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Authentic Green Chile Salsa Recipe For Killer Burgers


Green chile cheeseburger
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3.14 from 23 votes
Elevate your cheese burger game with a serious dose of this smoky, fire roasted hatch chile salsa.
Serve with: your favorite burger.

Course:
Dinner
,
Lunch
,
Main Course
Cuisine:
American
,
Southwestern

Makes:

Servings: 4 cups

Takes:

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 green Hatch New Mexico #20, or Hatch New Mexico 6-4 peppers, or Anaheim peppers
  • 1 green jalapeño pepper
  • 1 green poblano pepper
  • 1 tomatillo
  • 1 medium onion, peeled, and sliced in half
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 2 large garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 pinches ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
Notes:
Want more heat? Add another jalapeño, or substitute 2 serranos for the jalapeño, or add a few splashes of green hot sauce. But taste it first.
About the lime juice. You can substitute lemon juice or cider vinegar, but I prefer lime juice for its brightness.
About the salt. Remember, Morton coarse kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.
Want more flavor? Throw some wood chips onto the coals or into an aluminum pan resting on top of your gas burner when you are grilling the peppers, tomatillo, and onion.
 
Metric conversion:

These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page

Method

  • Prep. Split the peppers in half lengthwise, cut off the stems, and remove the seeds. Leave in the veins because that's where the heat lives.
  • Fire up. Prepare a grill for high heat cooking.
  • Cook. Place the chiles on the grill over medium high or high direct heat, skin side down until the skin blackens and blisters, about 5 minutes. If you're working indoors, you can put them under the broiler skin side up or if you have a gas stove, hold them over an open flame with tongs (and an oven mitt). When the skin is black, put the peppers in a bowl and cover them with a dinner plate so they will steam. You can also put them in a paper bag and crumple the top. The steam will help loosen the skin. After about 5 minutes, open the bowl or bag, and when the peppers are cool enough to handle, slip into rubber gloves and peel off the skins. If a little char remains, don't sweat it. If you work bare handed, wash thoroughly with soap and avoid touching any moist part of your body, or your lover's. You can skip the process of skinning the peppers, but if you do it is especially important to blend them well in step 3 to break down the skins.
  • While the peppers are grilling, put the onions on the grill face down until they have nice grill marks. Roll over and grill until the round side is charred. Discard the burned layer. While the onions are grilling, cut the tomatillo in half and roll around on the grill until soft, but don't let it burn.
  • Coarsely chop the peppers, onions, and tomatillo. Chop the garlic fine or smush it in a garlic press and keep the separate from the other ingredients. Warm the oil over medium high heat in a frying pan, add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, just enough to soften it. Now peeled peppers, onions, tomatillos, salt, and pepper. Be careful not to lean over the pan. That's pepper spray, man.
  • Add 1/4 cup (60 mL) of water and cook until it is mostly evaporated and the salsa is getting thick.
  • Dump the whole thing into a blender, add the lime juice and cilantro, and pulse until it is a pulp, but not quite smooth. Taste and adjust the salt, pepper, cilantro, and juice to your preference. If you want it hotter, a few splashes of green hot sauce will do the job. You can put this in a clean jar and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
  • Serve. Place the hatch chile salsa in a bowl and serve with chips or, even better, top your favorite cheeseburger for an authentic hatch chile cheeseburger experience.