Every year around summer I get a little bit sad because summer means the year is half over and where did the time go? Besides Steph, one of the things that help me get over my summertime sadness is the onset of Hatch chile season. If you live anywhere in the southwestern United States, including California, you’ll undoubtedly know about these guys, and see signs everywhere that declare Hatch chile season is here, it’s now or next year!
Hatch chiles are to New Mexico what Parmigiano Reggiano is to the Italians: the king of peppers and a symbol of pride. The smoky spicy garlicky flavor of a good Hatch chile can’t be found in any other pepper, and as a self described pepperhead, I really feel like it’s one of the best peppers on the planet. Not necessarily the spiciest, but one of the tastiest.
So what do you put this salsa verde on? Everything. It can be a condiment, a seasoning, or a sauce. We’ve used it to make Hatch chili (chili with an i, aka a stew), Hatch chile tacos, Hatch chile chicken thighs, and soon if I have my way, Hatch chile porchetta sandwiches. This recipe looks – and is – super simple but it’s also super tasty and well tested and refined. I’m assuming it’s probably the standard way everyone makes this salsa verde, because it can’t get any simpler than this.
What should you do if you can’t access Hatch chiles or you have a hankering for this and it’s not in season? If you can get Anaheim peppers at your local grocery store, they are actually genetically almost the same pepper. The only difference is the terroir of New Mexico’s incredible soils, and the spice level. Anaheims came about because a California native moved to New Mexico and loved New Mexico Chiles so much he brought them back home to plant.
We went out of our way to buy some Anaheims even though Hatch chiles are in season. I needed a lot of will power not to just buy more Hatch chiles instead, but we needed to test our theory. After careful research (aka lots of eating raw and roasted Hatch and Anaheim peppers) I would say that Anaheims + a green thai chili = 85% as good as a Hatch chile. That’s an entirely made up stat, but it feels right. The flavor difference is not that pronounced, mostly you are missing the smokiness and the heat from the Hatch chiles. I won’t put this in the recipe, but essentially if you don’t have Hatch chiles, substitute with 4 anaheims and some serrano or thai chili to up the heat index.
PS, If you’re ever out in Moab, UT, the best salsa verde I’ve had in a restaurant was at Moab Diner. I would literally drive across the desert again for that stuff.
2020 Update: Due to my love of all things New Mexico, we’ve now traveled and eaten all over and stayed a long time in New Mexico, and I still think the best salsa verde is at that diner in Moab.
Easy 4 Ingredient Hatch Chile Salsa Verde
Ingredients
- 1 cup Hatch chiles about 4 chiles
- 1 lb tomatillo
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 cup fresh cilantro about half a bunch
Instructions
- Set your oven to broil. Remove tomatillo lanterns. Wash and dry your tomatillos and Hatch chiles. Rub them with oil (any oil is fine) and place in oven. Flip them when they are toasted to your liking and do the other side. This took 18 minutes in our oven at 550ºF.
- Once the peppers are done, put them in a ziploc bag to steam for 10 minutes. Transfer the tomatillos, along with cilantro, garlic, and a pinch of salt to a blender and set aside.
- Remove the chiles from the bag and peel them. It’s not necessary but highly suggested that you also seed them with a small spoon. Once the chiles have been peeled and seeded, put them in the blender and puree well.
omg yes, yum – get in my tum!
Rebecca | http://www.peppermintdolly.com
How easy would be to can jars of this Salsa Verde? This sounds like a great recipe, my husband and I have been trying to find the perfect green chili salsa Verde
hi cindy,
we haven’t tried canning it – it’s gone too fast, but i’m thinking it would work great!
Not so well. Unless you have an approved canning recipe, you are risking your health. It would be a low acid product and require a pressure caner also. Water bath would be inadequate.
Should you try it anyway, the flavor of the Cilantro would virtually disappear with either method. With approved Salsa recipes, it is best to add the fresh chopped Cilantro at time of serving. Fresh salsas in general always have the freshness on taste regardless of the canning method. Make a batch of this salsa and open a store bought variety and taste them together.
If you select a water boil method of home preservation, the copious vinegar and Citric Acid required for safety will give you a very different taste. I found out once after making about 150 pints.
Adding lime and tomatillo should definitely up the amount of acid in this. I am curious as to why you would need to add so much citric acid to already acidic tomatoes? Unless you are specifically speaking of green Chile salsa.
You can add 1 tablespoon of bottled lime juice to a pint and that will take care of the acid so you can water bath can them.
I wanted to get hatch chilis but time passed up on me. From when to when are they in season?
Hi Norma, you can usually get Hatch chiles from Aug-Oct, so you still have time
I love 505 hatch Chile salsa I got at Costco. It’s amazing. I’m going to cook this recipe today, bought some hatch Chile’s yesterday at Albertsons. I will let you know. I’m a real good salsa cook!
We LOVE the Costco 505 Hatch chili. We make chili a few times a month in the winter with that jarred sauce. We have a white bean and chicken version, along with our Colorado Pork Green Chili (which is minus the beans). Everyone loves it too. We serve it with tortillas or corn bread, or just over grilled veggies, any roasted or grilled meats. It is a favorite.
So you don’t peel the tomatillas is that right? Roast tomatillas and chilies but just peel the chilies? So glad I found this recipe!
Hatch chile freezes wonderfully. Follow the steps to roast or roast on the grill outside. I usually roast about 20#. After putting in the baggies just freeze them. You can use them later by peeling, etc adding garlic, tomatillos, onion in the blender. Love it!
So you don’t actually peel the Hatch Chiles until after you’ve frozen them?
I suppose that method would keep your hands from burning so bad when you peel them right after they’ve been roasted.
My bride got stuck roasting and peeling a bushel bag of Hatch Green Chiles because I was out of town on a business trip. I got a phone call from her afterward and she read me the riot act because her hands burned so badly even after using gloves! I was called almost everything but a Child of God. 😂. At least she had her sister there helping her so they both had words for me. Ha!.
There are many varieties of Chile grown in Hatch and the Mesilla river valley. If you know, you can ask for varieties such as Big Jim, Barker, Joe Parker and what is most sold, Sandia. There are many different varieties each with their own characteristics. I’ve never heard of a Hatch variety. I can understand how you can be confused and not know the differences you not being a native New Mexican growing up here eating green and red Chile everyday of your life.
I bag roasted chilies for the year. I blend an put in this little restaurant container an freeze. Take out when I need a little chili. I made the salsa but had hot chili, wheee to hot for me.