Chef Isabel
Aceitunas Aliñadas Andaluzas
Andalucía's green olives are cracked just enough to drink in garlic, cumin, oregano and sherry vinegar, then left two days until the brine turns fragrant and every bite carries the aliño.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Salsa Verde Vasca
Created by
Basque salsa verde is the warm parsley sauce of the northern coast, built with garlic, olive oil, flour and fish stock, then moved in circles until pale green, glossy and silky.
Sauces & Condiments
Spanish
Comfort Food
Weeknight
Make Ahead
10 min
Active Time
15 min cook•25 min total
YieldAbout 400ml, enough for 4 servings of fish
Salsa verde vasca belongs to the Basque coast, where it is the proper companion to merluza, hake, and clams. This is a warm pan sauce of garlic, parsley, olive oil and fish liquor, held together with a little flour. It should be pale green and glossy, loose enough to run around the fish. No blender and no spinach. That makes another sauce.
The method that decides it is the movement of the pan. Once the liquid goes in, don't stir. Hold the cazuela by its handles and move it in small circles so the oil, flour and fish stock draw together without turning pasty. Keep the heat gentle too. A hard boil makes the oil separate and cooks the parsley to khaki.
If txakoli isn't sold where you are, use any crisp, dry, unoaked white wine. If proper fish stock is difficult to find, strained clam or mussel cooking liquor diluted with an equal amount of water works, though the sauce will be brinier and need less salt. My Margin beside this one says only two things: keep the garlic pale and keep the pan moving. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Salsa verde belongs to the Basque fishing coast, where it was built around merluza, hake, whose gelatin-rich juices help bind olive oil and fish liquor as the cazuela is moved. A Bilbao household letter records hake in a green parsley sauce with clams and spring garnishes, showing that the pairing was part of home cooking before it acquired formal names. Around Donostia, merluza a la koskera adds clams, white asparagus, peas and egg, but those garnishes belong to the finished fish dish, not to the base sauce.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
60ml
garlic cloves
Quantity
4 medium (about 16g)
thinly sliced
plain flour (all-purpose flour)
Quantity
15g
txakoli or another dry, unoaked white wine
Quantity
100ml
unsalted light fish stock
Quantity
300ml
kept warm
fresh flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
20g
leaves and tender stems very finely chopped, divided
fine sea salt
Quantity
2g
warm water (optional)
Quantity
up to 30ml
for loosening the sauce
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| extra virgin olive oil | 60ml |
| garlic clovesthinly sliced | 4 medium (about 16g) |
| plain flour (all-purpose flour) | 15g |
| txakoli or another dry, unoaked white wine | 100ml |
| unsalted light fish stockkept warm | 300ml |
| fresh flat-leaf parsleyleaves and tender stems very finely chopped, divided | 20g |
| fine sea salt | 2g |
| warm water (optional)for loosening the sauce | up to 30ml |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide heavy sauté pan or low flameproof cazuela, about 26cm
- •Small saucepan for warming the stock
- •Heatproof measuring jug
- •Sharp knife
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the parsley
Warm the fish stock in a small saucepan without letting it boil. Chop the parsley just before cooking so it stays bright, then divide it into 15g for the sauce and 5g for the finish. Have every ingredient measured before the oil reaches the pan; once this starts, it moves quickly.
- 2
Soften the garlic
Put the olive oil and sliced garlic into a cold, wide pan or low cazuela. Set it over low heat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, tilting the pan occasionally, until the garlic is soft and fragrant but still pale. Brown garlic makes the whole sauce bitter. If it darkens, start again; four cloves cost less than a spoiled pan of fish.
Starting with cold oil gives the garlic time to perfume it before the slices take colour. - 3
Cook the flour
Sprinkle the flour evenly over the oil. Move the pan in tight circles for 1 minute, keeping the heat low, until no dry flour remains and its raw, chalky smell has gone. Do not let the flour or garlic brown. Pour in the wine around the pan and continue the circular movement while it simmers for about 2 minutes, reducing by roughly half.
- 4
Shake in the stock
Add 100ml of warm fish stock and move the pan steadily in small circles until the liquid looks smooth. Repeat twice with the remaining stock. Keep it at a quiet simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, moving the pan often and never stirring with a spoon or whisk. This motion draws the olive oil and stock into a silky emulsion while the flour gives it just enough body.
The sauce is ready for the parsley when it coats the back of a spoon in a thin film but still runs freely. It is a sauce for surrounding fish, not a thick gravy. - 5
Finish with parsley
Lower the heat and scatter in the first 15g of parsley. Move the pan in circles for 60 to 90 seconds, only until the sauce turns pale green and the parsley smells fresh. Remove the pan from the heat, add the remaining parsley and the salt, then shake again. Let it settle for 2 minutes. If it has thickened too far, add warm water 15ml at a time and move the pan until the sauce flows easily again.
- 6
Serve the sauce
Spoon the salsa verde around gently cooked hake, monkfish or clams, or finish the fish directly in the pan so its juices join the sauce. Serve at once while the colour is fresh and the surface still carries a green-gold gloss. Tal como se hace allí.
Chef Tips
- •Use fresh flat-leaf parsley with firm green stems and no yellow leaves. Dried parsley gives neither the colour nor the clean, grassy flavour this sauce needs.
- •Txakoli brings a brisk Basque acidity, but another crisp, dry, unoaked white wine works properly. Avoid sweet wine and heavily oaked wine; both sit on top of the delicate fish stock.
- •For a useful stock substitute, strain the cooking liquor from clams or mussels and dilute it with an equal volume of water. It makes a brinier sauce, so taste before adding the measured salt.
- •To turn this into merluza en salsa verde, lay four 150g hake portions in the finished sauce, cover and cook gently for 4 to 6 minutes, shaking the pan twice. Add scrubbed clams for the final 3 to 4 minutes and discard any that remain closed.
- •Keep the parsley out until the final minutes. Long cooking won't deepen the flavour; it only dulls the green and leaves the sauce tasting tired.
Advance Preparation
- •The garlic, flour, wine and stock base can be made up to 24 hours ahead. Cool it promptly, cover and refrigerate, then reheat gently while moving the pan in circles. Add all the parsley only when serving.
- •A finished sauce keeps for up to 2 days in the refrigerator, though the parsley loses some brightness. Reheat over low heat and loosen it with 15 to 30ml water or fish stock while shaking the pan.
- •Do not freeze it. The emulsion is likely to separate, and fresh parsley returns from the freezer dark and tired.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 100g)
Calories
160 calories
Total Fat
14 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
2 mg
Sodium
220 mg
Total Carbohydrates
6 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
2 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Salsas Regionales: Mojo, Brava, Verde & Vizcaína
Browse the full collection
Chef Isabel
Adobo Andaluz (Andalusian Marinade)
Andalucía's sharp, brick-red marinade brings vinegar, garlic, oregano, cumin and pimentón to fish and pork; pound the seasonings first, then give the acid time to carry them through.
Chef Isabel
Ajada Gallega
Ajada gallega is Galicia's quick garlic and pimentón refrito for boiled fish, octopus, vegetables and cachelos, with the paprika stirred in off the heat so its red oil stays sweet, never bitter.
Chef Isabel
Ajopollo Almeriense
Almería's ajopollo turns fried garlic, almonds, bread and saffron into a golden mortar paste that gives modest fish and potato guisos their body, richness and unmistakable southern depth.