Roasting tomatillos is easy and ideal for making sauces, salsas, and more. Learn how to roast them in the oven and broiler.
Roasting tomatillos for salsas or sauces is very simple. Roasting is important to encourage the full flavor of the tomatillos.
The easiest way is to roast your tomatillos under a broiler or in the oven. It doesn't take long at all.
You'll need a good dozen or so tomatillos along with some spray oil, and that's pretty much it. I like to roast peppers and onions and other ingredients when roasting tomatillos, but you don't have to.
How to Roast Tomatillos in the Broiler
- First, preheat your oven to broil.
- Next, peel off the outer brown skin that wraps the tomatillos and discard. Rinse the tomatillos.
- Slice the tomatillos in half through the horizontal center (not up and down) and arrange on a large baking dish with the skin sides up. Spray or brush lightly with oil.
- Bake about 12 minutes until skin side is blistering.
- Lastly, remove and cool before using.
NOTE: The tomatillos will be very soft at this point.
How to Roast Tomatillos in the Oven
If you prefer to bake instead of broil, preheat oven to 400 degrees F, then bake about 20 minutes. Then proceed. They will not char, but they will be just as good.
Here are the steps:
- First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Next, peel off the outer brown skin that wraps the tomatillos and discard. Rinse the tomatillos.
- Slice the tomatillos in half through the horizontal center (not up and down) and arrange on a large baking dish with the skin sides up. Spray or brush lightly with oil.
- Bake about 20 minutes until skin side is blistering and the tomatillos are nice and soft.
- Lastly, remove and cool before using.
Enjoy your roasted tomatillos!
What should you make with your roasted tomatillos?
- Roasted Tomatillo Salsa, aka Salsa Verde, Recipe
- Avocado-Tomatillo Salsa Verde (Mexican Green Table Sauce)
- Homemade Green Enchilada Sauce
- Roasted Tomatillo Pork Chili
- Salsa Recipes
Further Information
What is a Tomatillo? Learn All About Them
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #ChiliPepperMadness on Instagram so we can take a look. I always love to see all of your spicy inspirations. Thanks! -- Mike H.
How to Roast Tomatillos
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 12 tomatillos
- Olive oil or spray oil
Instructions
HOW TO ROAST TOMATILLOS IN THE BROILER
- First, preheat your oven to broil.
- Next, peel off the outer brown skin that wraps the tomatillos and discard. Rinse the tomatillos.
- Slice the tomatillos in half through the horizontal center (not up and down) and arrange on a large baking dish with the skin sides up. Spray lightly with oil.
- Bake about 12 minutes until skin side is blistering.
- Lastly, remove and cool before using.
HOW TO ROAST TOMATILLOS IN THE OVEN
- First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Next, peel off the outer brown skin that wraps the tomatillos and discard. Rinse the tomatillos.
- Slice the tomatillos in half through the horizontal center (not up and down) and arrange on a large baking dish with the skin sides up. Spray lightly with oil.
- Bake about 20 minutes until skin side is blistering and the tomatillos are nice and soft.
- Lastly, remove and cool before using.
Video
Notes
NOTE: This post was updated on 3/30/20 to include a video and new information. It was originally published on April 6, 2014.
Jackie Gaston says
What is the reason for cutting them horizontally rather than up and down?
Mike Hultquist says
You can do either way, really.
Ryan says
I was looking for a key ingredient for the enchilada sauce I'm prepping for now that a Ninja blender is part of the kitchen appliances, to avoid the canned sauce we had been using. Having a sauce that is not full of preservatives will be much healthier and with thoughts now of roasting hatch chilies to use that fresh ingredient... Mmm!
Great recipe, and thank you for posting it!
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome! Thanks, Ryan! Glad you enjoyed it.
Star says
Can these be canned by pressure? I have a laundry baskets of tomatoes and tomatillos, want to make salsa and spaghetti sauce but want to pressure can instead of use lemon juice and water bath
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
You should be able to can these in a pressure canner.
Budding Optimist says
How do you store these once roasted? can you freeze them? I have a good amount of tomatillos but my peppers are behind, so I am thinking I can roast them and save them and then roast the peppers later and just use them together in recipes.
Love your recipes!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Yes, you can freeze them very easily, then thaw and use as needed later on. Thanks, and enjoy!!
professor ed says
baking soda removes the sticky, you should actually rinse all your vegies with this to remove dirt , pesticides, etc...
William Thompson says
Whats the taste difference between fresh tomatillos vs roasted vs boiled?
REPLY: Cooked tomatillos have a distinct flavor difference from raw. The raw tomatillos are very vegetal and have a slight bitterness, where the cooked tomatillos are more developed and mellowed. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
MOlly says
We have always just rinsed the tomatillos, we don't worry about the sticky stuff at all. We usually get 3-5 five gallon buckets of them and this would be hugely time consuming. You cannot tell the difference in taste anyway.
Shari says
Can you freeze this salsa? How long does it stay good in fridge for? Thank you
REPLY: Shari, yes, you can easily freeze this. Just be sure to use airtight containers. It will last a good week in the fridge or so. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Bruce says
Made some turkey stuffed enchiladas using this sauce - great recipe! Regarding the sticky film, if it doesn't rinse off is it necessary to remove it? I roast them under a broiler till the skins are somewhat charred and don't notice any residual film. Does it negatively affect the flavor.
REPLY: Bruce, it is not a big deal if the stickiness does not wash off. It is just part of the tomatillo and does not affect the resulting flavor. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
marv says
Re: Stickiness The smaller, greener tomatillos were stickier than the riper, lighter colored tomatillos. I grew them in my garden, and picked them before frost, so some of them weren't as ripe.
Jen says
I sprayed my tomayoes with a little vinegar to remove the sticky feelibg. 🙂
Irène Deschenes says
I tried to remove sticky coating from tomatillos following advice (run cold water and rub gently). That doesn't work at all. I tried hot water and soap. Didn't work. What does really work? Also I couldn't get it off my hands.
REPLY: I don't think there is any special trick with it, Irene. I just rinse mine as you describe and the stick film comes right off. I wonder if you got a weird batch or something? -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
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