the time, leave it in the refrigerator for an hour or two before serving. Or make it a day or two in advance.
You Will Need
1 pound tomatoes (3 to 4 medium)
1 jalapeño pepper
1 serrano pepper
2 unpeeled garlic cloves
1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves and tender stems
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or more to taste
Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
Heat the broiler with a rack about 4 inches below the heat source. Place the tomatoes, jalapeño, serrano pepper, and garlic into a baking dish.
Broil, turning occasionally, until they’re blackened in spots, about 8 minutes. Let tomatoes, peppers, and garlic cool. See notes for using a grill.
When the tomatoes, peppers, and garlic are cool enough to handle, peel most of the skins from the tomatoes and remove the cores.
Peel most of the skins from the peppers and remove the seeds. For a spicier salsa, leave in some or all of the seeds. Remove the softened garlic from the peel.
Add roasted tomatoes, peppers, garlic flesh, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and a pinch of salt to a food processor or blender. Pulse 3 to 4 times or until the salsa is mostly smooth and no big chunks of tomato remain, scraping down the sides as necessary.
Adjust with more lime juice, salt, or pepper based on consistency and taste. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for about 1 hour for flavors to develop.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Using canned tomatoes: I love using fresh, ripe tomatoes in this recipe since they have so much flavor. You can use canned tomatoes, but this will prevent you from roasting the tomatoes. You can, however, still roast the peppers and garlic.
- Peppers: If you cannot find serrano peppers, substitute with jalapeño.
- Using a grill instead of broiling: You can grill the tomatoes, peppers, and garlic on a barbecue. We recommend using a grill basket over medium-high heat.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.