Mexican

Medium · Hot

Salsa Verde Casera con Elote Asado

Homemade green salsa with roasted corn — a bright, smokyMexican staple where charred tomatoes and fresh cilantro meet sweet elote kissed with cumin and butter.

Recipe by

Rosa Gutierrez

The Masa Matriarch

Prep

15 min

Cook

30 min

Total

45 min

Method

Make the Salsa Verde

Heat a comal or heavy frying pan over medium-high heat until smoking hot. Add the tomatoes, garlic cloves, and half the onion. Dry-roast, turning occasionally, until the tomato skins are blistered and blackened in spots and the garlic is golden and fragrant, about 8 to 10 minutes. The onion should be softened and lightly charred. Let cool slightly.

Transfer the roasted vegetables to a blender. Add the fresh cilantro, juice of one lime, olive oil, salt, and cumin. Blend until smooth but still with a tiny bit of texture. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt or lime if needed. Set aside.

Prepare and Combine with Elote

In a small dry frying pan, toast the additional cumin over medium heat for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add to the salsa verde and stir to incorporate.

In a large frying pan or on a comal, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the corn kernels in a single layer and cook, stirring only occasionally, allowing them to char and pop slightly, about 8 to 10 minutes. You want golden-brown, slightly crispy edges on the corn.

Season the charred corn with salt, cumin, and cayenne. Toss well to coat every kernel.

Pour the salsa verde over the hot elote and stir gently to combine, letting the flavors marry together for 1 minute. Serve warm with extra lime wedges on the side.

Nutri-Score

Excellent balance

A–E · lower is better · score -5

Calories

282

per serving

Low sugar · 13g

Protein

Carbs

44g

Fat

13g

Sat. fat

Fiber

Sugar

13g

Sodium

1166mg

High ProteinLow FatBalanced MacrosWeight ManagementFiber Rich

Nutri-Score is a general nutritional-balance guide, not medical or dietary advice.

Environmental impact

Low impact

A–E · lower is better · includes estimates

kg CO₂e

0.7

per serving

BCarbonAEU all-round· carbon sets the grade

Water

0.6m³

Land

16Pt

Runoff

0.05g P

Corn drives 44% of this recipe’s estimated footprint.

Carbon from Poore & Nemecek 2018; water, land & runoff from Agribalyse — modelled averages for comparing recipes, not a measurement of your groceries.

Flavor Profile

Umami

Sweet

Salty

Sour

Bitter

Spicy

Textures

CrispyTenderSaucy

Aromas

HerbalSmokyEarthyButteryGarlic

Kitchen Equipment

Primary Tool

Comal Or Frying Pan

Comal Or Frying PanBlender Skillet Chef Knife Cutting Board Spatula Mixing BowlLime Wedges For ServingPaper Towels

Counter FootprintMedium

Techniques

Dry RoastingBlending Toasting Pan Frying Charring

Safety & Storage

Handling

Blending hot roasted vegetables creates pressure and steam - allow to cool slightly before blending, or hold lid firmly and remove center cap to release steam.

Cooking Temperature

Dry-roasting at smoking hot temperatures (medium-high heat) creates risk of burns - use long tongs or spatula to turn ingredients and stand back when adding items to hot pan.
Char cooking corn at medium-high heat until golden-brown with crispy edges - ensure oil/butter is hot enough but monitor to prevent smoking or burning.

Cross Contamination

Use separate cutting boards and utensils for raw and ready-to-eat ingredients if preparing other dishes simultaneously.
Verify cumin and cayenne spices are from certified gluten-free sources if preparing for individuals with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, as spices can be cross-contaminated during processing.

Storage

Refrigerate salsa verde separately in airtight container for up to 5 days. Prepared dish with salsa should be consumed within 2-3 days when refrigerated.

High Risk Population

No allergen warnings for milk allergy - butter contains dairy proteins that can cause reactions in sensitive individuals.

Equipment Safety

When toasting spices in dry pan over medium heat, stir constantly and watch carefully - cumin can burn quickly and become bitter in under 30 seconds.

Pro Tips

Technique

The comal must be screaming hot before you add anything, mija. If your tomatoes steam instead of char, you're doing it wrong. Let the pan get so hot it almost smokes — that's when the magic happens, when the skin blisters and the sugars caramelize into that deep, smoky sweetness that makes this salsa sing.

Substitution

No fresh tomatoes? Use tomatillos — that's actually more traditional for salsa verde anyway. Roast them the same way until they're soft and lightly charred. And if you don't have a comal, a well-seasoned cast iron skillet works beautifully. Just make sure it's dry — no oil until you're ready.

From the chef

Mija, every Mexican family has their salsa verde recipe, and this is the one my madre made when the tomatoes were perfectly ripe and needed something smoky to bring them alive. The trick is the char — you want those tomatoes blistered and blackened in spots, almost angry-looking, because that's where the flavor lives. And then we marry them with elote that gets those golden, crispy edges from the high heat. This isn't restaurant food; this is Tuesday night at our casa, the way we've always done it.

Rosa GutierrezThe Masa Matriarch

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TagsSalsa VerdeRoasted CornCharredSmokySpicyTraditionalHomemadeCuminLimeWeeknight DinnerGluten Free

AllergensMilk

Source: generated · June 10, 2026