Roasted Black Salsa (Baja Fresh Copycat Recipe)
Today we’re making a batch of black salsa, also known as salsa negra. This bold, smokey salsa is made with loads of fire-roasted vegetables and cilantro. There really isn’t anything quite like the taste of roasted black salsa, and it’s not particularly easy to find at stores or restaurants. But the good news is that it’s pretty easy to make.
This recipe is the end result of what I could call a personal quest to recreate the delicious black salsa that was served by the Baja Fresh burrito restaurants. This could certainly be considered a copy-cat recipe, but with one exception: The Baja Fresh salsa was much thinner (almost the consistency of water) than how I prefer to make this salsa. But if you like it thinner, just add water!
Note that this is not a canning recipe. This salsa must be refrigerated if not using right away. Black salsa can be canned, but the recipe would need to be modified slightly, and all safe canning procedures followed.
Roasted Black Salsa (Baja Fresh Copycat Recipe)
4
servings10
minutes30
minutes40
minutesIngredients
10 Large Roma tomatoes
1 Spanish or Yellow Onion
2 Jalapenos
2 Pasilla or Poblano peppers
3 Cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 Large lime or 2 small limes, juiced
1/4 Cup Extra virgin olive oil
1/4 Cup White vinegar
1 Full bunch of cilantro
1 teaspoon Kosher salt (or sea salt)
1/4 teaspoon Black pepper
1/2 Cup Water (or more)
Directions
- Cut tomatoes in half, length-wise. Peel onion and cut in half.
- Place tomato halves, skin-side down, on grill over medium-high heat. Place whole peppers and halved onion on grill.
- Grill vegetables until the pepper and tomato skins are completely charred (20-40 minutes). Turn the peppers as needed. The onion should be charred, but doesn’t need to be completely black all the way around.
- Remove vegetables from grill. From the peppers, remove and discard the stems and the majority of the seeds.
- Place vegetables and all other ingredients into a high-powered blender (or a large bowl/pot if using an immersion blender). For the cilantro, discard most of the stems (some stems are fine, but you want mostly the leaves).
- Blend everything very thoroughly, until it is completely pureed. Add some water and continue blending until you reach the consistency you like. Somewhere between 1/2 cup and 1 cup of water is what I normally use.
- Serve or refrigerate for later. This recipe makes about 1 quart of salsa.
