Chef Lupita
Adobo de Carnitas estilo Apaseo el Grande
Guanajuato's Bajío adobo for carnitas, built with guajillo, ancho, naranja agria, laurel, and garlic before the pork goes into manteca de cerdo.
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Salsa de Jitomate y Jalapeño para Enchiladas Potosinas
Created by
San Luis Potosí's weeknight salsa of ripe jitomate guaje and fresh jalapeño, cooked down in manteca until glossy enough to crown the red masa of enchiladas potosinas.
Sauces & Condiments
Mexican
Comfort Food
Weeknight
Batch Cooking
10 min
Active Time
25 min cook•35 min total
YieldAbout 2 cups, enough for 12 to 16 enchiladas potosinas
San Luis Potosí lives in this salsa, especially around Soledad de Graciano Sánchez, where enchiladas potosinas are not a restaurant trick. They are supper, market food, party food, and the thing a good cook can make with masa, chile, cheese, and a hot comal.
This is the warm jitomate and jalapeño salsa that goes over the finished enchiladas, not the chile sauce worked into the masa. Do not confuse the two. The masa gets its color from dried chile, usually chile ancho or chile colorado. This salsa gets its body from ripe jitomate guaje and its green bite from fresh chile jalapeño, softened until it tastes rounded, not raw.
I learned a version like this from a señora near the market in Soledad, standing beside a comal black from years of work. She did not drown the enchiladas. She spooned the salsa over them warm, just enough to shine on the red masa, with crumbled queso fresco and a clay plate on the table. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
The principle is simple to say and easy to ruin: cook the tomato until it stops tasting watery, fry the salsa in manteca until the color deepens, and salt it enough to stand up to masa and cheese. No me vengas con atajos. A raw blender salsa does not belong here.
Enchiladas potosinas are associated with Soledad de Graciano Sánchez in San Luis Potosí, where local accounts credit Cristina Jalomo with popularizing the red chile masa version in the early 20th century after chile was accidentally mixed into nixtamal dough. The dish reflects the state's position between the Bajío, the Altiplano, and the Huasteca, using corn masa, dried chile, fresh cheese, and table salsas that vary by household. The tomato and jalapeño salsa is a later everyday companion to the enchiladas, practical for home kitchens because fresh jalapeño and jitomate guaje are easier to source year-round than many regional dried chiles.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
ripe jitomate guaje or Roma tomatoes
Quantity
1 1/2 pounds
fresh chile jalapeño
Quantity
3
stemmed
white onion
Quantity
1/4 medium
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
unpeeled
water
Quantity
1/2 cup, plus more as needed
manteca de cerdo
Quantity
1 1/2 tablespoons
kosher salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
dried Mexican oregano
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
crushed between your fingers
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| ripe jitomate guaje or Roma tomatoes | 1 1/2 pounds |
| fresh chile jalapeñostemmed | 3 |
| white onion | 1/4 medium |
| garlic clovesunpeeled | 2 |
| water | 1/2 cup, plus more as needed |
| manteca de cerdo | 1 1/2 tablespoons |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| dried Mexican oreganocrushed between your fingers | 1/4 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Small saucepan with lid
- •Blender
- •10-inch clay cazuela or heavy skillet
- •Wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Cook the vegetables
Put the jitomates, jalapeños, onion, and unpeeled garlic in a small saucepan with the water. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once, until the tomato skins split and the jalapeños turn from bright green to olive. That color change matters. Raw jalapeño bites hard. Cooked jalapeño sweetens.
- 2
Peel the garlic
Lift out the garlic cloves, slip off the skins, and return the soft garlic to the pan. Do not throw away the cooking liquid. It has tomato acid, chile flavor, and enough body to help the blender move without thinning the salsa into soup.
- 3
Blend the salsa
Transfer the cooked jitomates, jalapeños, onion, peeled garlic, and 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid to a blender. Blend until mostly smooth, 20 to 30 seconds. Leave a little texture. This is a table salsa for enchiladas potosinas, not a tomato puree from a carton.
For a milder salsa, split one jalapeño and remove its seeds after cooking. Do not replace jalapeño with bell pepper. The flavor will be wrong, and the señora who taught you would know. - 4
Fry in manteca
Heat the manteca de cerdo in a 10-inch clay cazuela or heavy skillet over medium heat. When it shimmers, pour in the blended salsa carefully. It will sputter. Stir in the salt and cook uncovered for 8 to 10 minutes, until the salsa darkens slightly, thickens, and leaves a clean trail when you drag a spoon across the bottom. La manteca es el sabor. It rounds the tomato and helps the salsa cling to the enchiladas.
- 5
Season and finish
Crush the Mexican oregano between your fingers and stir it in during the last minute. Taste for salt. The salsa should taste a little stronger than you think, because masa and queso fresco will soften it on the plate. If it gets too thick, loosen it with a tablespoon or two of the reserved cooking liquid.
- 6
Spoon it warm
Serve the salsa warm over freshly cooked enchiladas potosinas, spooned lightly across the top instead of drowning them. The red masa should still show. Finish with queso fresco if your enchiladas are being served that way. Así se hace y punto.
Chef Tips
- •Use ripe jitomate guaje or Roma tomatoes that smell like tomato at the stem end. If the tomatoes are pale and hard, roast them on the comal first or wait for better tomatoes. The market decides the recipe.
- •Fresh chile jalapeño is correct here. Chile serrano gives a sharper heat and makes a good salsa, but it changes the character. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
- •Do not add cilantro to this salsa unless your household does it that way. For enchiladas potosinas, the sauce should taste of tomato, jalapeño, garlic, onion, manteca, and oregano. Clean, direct, potosino.
Advance Preparation
- •The salsa can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated in a covered jar. Reheat gently in a small cazuela before spooning over the enchiladas.
- •If making enchiladas potosinas for a crowd, double the salsa and hold it warm over very low heat. Stir in a spoonful of water if it tightens while waiting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 34g)
Calories
25 calories
Total Fat
1.5 g
Saturated Fat
0.5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
1 g
Cholesterol
1 mg
Sodium
170 mg
Total Carbohydrates
2 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
1.5 g
Protein
1 g
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