Green Enchilada Sauce Recipe

Ingredients for Green Enchilada Sauce

The most important ingredient for homemade green sauce is the tomatillo. Tomatillos are available at grocery stores throughout Texas, and can be found at Mexican grocery stores throughout the southwest.

Tomatillos are not actually a member of the tomato family but the gooseberry family, and grow wild in south Texas and northern Mexico.

They are tart and acidic and must be roasted or boiled to create a mild, silky enchilada sauce. To try them raw in a great dish, check out my recipe for the Famous Guacamole Salad at a beloved 60-year-old tex mex restaurant in my parent’s hometown.

How To Prepare Tomatillos for Roasting

As you can see tomatillos are sold wrapped snug in a papery husk. The first step in working with them is to pull this husk off and discard them. The little green globes will probably be a bit sticky. Wash them well.

You will see a fleshy little stem coming out of the top of the tomatillo. I don’t bother to remove this because it breaks down during cooking and seems unnecessary. If you want to remove it you can but it’s not required. Now the tomatillos are ready to work with in a recipe.

For the onion and jalapeno, slice into slightly smaller pieces. I quarter both the onion and the jalapeno and place on a baking sheet. Then pop it in the preheated oven. You can coat the baking sheet with foil for easier clean-up if you like.

Roast for 20-30 minutes until soft and slightly golden.

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How to Make Green Enchilada Sauce

Once we’ve roasted the tomatillos and other vegetables it’s time to puree in the blender.

Add 1 clove of garlic chopped and a teaspoon of kosher salt and blend well. I also add 2 T. chopped cilantro for the beautiful specks of bright green in my version of this sauce but it is purely optional and varies from cook to cook.

How to Store the Homemade Green Enchilada Sauce Recipe

The final sauce can be used immediately in chicken or beef enchiladas by pouring over the rolled and filled corn tortillas. It can be stored by placing in standard Tupperware with a lid in the refrigerator for about 5-7 days or frozen for 2 months. This sauce does pleasantly develop in flavor over several days, as most sauces do.

What is the Difference between Green Enchilada Sauce and Salsa Verde

As most recipes vary in names from place to place, I do not believe there is a difference between true homemade green enchilada sauce and salsa verde. I have chatted with several other chefs and Hispanic home cooks and here is what we have agreed upon…

Occasionally, salsa verde will refer to a sauce made with the same roasted tomatillo puree in this recipe, and fresh white onion and cilantro added for crunch and texture. This dip is served alongside corn tortilla chips or drizzled on steak street tacos. You will occasionally see this dip in Texas and in Mexico, and this salsa may be referred to as salsa verde in some regions.

However, you can make this recipe and call it salsa verde and no one will think twice about it.

What I actually think is going on is that very good quality canned enchilada sauce such as Las Palmas Green Enchilada Sauce, or Old El Paso Green Enchilada Sauce, are being referred to as “Green Enchilada Sauce”, while fresh, homemade green enchilada sauce, (like the one displayed in this blog post), are being referred to colloquially as Salsa Verde (in some regions).

So, that’s probably more than you ever needed to know about Salsa Verde, and while we are at it, here is the recipe for mine. As you will see, it’s basically identical but intended to be served with chips.