Fermented Salsa Verde

After all the fun I had creating Fermented Fruit Salsa, I decided to monkey with putting a classic salsa verde through the fermentation process. The result is this Fermented Salsa Verde, and ladies and gentlemen, it is fabulous. I’d be hard-pressed to pick a favorite between these two lovely fermented salsas. Good thing I don’t have to- there’s no reason not to have both!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This Fermented Salsa Verde is incredibly easy to put together. It does require a bit of patience during the fermentation time, but it will richly reward you for waiting. This recipe also requires no starter culture, relying solely on salt (more on that below). This salsa is incredibly versatile, and you will enjoy heaping it all over any number of dishes (my absolute favorite so far: breakfast burritos).

Why Ferment My Salsa?

Lacto-fermentation is an ancient method of preserving food, in which food is placed into an environment that encourages healthy lactobacillus bacteria to thrive (and bad bugs to die). Usually, as in this salsa, this involves a salty environment. Sometimes a starter culture like whey is added, but that isn’t necessary this time.

The fermentation process also can make foods more digestible & more nutrient-rich, and lacto-fermented foods are rich in prebiotics & probiotics. For more on the health benefits of fermented foods, check out this article & this one.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Tools & Equipment for Fermented Salsa Verde

• Jar or jars: two pint-size jars will work, or one larger one. You’ll need to fit about 2.5 cups of salsa, plus a little extra room at the top.
• Food processor
• Cutting board
• Knife
• Measuring spoon
• Baking sheet

Ingredients for Fermented Salsa Verde

• about 1.5 lbs tomatillos
• 1 or 2 jalapenos, depending on how spicy you want it! Two will be a medium/spicy salsa. One will be fairly mild. You can omit entirely if you prefer.
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
• juice of 1 lime (about 2-3 Tbsp)
• 2 Tbsp salt: kosher or fine sea salt. Table salt with added iodine is not ideal here.

The Process: How to Make Fermented Salsa Verde

Prep

Sterilize your jar: I do this by placing the jar in a clean sink and pouring about 8 cups of boiling water over the jar. Alternatively, pour the boiling water into the sink and submerge the jar. Remove the jar to a clean towel on the counter with tongs and allow to cool to room temperature.

If not done already, dice your onions, and husk and rinse your tomatillos. A note on tomatillos: these are not just immature tomatoes, they are a relative of the tomatoes you are used to. They are not very tasty raw and benefit a lot from being cooked in some way which is why we’ll broil them in this recipe! If you’ve ever attempted to eat a raw plantain compared to a raw banana- it’s a similar situation here.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the tomatillos and jalapenos on it. Broil the tomatillos and jalapenos until a few black spots and blisters begin to appear, then flip them all and place back under the broiler for another minute or two. Remove from the oven and let sit for a couple minutes on the baking sheet.

Add your onions, cilantro, lime juice and salt to a food processor and pulse until well blended. Using tongs, transfer your roasted tomatillos and jalapenos to the food processor and continue to pulse until the whole mixture is well blended.

Ferment

Transfer to your prepared jar or jars and lightly cover. Allow to sit at room temperature to ferment for about 2-4 days. I recommend tasting the salsa right when you mix it so that you have something to compare the flavor to after it ferments! You’ll notice that the flavors meld well and are less sharp after fermentation.

Begin tasting after 2 days or so: you should be able to see a few tiny bubbles scattered throughout the salsa. The flavors will have mellowed out and melded. There will be a very subtle “fizziness” to the salsa. Not like carbonation- you’ll have to try it and see what I mean!

At a cool room temp, I find this salsa to be perfect after 3 days. Once it’s done fermenting, tightly cover the salsa and transfer it to the fridge. It should keep there for several months. Enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

How Should I Serve Fermented Salsa Verde?

The possibilities are genuinely endless here. Try it with quesadillas, chips, chicken, kabobs, as dressing on salad, with fried plantains, or my personal favorite, loaded on a breakfast burrito.

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What Should I Make Next?

Try Fermented Fruit Salsa, or checkout these 3 Fermented Salsas.

If you haven’t yet, try making lacto-fermented veggies!