Smoked Tomato and Tomatillo Salsa

Smoked tomato and tomatillo salsa is made by smoking the tomato and tomatillos and adding in bright flavors of cilantro, lemon juice, spice from a jalapeño, shallots, garlic and some spices. Perfect for taco Tuesday nights!

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Smoked tomato and tomatillo salsa is a recipe that was shared with me many, many years ago from a next door neighbor in Maryland. We both love cooking and had fun sharing and talking about recipes. But even better than that was when she came over with a bag of chips and this smoked tomato and tomatillo salsa. YUMMY!

This recipe always reminds me of my time in Maryland and how lucky I was to have an amazing neighbor, a steady job with an unbelievable boss who took me under his wings, close enough to my hometown for weekend visits and the birth of my first son.

List of Ingredients/Items for Smoked Tomato and Tomatillo Salsa

Tomatillos
Cherry tomatoes
Cilantro
Garlic
Shallot
Jalapeno
Lemon
Dried Oregano
Salt/Pepper
Hickory wood chips
Tinfoil loaf pans
Tinfoil

How to Prepare your grill for Smoked Tomato and Tomatillo Salsa

First, turn on your grill to high heat. Alternatively, prepare your charcoal grill. While your grill is warming up, take your tinfoil pan, add in the hickory wood chips. Take a lighter and hold a steady flame to some of the wood chips until they begin to smoke. If you happen to have a fire starter, like tumbleweed, put it underneath some of the wood chip and light that on fire. This will help kickstart the smoking process but totally doable without.

Once you have a steady smoke going on, cover the pan with tinfoil and poke many holes through it. By doing this, it will allow the smoke to escape creating a “smoker”. Next, place the covered tinfoil pan on a grill grate, close the lid and wait about 10 minutes. During this time, the smoke will fill up the grill (the smoke won’t be bellowing out of the grill) and will be ready to smoke the tomatoes and tomatillos.

What are tomatillos?

Tomatillos are actually considered a fruit…yup, just like a tomato (in case you didn’t know). Tomatillos have a bright, acidic, tart flavor to them. They can be chopped up, raw, and added as a garnish to a variety of dishes. You can even make a fresh pico de gallo (chopped, fresh ingredients vs. being processed into a pureed form) using the raw tomatillos. They can also be roasted and added to soups, stews or even as a side dish.

Cherry tomatoes vs. Grape tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes have a tendency to be sweeter, juicier and thin skinned. They have a higher water content which gives it that sweeter, juicier taste.

Grape tomatoes on the other hand are a bit smaller, meatier with a thicker skin. They have a much lessor water content which means they won’t be as sweet.

Play around with the different kinds of tomatoes and see which you one like best. Luckily for you guys, I am not the salsa police. And quite frankly, there really hasn’t been a salsa recipe I didn’t like.

How to Prepare the Tomatoes and Tomatillos for the grill

Start by removing the husks from the tomatillos. You will notice a bit of stickiness from the husks so go ahead and run them under some water and rub gently to remove it. Next, cut the tomatillos in half and set aside. Take another tinfoil pan and add the cherry tomatoes. Let’s go to the grill.

Place the tomatillos on the grill, either cut side up or down. You will be turning the tomatillos over halfway through anyway so it doesn’t matter. Also, place the tinfoil pan with the tomatoes on the grill. Grill for 10 minutes, turning the tomatillos over after 5 minutes. After the 10 minute mark, the tomatillos should be slightly charred and soft and the cherry tomatoes should have a nice sweat on them with a few that have bursted. Let cool to room temperature.

Smoked Tomato and Tomatillo Salsa Finale

While the tomatillos and tomatoes are cooling off it’s time to grab and prep the rest of the ingredients for the smoked tomato and tomatillo salsa! Roughly chop up the cilantro, shallot, garlic clove and jalapeño pepper. Side note: I don’t remove the seeds from the jalapeño(s) because we like it very very spicy in this household. However if spicy isn’t your thing remove the seeds. Squeeze in some fresh lemon juice adding in the oregano, salt and pepper.

Once the tomatoes and tomatillos have cooled add them to the food processor, along with the rest of the prepped ingredients blending until everything is finely chopped and well combined. Grab yourself a spoon and have a taste. Adjust seasonings if needed. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips or use as a condiment for grilled meat, fish or even my boneless fried chicken tenders.

Sharing my memories and this recipe gives me so much joy and happiness. Please enjoy!~Christina