Charred Roasted Salsa

· 3 min read
mexican salsa sauces recipes

Raw salsas are great, but roasting is where you get that deep, smoky, restaurant-style flavor that makes people ask what you did. The whole trick is char. You want the tomatoes and chiles to get genuinely blackened in spots under the broiler, because those burnt edges are where all the flavor lives once it hits the blender.

I make this on the same afternoons I’m firing up the grill anyway, usually alongside the carne asada marinade. The broiler does the heavy lifting, the blender does the rest, and you end up with a jar of salsa that’s better than anything you’d buy.

The chipotles in adobo are pulling double duty here: they add heat, but more importantly they reinforce the smoky, charred thing you started under the broiler. Between the char and the adobo, this leans smoky and a little sweet rather than sharp and fresh.

Charred Roasted Salsa

Servings: Makes about 3 cupsPrep: 10 minCook: 15 min

Ingredients

  • 6 plum (Roma) tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 white onion, chopped
  • 3 jalapeños, chopped
  • 1 serrano, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 4 chipotle chiles in adobo
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Method

Set your oven to broil and move a rack up near the top. Spread the chopped tomatoes, onion, jalapeños, and serrano out on a sheet pan in a single layer.

Broil until everything is well charred, about 10-15 minutes. You’re looking for real blackened spots on the tomatoes and blistered, softened chiles and onion. Give the pan a shake or a stir partway through so it chars evenly. Don’t be timid here — the char is the whole point.

Scrape everything on the pan, including the juices, into a blender. Add the garlic, chipotles in adobo, lime juice, cumin, smoked paprika, and a good pinch of salt and pepper.

Blend to whatever texture you like — a few pulses for chunky, longer for smooth. Taste and adjust the salt and lime. Let it cool; the flavor settles and deepens after an hour in the fridge.

Notes

  • The char is non-negotiable. If your broiler is weak, give it the full time and get the pan close to the element. Pale roasted vegetables make pale salsa.
  • Heat control: three jalapeños plus a serrano plus four chipotles is a medium-hot salsa. Pull seeds from the fresh chiles, or drop to two or three chipotles, to bring it down.
  • It keeps. Stored in a jar in the fridge, this holds for about a week and honestly tastes better on day two.
  • Roast the garlic too if you want it mellower — toss the whole cloves on the pan for the last few minutes rather than blending them raw.