Cooked Street Taco Salsa is made with fresh vegetables and spices that are pulsed in a blender and fried in hot oil to bring out the best of Mexican ingredients! With hints of smoky, spicy flavor complemented by fresh lime and cilantro, this authentic red salsa is perfect for street tacos, burritos, and chips and dip.
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Salsa is easily in my list of top ten favorite foods. I mean, isn’t it in everyone’s top ten? Although I love myself a simple blender salsa, sometimes I want something with a deeper flavor… enter Cooked Street Taco Salsa.
This recipe starts out like many salsa recipes - a few fresh ingredients, some spices, and a quick blend to pull it all together. But instead of serving it after blending, you cook the salsa in super hot oil until it deepens in color and flavor. It’s a simple but effective way to make some of the most flavorful salsa you’ve ever had!
The original inspiration for the flavors and ingredients in this recipe came from Alton Brown’s Salsa Recipe, while the cooking method was inspired by the process in our Chicken Tortilla Soup.
🍅 Ingredients
Roma tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes, not canned.
Red bell pepper: This adds good flavor without adding spice.
Jalapeños: Leave the seeds in for extra flavor and a bit of spice.
Red onion: Peel it and cut into large chunks.
Garlic: Buy it minced or give it a rough chop before using.
Guajillo chiles: These are dried mirasol chiles that add a delicious smoky flavor to the salsa. You can find them at a Mexican market or in the Mexican aisle at many grocery stores. You can also substitute with dried ancho chiles.
Chili powder: This is key to the flavor of the salsa.
Olive oil: You can substitute with canola if needed, but olive oil is best.
Lime juice: Squeezed fresh for best results.
Cilantro: Chop it well and set it aside to stir in at the very end.
Salt: Kosher salt, preferably.
Pepper: Just ground black pepper.
🔪 Instructions
This salsa can be boiled down to 4 simple steps. First, chop the fresh ingredients into large chunks and throw them in a blender along with the dried chiles and chili powder. Blend the ingredients until smooth. Next, heat the oil over medium-high heat in a deep pot or dutch oven. Once it’s hot, pour in the salsa and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring often. The salsa will splatter and pop as it cooks down, so be careful! Last, remove the salsa from the pan, let it cool to room temperature, then stir in the lime juice, salt, pepper, and cilantro.
👨👩👧👦 For a Crowd
When we invite crowds over for Mexican food, this is one of the first salsas to get devoured. Making an extra large batch is super easy - just double or triple the ingredients depending on the size of the crowd. I recommend blending one recipe’s-worth of ingredients at a time, then cooking it all together (most blenders aren’t big enough for 2-3 recipes).
🙋 Questions and Answers
Frying the salsa in hot oil enhances the flavors, deepens the color, and helps bind the salsa together. Leaving it uncooked simply does not have the same results.
For this particular recipe, you can’t skip the cooking. It is the key step to deepen and highlight the flavors in the salsa. It is an extra step that you won’t regret!
If you are in a pinch and need the salsa to cool fast, pour it in a thin layer on a cookie sheet and pop it in the freezer. Stir it every 5-7 minutes until it is cool.
If stored in an air-tight container, this salsa should last up to a week in the fridge. But fair warning... it will probably all be eaten by then.
📖 Other Mexican Favorites
- Cooked Street Taco Salsa is killer good on (you guessed it)... street tacos! Try this amazing Grilled Street Taco Marinade on chicken or skirt steak. Top with salsa and eat up!
- Cilantro Lime Rice is a super easy Mexican side dish that can be made in the Instant Pot or on the stove with just a few simple ingredients.
- A go-to staple in our house, Chicken Tortilla Soup is perfect for cold, wintery days. Super flavorful and healthy too!
👨🏼🍳 Tips & Tricks
- Use the best fresh ingredients you can find. The more flavorful the vegetables, the better the salsa will be.
- Cook the salsa in a very deep pot or use a splash guard/splatter screen. The salsa splatters and pops a lot while cooking, so this will save you some cleanup.
- To keep the lime juice and cilantro tasting fresh, wait until the salsa is fully cooled before mixing them in.
👋 Connect with us!
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📋 Recipe
Cooked Street Taco Salsa
Ingredients
- 6 roma tomatoes cut in half
- 1 red bell pepper cut into large chunks
- 2 jalapeños tops removed
- ½ medium red onion cut into large chunks
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 2 guajillo chiles dried (or substitute with ancho chiles)
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Instructions
- Add tomatoes, bell pepper, jalapeños, red onion, garlic, guajillo chiles, and chili powder to blender. Blend until smooth.
- In a deep pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Pour in salsa and cook for 8-10 minutes, until salsa has reduced, thickened slightly, and deepened in color. Careful - salsa will splatter and pop.
- Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature. Once cool, stir in lime juice, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Serve on tacos, burritos, Mexican bowls, or with chips.
Notes
- Use the best fresh ingredients you can find. The more flavorful the vegetables, the better the salsa will be.
- Cook the salsa in a very deep pot or use a splash guard/splatter screen. The salsa splatters and pops a lot while cooking, so this will save you some cleanup.
- To keep the lime juice and cilantro tasting fresh, wait until the salsa is fully cooled before mixing them in.
Melanie says
The flavor of this salsa is unbelievable. We ate all of it!
Misty says
So glad you liked it!
Dave says
So goooood!
Misty says
Yay, happy you loved it!