Chipotle Style Green Chili Salsa Recipe Copycat is made in the style of the chipotle salsa recipe from Chipotle Mexican food restaurants. This chipotle salsa is spicy from jalapeno peppers, sweet from honey, and tangy from tomatillos. Ground cumin, garlic, and lime round out the flavors nicely. You can easily adjust the heat and/or the sweetness in this recipe by adding a little more of this, or a little less of that. This sauce is perfect for tacos, burrito bowls, and stuffed poblano peppers.
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THIS CHIPOTLE-STYLE GREEN CHILI SALSA IS:
- one of my favorite Chipotle copycat recipes.
- delicious served with home-fried tortilla chips. I am partial to fried flour tortillas but corn tortilla chips are great too.
- a great topping for chicken fajitas and cilantro lime rice.
- great used it as you would any green salsa verde.
- spicy, but if you don't like hot food, cut down on the number of green chilis.
INGREDIENTS
For the full recipe with quantities, see the recipe card at the end of the post.
INGREDIENT NOTES
Tomatillos - See FAQs below for advice on how to choose fresh tomatillos. If you haven't experienced raw tomatillos, don't let the waxy coating freak you out. It is nature's way of protecting the fruit from insects. It washes off easily in cold water.
Jalapeño Peppers - Use a fresh jalapeño or two for this tomatillo salsa recipe. If you don't like jalapenos, substitute a poblano pepper or green bell peppers. If you like smoky salsa, you can add a couple of chipotle peppers from canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce.
Onion - Use any type of onion you want in this recipe. I had a small onion so I used it all. You can put in a lot or just a little bit. The roasting process tames the onion flavor. You'll want to avoid red onion so you don't alter the green color of the salsa.
Tomato - Use any small tomato you have. Just use the flesh part and not the seeds and membranes. Roma tomatoes are the easiest to get the flesh from and they stand up well to roasting.
Garlic - Again, use as much or as little as you like.
Honey - I use Mike's Hot Honey because I am obsessed with it, but you can use regular honey if that is what you have.
Ground Cumin - Occasionally I omit the cumin completely from this salsa as my spouse hates it, and the salsa is still delicious. I recommend adding it for more Tex-Mex flavor.
Lime - Lime juice is necessary for the texture and taste of the salsa to be correct. You could use lemon juice in a pinch, but this salsa does need the acidity and liquid from a little citrus.
Oil - Use a neutral oil like vegetable oil or canola oil. Olive oil is too strong and has the wrong flavor for the salsa.
TOMATILLO FAQS
The scoop on this weird little fruit.
Tomatillos are Mexican fruits that are related to tomatoes. They are also referred to as a Mexican husk tomato. They have a papery husk around the fruit with a sticky residue on the surface. Tomatillos are very tart and slightly crunchy when raw, but become sweeter and less tart after cooking, especially if roasted. 
You can find tomatillos at a regular grocery store or a Mexican grocery store. They are readily available seasonally at your local farmer's market.
Choose fruits that are firm to the touch. The husks should be smooth, not wrinkled and discolored. You can store them at room temperature for a couple of days, or in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.
There's some debate about whether unripe tomatillos are toxic, but under-ripened tomatillos are extremely sour and bitter lessening the chance that you will eat them raw. We recommend only consuming ripe tomatillos.
Look for tomatillos in which the paper husk has split and is torn. The tomatillo should be firm but not rock-hard. The skin will be a beautiful deep green in color. Some tomatillo varieties turn yellow or purple when they're ripe.
The husks are not edible, so remove them and discard them before cooking.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR GREEN CHILI SALSA
Preheat oven to 400 degrees f. Peel, and thoroughly wash. Halve tomatillos.
Cut onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Place on sheet pan cut side down.
Toss with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to coat the vegetables evenly.
Roast until vegetables become very soft and begin to char. Remove from oven.
Allow vegetables to cool to room temperature. Pour veggies and liquid into a food processor.
Pulse until the desired consistency is achieved. Add honey to taste. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
TOP TIP FOR CHIPOTLE-STYLE GREEN CHILI SALSA
I add one tablespoon of honey to my Chipotle Style Green Chili Salsa. I suggest you add ½ tablespoon to start and add more to taste as the green chili salsa chills in the refrigerator. The sweetness is more pronounced after it chills.
NEED MORE TEX-MEX RECIPES?
If you like the way this hot salsa tastes, these two dishes are sure to tame your Tex-Mex cravings too.
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 4 large firm tomatillos each about the size of a small-medium apple
- 2 large jalapeno peppers
- 3 cloves garlic sliced
- ½ small onion
- 1 Roma tomato
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1-2 tablespoons honey
- lime juice of ½ lime
- 1 tablespoon oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees f.
- Peel and discard the outer husks of the tomatillos and rinse under cold water to remove the waxy film on the skins. Cut the tomatillos in half.
- Slice the jalapenos in half and remove the stem. You can remove the seeds and membranes if you don't like too much heat, or leave it if you do. Remember to wear gloves or wash your hands thoroughly after handling peppers. Make sure to not rub your face or eyes.
- Cut the skin and flesh off the tomato. Discard the seeds and core.
- Peel and slice the garlic cloves.
- Cut the onion into quarters.
- Place the tomatillos, jalapenos, onion, tomato, and garlic, onto a baking sheet. Toss with the oil and arrange, evenly spaced with the cut sides of the vegetables down.
- Sprinkle on the salt and pepper.
- Place the baking sheet into the preheated oven.
- Roast until the vegetables are soft and beginning to break down, about 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Add the vegetables and the liquid they gave off to the bowl of a food processor. Add the cumin and the lime juice.
- Pulse a couple of times. Check the consistency and if it is to your liking, stop, if not pulse a few more times. You can make this salsa as smooth or as chunky as you like. Pour the salsa into a serving bowl.
- Add one tablespoon of honey. Taste. Add additional honey as desired.
