Roasted Tomato Chipotle Salsa

By Ernest Lee
Date posted: 5/04/2019
Salsa
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Salsa is synonymous with Mexican food. Many Mexican restaurants often serve you salsa in some form. Many times, it’s served with a warm basket of tortilla chips. Other times, it’s incorporated into dishes such as burritos or tacos. But if you’re lucky enough, you may even stumble upon restaurants that have a full access salsa bar sporting a plethora of different salsas. This zesty, spicy sauce is both complex and full of flavor. It can be made from a variety of different ingredients, which make it the perfect pairing to all types of food.

Although salsa comes in many different styles and types, my favorite kind is roasted salsa. With roasted salsas, the main ingredients are roasted and then pureed so that the sting of some of the stronger ingredients, such as onions and garlic, are more palatable. The roasting process adds a char flavor and helps to concentrate the flavors by “cooking” the ingredients, thus removing some of the water content.

This roasted tomato salsa recipe will produce a salsa that is between mild and medium, giving most people who don’t normally eat spicy food just the right amount of heat. If you want to make the salsa mild, you can start off with just one chili. If you want to add more heat, you can always add more chilies or experiment with chilies higher on the heat index.

Regardless of how hot you like your salsa, this recipe will produce a salsa that is worthy of winning your next Cinco de Mayo office salsa party contest. (I’ve won two times in a row!) So what are you waiting for? Grab a chip and dig in!

Category/Keywords

Salsa, Tomato, Sauce, Roasted, Chipotle, Dip, Mexican

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Roasted Tomato Chipotle Salsa

Make about 2 1/2 cups

Times:

Prep Time: About 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Total Time: About 35 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 6 Roma tomatoes
  • 2 medium sized onions
  • 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 2 serrano chilies
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground chipotle
  • 10 sprigs of cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice (from 1/2 of a lime)

Directions:

  1. Line a half sheet pan with foil.
  2. Preheat the oven to broil on high.
  3. Quarter the tomatoes and remove the seeds.
  4. Cut each of the onions into 8 wedges.
  5. Cut the chilies in half and remove the stem and seeds.
  6. Add the tomatoes, onions, garlic, and chilies into a large bowl. Drizzle 1/4 cup of vegetable oil over the ingredients in the bowl and toss them together so they are coated with the oil.
  7. Transfer the ingredients from the bowl to the foil lined sheet pan.
  8. Broil on high for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the ingredients are softened and charred. Check the vegetables every few minutes while broiling to make sure they do not turn too black. You can flip the vegetables over if they appear too charred.
  9. Remove the sheet pan from the oven and allow ingredients to cool for about 5 minutes.
  10. Transfer the ingredients from the sheet pan to a food processor. (A 7-cup or larger food processor is recommended, but if you have a smaller food processor, you can process the ingredients in separate batches and combine them in a bowl after)
  11. Add the salt, cumin, and ground chipotle to the food processor.
  12. Cover and pulse the food processor until the salsa has small sized chunks.
  13. Add the cilantro and lime juice to the food processor.
  14. Cover and pulse the food processor until the cilantro is chopped.
  15. Transfer the salsa to a serving bowl or storage container.
  16. Season with more lime juice, salt, or spices to suit your taste.

Helpful hints & tips

  • Always remember to wash your hands after handling chilies!
  • Roasting the ingredients (tomatos, onions, chilies, garlic) adds a char flavor and removes some of the water content to help concentrate the flavors.
  • When salsa is allowed to settle in the refrigerator overnight, it may become less spicy and the flavors may change slightly.
  • You can experiment with different types of chilies (Jalapeno, Habanero, etc.) to get a different flavor and/or level of spiciness.
  • For a milder salsa, leave out the chilies, or substitute the chilies with bell peppers.
  • For a spicier salsa, add more chilies, experiment with different spices, or try different chilies with a higher heat index.

Equipment

Before you get started, here are some helpful items you may need. Click on each item for more details.

Ingredient List

  • 6 Roma tomatoes
  • 2 medium sized onions
  • 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 2 serrano chilies
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground chipotle
  • 10 sprigs of cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice (from 1/2 of a lime)

Step-By-Step Directions

  1. Line a half sheet pan with foil.
  2. Preheat the oven to broil on high.
  3. Quarter the tomatoes and remove the seeds. Quartered tomato.
  4. Cut each of the onions into 8 wedges. Onion wedges.
  5. Cut the chilies in half and remove the stem and seeds. Halved chilies.
  6. Add the tomatoes, onions, garlic, and chilies into a large bowl.
  7. Drizzle 1/4 cup of vegetable oil over the ingredients in the bowl and toss them together so they are coated with the oil. Ingredients in bowl.
  8. Transfer the ingredients from the bowl to the foil lined sheet pan. Ingredients on sheet pan.
  9. Broil on high for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the ingredients are softened and charred. Check the vegetables every few minutes while broiling to make sure they do not over char. You can flip the vegetables over if they appear too charred. Charred ingredients.
  10. Remove the sheet pan from the oven and allow ingredients to cool for about 5 minutes.
  11. Transfer the ingredients from the sheet pan to a food processor. (A 7-cup or larger food processor is recommended, but if you have a smaller food processor, you can process the ingredients in separate batches and combine them in a bowl after) Ingredients in food processor.
  12. Add the salt, cumin, and ground chipotle to the food processor. Add salt and spices.
  13. Cover and pulse the food processor until the salsa has small sized chunks. Chunky salsa.
  14. Add the cilantro and lime juice to the food processor. Add cilantro and lime juice.
  15. Cover and pulse the food processor until the cilantro is chopped. The final salsa after being pulsed.
  16. Transfer to a serving bowl or storage container.
  17. Season with more lime juice, salt, or spices to suit your taste.

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