Chef Lupita
Birria Chile Adobo (Adobo para Birria)
Jalisco's birria begins with this chile adobo: guajillo, ancho, warm spices, vinegar, and manteca worked into a brick-red paste that turns goat or lamb into birria.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa Verde Jalisciense
Created by
Jalisco's creamy green taqueria salsa, built from cooked tomatillo, chile serrano, cilantro, and avocado, made to ride over carnitas, tacos dorados, eggs, and warm corn tortillas.
Sauces & Condiments
Mexican
Weeknight
Budget Friendly
Make Ahead
15 min
Active Time
7 min cook•22 min total
YieldAbout 2 cups
Jalisco, especially Guadalajara and the towns that feed into its markets, knows this green salsa as the taqueria spoonful that belongs next to carnitas, tacos dorados, and a stack of warm corn tortillas. It is not guacamole. It is not crema with green color. It is salsa verde con aguacate, and the tomatillo is still in charge.
The chile here is fresh chile serrano. Not jalapeno because you had one rolling around in the refrigerator. Serrano gives a cleaner bite and a sharper green perfume. The tomatillos are simmered only until they soften, then cooled before the avocado goes in. That keeps the salsa bright instead of gray. The women selling tomatillos at Mercado de Abastos in Guadalajara will tell you the same thing: firm, tight husk, no yellowing. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
My mother did not put avocado in every salsa verde. She was from Jalisco and she knew when body mattered. For carnitas or tacos dorados, yes, avocado helps the salsa cling to the tortilla and the meat. For a light spoon salsa on caldo, no. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and every table has its use.
Tomatillos are native to Mesoamerica and were cultivated long before the Spanish conquest; their Nahuatl name, tomatl, originally referred to husked green fruits before the red tomato took over the word in many places. The blender-smooth taqueria salsa verde with avocado became common in 20th-century urban taco stands, especially in western and central Mexico, where a creamy green salsa could stretch well, cling to meat, and stay milder than a pure chile salsa. In Jalisco, it became a practical partner to carnitas, tacos dorados, and grilled meats, though each stand argues over raw versus cooked tomatillo.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
medium tomatillos
Quantity
8
husked and rinsed
fresh chile serrano
Quantity
2
stemmed
garlic clove
Quantity
1 small
peeled
white onion
Quantity
1/4 cup
chopped
fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
Quantity
1/2 cup, packed
ripe Hass avocado
Quantity
1
pitted and flesh scooped
fresh lime juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon, plus more to taste
kosher salt
Quantity
3/4 teaspoon, plus more to taste
cold water
Quantity
2 to 4 tablespoons
as needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| medium tomatilloshusked and rinsed | 8 |
| fresh chile serranostemmed | 2 |
| garlic clovepeeled | 1 small |
| white onionchopped | 1/4 cup |
| fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems | 1/2 cup, packed |
| ripe Hass avocadopitted and flesh scooped | 1 |
| fresh lime juice | 1 tablespoon, plus more to taste |
| kosher salt | 3/4 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| cold wateras needed | 2 to 4 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •Small saucepan
- •High-powered blender
- •Small barro bowl from Tonala or Tlaquepaque for serving
- •Molcajete, optional for crushing the garlic and salt before blending
Instructions
- 1
Clean the tomatillos
Remove the papery husks from the tomatillos and rinse off the sticky film under cool water. That resin is natural, but it can make the salsa taste muddy if you leave too much of it. Choose tomatillos that are firm, bright green, and heavy for their size. If they are yellow and tired, make another salsa today.
- 2
Cook the green base
Put the tomatillos and chile serrano in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, just until the tomatillos turn olive green and soften. Do not boil them until they collapse. Overcooked tomatillo loses its clean acidity and gives you a dull salsa.
For a sharper taqueria version, use one raw tomatillo in the blender with the cooked ones. That little raw edge is common in Guadalajara stands where the salsa has to cut through carnitas and chicharron. - 3
Drain and cool
Lift the tomatillos and serranos out of the water and let them cool for 5 minutes. Do not pour the hot cooking water straight into the blender with the avocado. Heat darkens avocado and makes the salsa lose its fresh green color. Patience here is not decoration, it is technique.
- 4
Blend the salsa
Add the cooled tomatillos, serranos, garlic, white onion, cilantro, avocado, lime juice, salt, and 2 tablespoons cold water to a blender. Blend until smooth and thick, about 30 seconds. The avocado should give body, not turn the salsa into guacamole. If the blender struggles, add cold water one tablespoon at a time.
- 5
Adjust the bite
Taste the salsa. It should be bright from tomatillo, green from cilantro, cleanly hot from serrano, and round from avocado. Add more salt first if it tastes flat. Add lime only after the salt is right. Most beginners keep adding acid when what the salsa needs is salt. Ask the women at the market. They know.
- 6
Serve or hold
Scrape the salsa into a small barro bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto the surface if you are holding it. Serve with carnitas, tacos dorados, grilled beef, eggs, or warm corn tortillas. No crema. No sour cream. The avocado already gives the creaminess. Asi se hace y punto.
Chef Tips
- •Buy tomatillos from a market stall that turns them over quickly. The husk should be tight or recently loosened, not dry and dusty. Yellow tomatillos make a sweeter, flatter salsa.
- •Use chile serrano for this Jalisciense version. If you substitute jalapeno, the salsa will be softer and grassier. That is a compromise, not an upgrade.
- •Do not add crema, mayonnaise, or oil. The avocado is the body. Add dairy and you have made a different salsa, not this one.
- •If you want more heat, add a third serrano. Do not remove the seeds unless you are cooking for someone who truly cannot handle chile. The seeds are not the whole heat, but removing them weakens the character.
Advance Preparation
- •This salsa is best the day it is made, but it can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours with plastic wrap pressed directly against the surface.
- •Cook the tomatillos and serranos up to one day ahead and refrigerate them. Blend with avocado, cilantro, lime, and salt shortly before serving.
- •If the salsa thickens in the refrigerator, loosen it with one tablespoon of cold water and correct the salt before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 60g)
Calories
45 calories
Total Fat
3 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
220 mg
Total Carbohydrates
5 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
1 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Occidente Sauces & Condiments
Browse the full collection
Chef Lupita
Colima Cascabel Chile Salsa
Colima's salsa de cascabel is built from rattling dried chiles, roasted jitomate, and garlic worked in the molcajete until it is rough, nutty, and ready for sopitos colimenses.
Chef Lupita
Colima Coconut-Vinegar Adobo for Tatemado
Colima's pork tatemado begins with this sharp red adobo: guajillo chiles, a little ancho for depth, garlic, oregano, and vinagre de coco from the coast.
Chef Lupita
Colima Pickled Yellow Chiles (Chiles Gueros)
Colima's pale yellow chiles gueros, blistered lightly and held in sharp vinegar with garlic, onion, bay leaf, and Mexican oregano, the coastal pickle that belongs beside ceviche.