Fresh Roasted Restaurant Salsa

Here’s the answer to your prayers… Fresh Roasted Restaurant Salsa. I haven’t met a soul yet who can resist Mexican restaurant salsa and chips. We get full before our meal comes. Amirite?

How spiffy would it be to make your own salsa at home and have the power of making your salsa as mild or spicy as you like? How awesome would it be to have the power to say you’ll skip the 2,794-calorie burrito platter and just get full on the chips & salsa freebies?

Your answer is here. Let’s salsa.

Fresh Roasted Restaurant Salsa

If oven-roasting, preheat oven to 500°F.

*If grilling, turn the grill on medium-high and aim for 350°F.

• 1/4 cup olive or grapeseed oil
• 6 medium tomatoes, stemmed & cut into quarters (fresh outta the garden are the best)
• 1 medium yellow onion (or half of a large one), peeled and cut into quarters
• 1-3  jalapeño peppers, stemmed & cut into quarters (removing seeds is optional)
• 4 garlic cloves with skins on
• Salt
• Coarse ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (optional, great addition when using out-of-season tomatoes)
• Juice of half a lime
• 3 green onions, roots removed then diced
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro (stems & all)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin

Rinse veggies & cilantro with cold water to clean. Drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil onto a half sheet pan. Place tomatoes, onion, peppers, and garlic cloves onto the pan. Drizzle with a couple more tablespoons of olive oil. Place the pan in the oven for about 20 minutes.

If grilling, place larger items on the grill and turn occasionally until charred on outside edges & hot. Place smaller items in a cast iron pan drizzled with olive oil to roast.

Allow the veggies to cool off until they are cool enough to touch. Peel skins off the garlic. Place all of the roasted veggies, garlic cloves, and remaining ingredients into a large food processor or blender and pulse until it becomes the texture you’d like it to be. 

Try it to be sure the flavoring is to your liking and add more salt if needed to bring out all the gorgeous, colorful flavors of your salsa.

Now that you’ve saved 2,794 calories, let’s do margaritas, you zesty little thing.