The next time you're craving chips and salsa, ditch the jar; homemade salsa is surprisingly simple to prepare and worlds more satisfying when made fresh. From tangy salsa verde to crisp, chunky pico de gallo and even a roasted tomato option, we've got the classic covered and then some. Keep reading for the how-to videos and zesty recipes.
Perfect for a party and ultrasimple to prepare, homemade pico de gallo is a recipe you're bound to trot out time and time again. Fresh tomatoes are the star in this Mexican food staple, so seek out the best, juiciest ones you can find. We used roma tomatoes here, but feel free to substitute whatever variety looks ripest at market. Watch the video to see the technique behind this fresh salsa, then print out the recipe.
Bring a taste of the taqueria home with our recipe for salsa verde, a tangy tomatillo-based dip that's a perfect pairing for everything from chips to tacos and burritos. Little more separates you from this smoky-spicy Mexican-fare favorite than a minimum of prep work and a blitz in the food processor, so what are you waiting for? Watch the video and get the easy recipe.
Our personal recipe for quick and easy tomato salsa is so addictive, you'll want to double up and make two batches — that's how fast it disappears. We'll show you how to make a true restaurant-style salsa, and let you in on a few secret ingredients that really enhance the natural flavor of tomatoes. Watch the video and keep reading to see the classic salsa recipe.
With Cinco de Mayo on the horizon, you'll need a lot of salsa to celebrate. Instead of reaching for bottles in the chips aisle, make this chipotle-tomatillo salsa, which will put any of the jarred stuff to shame. If you've never attempted homemade salsa, let me let you in on a little secret. I've never been able to make a decent homemade salsa before I met Michelle Bernstein, a Miami chef, restaurateur, and expert in Latino cuisine. We met at Lean Cuisine's Culinary Roundtable, where Michelle, a member of the conference, taught a group of us food writers how to prepare various salsas from different regions of South America. This is a riff on her traditional Mexican salsa.
Afraid of tomatillos? Don't be! They have a flavor like underripe tomatoes, and once you've tried them in this salsa, you'll want to experiment with them in other Mexican sauces, soups, and dishes.
The tomatillos, onions, and garlic take a trip to the broiler to become charred and softened. This adds a smoky, roasted flavor to the salsa.
If you're wondering how the salsa turns out red, it's due to the chipotle peppers in adobo. Pulse the charred vegetables, chipotles in adobo, and agave nectar (which neutralizes the spiciness, according to Michelle) together in a food processor until a smooth salsa forms. One bite and you'll be hooked on this salsa forever. It has the amazing ability to hit all the flavor profiles at once: sweet from the agave, sour from the tomatillos, spicy from the chipotle, and salty from the adobo sauce.
A couple of weeks ago, I made a chili con queso from the blogger the Pioneer Woman. While she served her variation as a warm dip, I decided to experiment with the cheese as a nachos appetizer. I substituted chicken habañero sausages for the Jimmy Dean.
The nachos were decadent and spicy, like a gourmet version of classic ballpark nachos.
Perfect for watching a game (or movie), these nachos are crowd pleasing and delicious. They are exactly what nachos should be: crunchy, melty, pure scrumptiousness. To learn how I made them, read more
When it comes to Mexican cuisine, there is nothing quite as essential as guacamole. In its most basic form, the creamy dip consists of perfectly ripe mashed avocado seasoned with salt. While there are hundreds of recipes, it's nice to have a simple one to start with. Once you've mastered the technique, it's easy to get creative with lots of variations. You can experiment with different types of onion, substitute lemon or orange juice for the lime juice, and change the texture by blitzing in a food processor. Since Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner, it's a great time to share my favorite guacamole recipe. To check it out and see more suggestions on how to jazz it up, keep reading.
Chances are, now that it's picnic season, that you're in need of a back-pocket appetizer that doesn't take too much effort but actually looks like you tried. That's where this speedy antipasto comes in. It stars just three ingredients: piquant-sweet peppadew peppers, salami, and provolone cheese. Find out how to pull together this recipe-free dish — no cooking required.
A recent food fixation in the form of a simple tartine, composed of hearty whole-wheat toast slathered with creamy hummus, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh pea shoots, inspired today's creation. This fast and easy option saw me through breakfasts, snack hours, and lunches aplenty but wasn't exactly the sort of food one would serve to company. How, I mused, could I transform this satisfying snack into an elegant appetizer?
A simple swap of a seeded baguette for sandwich bread makes these diminutive bites visually enticing, bite-size, and party-friendly. Chances are, I won't abandon this perfect storm of creamy, crisp, and candy-sweet sun-dried tomatoes in its large-scale iteration any time soon, but I will embrace its entertaining-friendly turn in addition. Get the easy recipe, and follow suit.
I'm a purist — I don't like to gunk up my guacamole with a bunch of random ingredients. So here's a supersimple version that is sure to surprise you with its deliciousness. Double it, if you want.
