Guajillo peppers are well-loved for their tangy, tea-like flavor and underlying smokiness, and it’s these flavors that make them such excellent salsa peppers. Here mixed with tomatillo, this guajillo salsa has a sweet tang with a trailing smoke. It’s excellent finely blended and served with tortilla chips, or try it as a salsa topping for burritos or enchiladas.
🌶️ Quick recipe snapshot
| Flavor profile | Bright and tangy from the tomatillos, with the guajillo’s cranberry-like tang, a hint of tea and a trailing smoke. |
| Primary heat source | Six dried guajillo chilies. 2,500 to 5,000 SHU. |
| Heat level | Mild to medium, about jalapeño heat or a little milder. |
| Texture | Smooth or a little chunky, depending on how long you blend. |
| Best uses | Tortilla chips, burritos, enchiladas, tacos and eggs. |
| Customization ideas | Chiles de árbol for heat, charred tomatillos for smoke, Roma tomatoes for a redder salsa, or lime and cilantro. |
| Before you start | About 25 minutes. You’ll need a blender, plus a fine-mesh strainer if you want it silky. |
Flavor notes
Guajillos run 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville heat units, so this salsa comes out around jalapeño heat or a little milder. You’re using them for flavor as much as heat. They have a cranberry-like tang with a hint of tea and an underlying smokiness, and all of that comes through over the tomatillos.
Pull off the stems and shake out the seeds before you toast them. And don’t worry about losing heat, since the seeds don’t add much of it here, and leaving them in can make the salsa a little gritty.
Toast the guajillos only until they smell toasty and turn a shade darker. It takes 20 to 30 seconds a side, and they go from toasted to burnt fast. A burnt chili will make the whole batch bitter, so if one blackens, toss it and toast another.
Peel off the papery husks and rinse the tomatillos, since they’re sticky underneath. Simmer them whole until they turn from bright green to a dull olive green. That color change is your cue that they’re soft all the way through, and if they simmer much past it, they can split and turn the salsa watery.
Guajillo skins are tough, and even after simmering they can leave little flecks in the salsa. A high-speed blender takes care of most of them. But with a regular blender, push the salsa through a fine-mesh strainer if you want it smooth, or just leave it rustic for chips.
Adaptation ideas
Most of these change the heat, the smoke or the color.
- Want more heat? Toast and simmer 1 or 2 dried chiles de árbol along with the guajillos.
- Want it smokier? Char the tomatillos, onion and garlic in a dry skillet until blackened in spots, then blend them with the simmered guajillos.
- Want it mellower? Simmer the garlic and onion with the tomatillos so they lose their raw bite.
- Want a red salsa? Swap half the tomatillos for Roma tomatoes. You’ll get a sweeter, redder salsa with less tang.
- Want it fresher? Stir in a squeeze of lime and a handful of chopped cilantro after blending.
Serving ideas
Use it anywhere you’d use a salsa roja or a salsa verde.
- With chips. Blended smooth and served with warm tortilla chips.
- On burritos and enchiladas. Spooned over the top just before serving.
- With eggs. Over fried eggs, scrambled eggs or huevos rancheros.
- On tacos. With grilled steak, carnitas or roasted vegetables.
Storage notes
Let the salsa cool, then keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge and use it within about five days. It thickens as it chills, so stir in a splash of water if it’s too thick to scoop.
It freezes for a few months, too. So if you’ve made a double batch, portion the extra into small containers, thaw one in the fridge when you need it and give it a good stir, since it can separate a little.
Like this recipe? You’ll love these too:
- Chile De Árbol Salsa: A smooth, nutty salsa with more heat than this one.
- Green Enchilada Sauce: Tomatillos front and center in a tangy sauce made for enchiladas.
- Cascabel Sauce: Another dried-chile sauce, smoky and nutty, with toasted cascabels and charred tomatoes.
50 quick, bold sauces and salsas: classic salsas and fun twists, BBQ sauces with a kick, and dippers with bang. Simple to make, big on flavor.
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Guajillo Salsa
Ingredients
- 6 guajillo chilies dried, stemmed and seeded
- 12 tomatillos medium, husks removed and rinsed
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 1/2 white onion roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- water for simmering
Instructions
- Tear the stemmed guajillos open so they lie flat. Toast them in a dry skillet over medium heat, pressing down with a spatula, for 20 to 30 seconds per side, until fragrant and a shade darker. Don't let them blacken, or the salsa will taste bitter.
- Put the toasted chilies and the whole tomatillos in a saucepan with just enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook for about 10 minutes, until the tomatillos turn olive green and soft and the chilies are pliable.
- With a slotted spoon, move the chilies and tomatillos to a blender, saving the cooking water. Add the garlic, onion and salt.
- Blend until smooth, or pulse for a chunkier salsa, adding a splash of the cooking water if it's too thick. For a silkier salsa, push it through a fine-mesh strainer. Taste and add more salt if needed.
