Salsa Roja Asada (Roasted Red Salsa)

Salsa Roja Asada is both incredibly easy to make and will easily wow anyone who tries it. The basic recipe for roasted salsa calls for a combination of tomatoes, peppers, onions to be roasted, then pureed with fresh cilantro, followed by being eaten well before it even becomes cold. I'll be modifying the classic with a bit of roasted garlic for sweetness and some freshly squeezed lime juice for tartness.

You can, and should ,modify this recipe by what your tastes call for.


Extra spicy? Add more peppers.

Extremely spicy? Add even more peppers (Habeneros perhaps?)

More sweet? Roast the tomatoes longer and remove the lime juice?

Take this base and make it as is (it's my favorite rendition at least) and do whatever you want to it to make it your own custom Salsa Roja Asada.

Step 1: Ingredients

For this version of the salsa, I'll be using the following ingredients:

7 Roma Tomatoes
3 Serrano Chili Peppers
1 White Onion
1-2 Limes (depending on taste)
4-5 Cloves of garlic
HEAVY handful of Cilantro
2tsp of salt
5-6 grinds of fresh black pepper
drizzle of olive oil

Step 2: Chop.

We'll need to roast our chilies, tomatoes, half of the garlic, and the onion. In order to that, we'll need to halve the tomatoes and quarter the onion.

For the serrano peppers, use gloves to halve and remove most of the seeds with the edge of the knife. Be sure to protect your hands when handling serranos. If you wear contacts you'll be sorry you didn't.

Step 3: Roast.

Place all of the tomatoes, serranos, and onions cut side up onto a pan along half of the garlic. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and a pinch of salt and roast at a 350F degrees for about 20 minutes-25 minutes until the onions are soft and the peppers are sufficiently roasted.

Step 4: Dice. (or Puree!)

Drop everything, including the garlic cloves that haven't been roasted into a food processor and puree.

Alternatively, you can chop for a much thicker, chunkier consistency; although this salsa is most often served pureed.


Note the hardcore in-food processor camera.

Step 5: Taste. Adjust.

Halfway through the pureeing, add the juice of 1-2 limes and the heavy handful of cilantro.

Add the remaining salt and pepper to taste .

Refrigerate for an hour.

Chances are, it's still warm from the roasting; and warm salsa on a chip isn't that great.

Step 6: Devour.

Seriously devour this salsa on everything and anything.

Remember to modify the recipe for your tastes. Try different peppers and even different onions; the results will always be unique and fantastic.