Creamy Avocado Salsa Verde Recipe

Most of us likely picture a red, tomato-based bowlful when salsa comes to mind, but in fact, salsa can come in all varieties of colors, textures, flavors, and spice levels. There's pico de gallo, for example, which boasts a familiar red hue but is a rather chunky take on a dip that is often super-smooth. Mango salsa incorporates a sweet, fruity element into a dip that's otherwise mostly savory. Then there's salsa verde, a distinctly green take on salsa, and one that almost always features green tomatillos at its base, which contribute both flavor and that notable hue. 

Recipe developer Kara Barrett's creamy avocado salsa verde packs in all of the flavors of tomatillo-based salsa, but with the added rich, buttery goodness of another popular produce item, avocado. "This salsa is a creamy and fresh-tasting alternative to regular salsa," Barrett says. "I like that the roasted ingredients add a little depth, while the avocado makes it rich and velvety." She also highlights the fact that, while this crowd-pleasing recipe is super easy to make, it's one that's also incredibly versatile as a dip, a sauce, or a condiment. Requiring just 20 minutes of your time, you can whip up this ultra-fresh dip on a whim and simply pair it with tortilla chips for a unique offering at your next potluck or gathering.

The ingredients needed for creamy avocado salsa verde are, unsurprisingly, mostly green. You'll need tomatillos (husked and quartered), a halved and de-stemmed jalapeño, ripe avocados, fresh cilantro, and lime juice. To round out the flavors of the salsa and to roast the veggies, you'll also need olive oil, salt, garlic, sour cream (optionally, if you want extra creamy dip), and tortilla chips for serving.

Turn on the broiler.

In an oven safe pan or dish, cover the tomatillos and jalapeno with olive oil.

Sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt.

Broil for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through.

In a blender, combine the salt, cooled tomatillos, jalapeño, avocado, garlic, cilantro, and lime juice.

Process till smooth.

Optionally, add sour cream. Loosen the mixture with water if needed.

Serve with chips and garnish with more cilantro.

The simplicity of this creamy salsa verde is one of its strong suits, though Barrett does highlight the fact that there's plenty of room to switch things up. Perhaps the easiest way to customize this salsa is to tailor it to your desired spice level. As-is, the salsa has a distinct kick thanks to the jalapeño, but it's not such a strong flavor that it stands out from the generally smooth, tangy nature of the dip as a whole. If you want more spice, you could either opt not to remove the seeds from the jalapeño (which hold much of the pepper's heat), or you could add a whole extra jalapeño to the mix to really kick things up a notch. A dash of cayenne pepper or some hot sauce would certainly aid in amping up the spice.

If spice isn't your concern, there are other ways to customize this salsa. "Experiment with typical salsa add-ins like onion, or swap in poblanos," Barrett recommends. Otherwise, you could make super easy swaps like using lemon juice or vinegar instead of lime juice, or subbing Greek yogurt in place of sour cream, should you want that extra tangy creaminess in your salsa.

There's arguably no better salsa pairing than classic tortilla chips, and as such, Barrett highly recommends serving this salsa with just such a dipper. However, as with most types of salsa, this creamy salsa verde's applications extend far beyond the typical chip-and-dip application. 

For starters, you can't go wrong with serving this creamy dip alongside some tacos. This salsa would go well with just about any kind of tacos, but some benefit from the smooth vegetal flavor more than others. It pairs well with anything that has a lot of spice, complexity of texture, and a strong flavor profile of its own. Something like 20-minute fish tacos would benefit greatly from a creamy salsa verde garnish, or these simple marinated skirt steak tacos could use a pop of green freshness. If you want to veer away from tacos, nachos would also be a great pairing option. These sheet-pan chicken nachos or even easy breakfast nachos would work well with the creamy and tangy dip. Finally, no burrito is complete without a good sauce — choose your favorite burrito recipe and get to dipping in this versatile creamy avocado salsa verde.