Easy homemade recipe for salsa verde
Salsa verde; that humble green sauce that goes well with vegetables, meat and with fish. That makes it the perfect condiment for just about any dish you’d like to make. It’s healthy and super easy to make too. The below easy salsa verde recipe comes from no other than Donna Hay.
Easy salsa verde recipe
I’m sure there are many ways in which you can make a salsa verde recipe and the one you will find in the recipe card below is from the queen of cooking; Donna Hay. I made it as part of the Donna Hay challenge in which I decided I was going to recreate all recipes from one issue of Donna Hay Magazine. Needless to say I never got to the end of the 80+ recipes, but a few favorites did arise from the challenge.
This homemade salsa verde recipe was one of them.
What do you need to make the salsa verde?
In order to make the salsa verde you need the following ingredients:
- olive oil
- dill
- flat leaf parsley
- mint
- garlic cloves
- capers
- vinegar
- a tiny bit of sugar, optional
For all above simple ingredients you use fresh ingredients. So no dried ones. You also need a food processor to transform the fresh herbs into a delicious salsa.
I’m sure you can find many store-bought versions of this classic sauce recipe but let me tell you; making your own beats that every single time. This recipe is just one example but I’m pretty sure there are many different ways to make a salsa verde. Some people like to add fresh cilantro, fresh lime juice or fresh tomatillos. The last is not easy to find here but they are essentially small green tomatoes and delicious. It’s a staple in Mexican cuisine, but depending on your location it can be hard to find.
I’ve seen some canned varieties.
How to make salsa verde?
Making salsa verde is really very simple. You place all the ingredients in the food processor and you blend it until it forms a rough paste. You can make it as fine as you like. I like mine to be somewhat chunky. But that is a personal preference.
You place the herbs, garlic and the capers in the processor and pulse a few times. Then add the olive oil until it has the right consistency. Add a bit of sea salt or vinegar to bring out the flavor. The fun thing about this green salsa verde recipe that it is easy to create your own recipe by adding or removing certain ingredients.
What’s the origin of salsa verde?
As with many recipes the origin of salsa verde is up for discussion. I have to be honest; I always thought it was a Mexican invention but some google searches reveal that it is actually (probably) from the middle east. From there is was transported to France and Italy where it became famous.
It is always a green sauce might from fresh herbs and is famous for it’s vibrant green color. Obviously the color can vary depending on the ingredients you use. I sometimes like to add a bit of mayonaise so the sauce gets a more creamy consistency.
Variations to salsa verde
If you’ve tried out the basic recipe you find below, it is time to add some additional ingredients to make it your own. Like I mentioned I sometimes add a bit of mayonaise, but I also like to experiment with different peppers for a spicier salsa. Jalapeño peppers, serrano peppers or green chili peppers is always nice to add (and also green) and try to make it with avocado next time. That will render a delicious creamy avocado salsa verde.
It definitely belongs to my list of favorite healthy recipes.
Italian salsa verde
There is a slight variation between the different salsa verde recipes among the regions. The Italians like to add capers and anchovies, fresh garlic and sometimes mustard. The French and the German version of the salsa verde is somewhat similar in terms of use and look.
Mexican salsa verde
Despite the fact that it is not a Mexican invention it seems to be that the Mexican salsa verde is based around those tomatillos. For an authentic Mexican salsa verde recipe you can have a look here. I’ve not yet made this tomatillo salsa verde but it sure looks delicious.
How long can you keep salsa verde?
How long you can keep salsa verde in the refridgerator depends a bit on the contents of your sauce. If it’s just fresh herbs you can keep it for about a week. If there is avocado in the salsa I tend to keep it a bit shorter.
How can I use leftover salsa verde?
Obviously you can use salsa verde over a nice steak, a piece of grilled salmon or with some roasted vegetables. If you have some leftover it is also delicious with homemade tortilla chips or use a few teaspoons in mayonaise for an easy dip or dressing. It’s definitely one of my favorite salsas to make and a really easy way to spice up any meal.
Salsa Verde
Ingredients
- 1 cup mint leaves chopped
- 1 cup flatleaf parsley chopped
- 1 cup dille chopped
- 1 tbsp capers rinsed and drained
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 cup olive oil 60 ml
- Place the mint, parsley, dill, capers, garlic, vinegar and sugar together in a small foodprocessor and process until smooth.
- Add the oil and process to combine.
- This recipe makes about 250 ml (one cup) of dressing.
Notes
Nutrition Information per portion
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
4 comments on “Easy homemade recipe for salsa verde”
Leave a comment »Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Love love salsa verde and I love your idea about cooking up recipes from a Donna Hay magazine! Awesome!
Thanks dear! Yes it’s great fun. I love all Donna’s recipes and the biggest challenge really is to make photos of each dish! I’ve done a few already but just didn’t have time to shoot as well… You know… hungry man and all… 🙂
Salsa verde is good stuff! One of the things I like about it, is it belongs to an international family of dishes that all riff off of the same basic theme. For example, pesto really is a form of this dish (IMO) as is the Moroccan chermoula. Different ingredients and flavors, for sure, but there’s a real strong family resemblance. Really nice — thanks.
I totally agree John! We might as well call it herb pesto or something like that. What’s in a name anyway right? 😉