Restaurant Style Red Fried Salsa
It is common to be offered a small bowl of salsa with some chips when you are seated at a Mexican restaurant. Here in the United States, some of the restaurants use canned tomatoes to make it, but using fresh tomatoes will always render the best salsa. My mom would almost always have this salsa ready, as it can be used for many things, like the famous Huevos Rancheros, scrambled eggs with salsa, entomatadas, or to add to the many typical Mexican meals we call “antojitos”.
When we talk about salsas, the combinations are endless: they could be as simple as the raw serrano salsa, or a little more complex with more flavor like a Piquin Salsa. A few tomatoes (or tomatillos), onion, garlic, and peppers are the soul of a salsa, but not all of them are hot, spicy salsas. Sometimes, we use a salsa to add some heat to a meal, while other times it constitutes an actual part of the dish, like with the Dried Shrimp Patties in Guajillo sauce.
Salsas are in our everyday life, and almost always you will find a homemade salsa at every Mexican dining table. Which brings me to this last note: we also call them “Salsas de Mesa”, or “table sauces”, since they are placed on the table when the meal is served.
What is your favorite Salsa?
How to make Red Fried Salsa
DIRECTIONS:
- Roughly chop tomatoes, serranos, garlic clove, and onion. (Please check the ingredients list below)
- Place in your blender with ¼ cup of water, and process until smooth.
- Heat the oil in a medium-size frying pan over medium-high heat, and pour in the salsa and stir.
- Once the salsa starts boiling, reduce the heat and gently simmer for about 13-15 minutes, stirring from time to time, until all the ingredients are well cooked.
- Once done, season with salt and serve.
RESTAURANT STYLE RED FRIED SALSA
Ingredients
- 2 medium size tomatoes
- 2 serrano peppers*
- 1 garlic clove
- ¼ of a medium size white onion
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Salt to season
Instructions
- Roughly chop tomatoes, serranos, garlic clove, and onion.
- Place in your blender with ¼ cup of water, and process until smooth (or slightly coarse, if you prefer).
- Heat the oil in a medium-size frying pan over medium-high heat, and pour in the salsa and stir.
- Once the salsa starts boiling, reduce the heat and gently simmer for about 13-15 minutes, stirring from time to time, until all the ingredients are well cooked. If it needs it, add more water; this will depend on how juicy the tomatoes are.
- Once done, season with salt and serve. This sauce will keep well for about 3 days in your refrigerator.
Serve with warm tortilla chips or use on tacos, fried eggs, tostadas, etc.
Notes
Nutrition
Buen Provecho!
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We live in phoenix where we take our salsa seriously and this is spot on, made it two hours ago & it's nearly gone.
Hello,
Thank you for trying the recipe, I bet you are an excellent cook!
love your salsa, i thought i was the only one that fries my chili. I think the frying the salsa enhances the flavor of the salsa as a whole. Thumbs up your salsa is awesome…..
Hello Jaime,
You are absolutely right! Frying the salsa enhances its flavors. My mom always fries her salsa, and many other home cooks do. it is just another way to make a good salsa! Happy cooking!
I absolutley adore salsas! Love spicy salsas yet appreciate other salsas that have super fresh and flavorful ingredients, too. Still have yet to master a salsa at a large local Mexican restaurant, Hacienda Colorado. I s-w-e-a-r they put roasted tomatillos in their salsa but multiple servers have said no. Roasted tomatoes are the main ingredient. Think I'll just keep trying your recipes, one by one. Your's are amazing! Thanks for all you share on your blog Ü
Very good! I added some tomatillos and more garlic and wow spicy but I can’t stop eating it. Thank you!
MMartinez, I have a question. Do you have a recipe for HOT restaurant style sauce? I don’t know how to describe what I’m looking for except to give examples. I live in AZ and my favorite restaurants are Valle Luna, Ajo Al’s, and PoPo’s. They bring you their regular salsa with chips and then I ask them to bring out their hot salsa. It’s deep red and puréed or thick liquid. (Not Tabasco sauce). I just wish I could learn to make salsa just like they do. Does that sound like a recipe that you have?
Hello Jodi,
Every restaurant usually has their own recipe, and that usually will be their cooks’ recipe depending on the region they are from (in Mexico). Hot salsas can be made with so many variations. When I moved to Texas, I found out that several restaurants in my neighborhood offered a red-hot salsa. Asking around I managed to get the ingredients to make my own salsa at home. Here are 2 links to some salsas that can be similar to what you are looking for. Have fun and experiment with hot peppers.
The first one is from a restaurant in MD: Super spicy salsa
This one is from Texas: Red Taqueria Style Salsa Note, just add the chicken bouillon little bit little and taste.
Looks delicious! I would never have thought salsa could be “fried”. I’ll give this a try very soon.
I make a delicious salsa which uses canned tomatoes. I imagine the fresh tomato will really provide a different flavor.
Dear M.S. Martinez. im confused some use 6 tomatoes 2 peppers 1 garlic, half an onion ,others use 5 tom,3 pep, 4 gar, one onion. how can a person learn to make a balanced flavorful red salsa , med heat, & smoke flavor 1/3 of my life i ate by an open fire, out of a pie pan over Mesquite fire, im trying to make a salsa like that any help will help T U
Hello Glen,
The number of tomatoes and peppers used in salsa will indicate the amount of salsa to make. Usually, a recipe will say how many cups of salsa you can make with that amount. As for how many peppers, well, if you can tolerate the heat, you can add as many as you like. The same applies to the garlic, so many people in Mexico, skip adding the garlic or the onion. You can actually make a good salsa only using tomatoes and peppers.
Thank you
This salsa came out great and the recipe is wonderful! Two thumbs up for sure !
My only question is how do you get your salsa to come out so deep red in color? Mine for sure was pale red…
Hello Wil,
Sometimes, when the peppers are old they lose their dark color. Maybe that’s why your salsa came to be a little lighter in color. You cna also add more peppers next time.
I lived in Mexico many years and now I’m back in Montreal. Now if anyone could tell me how I can get serrano chiles here in Montreal, they would really be a hero! You can often see jalapeños, and yesterday I saw some at the supermarket… @ $7 for four!
I love the flavor and heat level but I could not get rid of the raw tomato flavor and “crunch”. I even simmered it for 45 minutes. It may be due to the quality of tomatoes in supermarkets. Even the “vine ripe” tomatoes (which I used) are not as good as they used to be. I am going to try again with canned tomatoes.
Hello Frank,
Some restaurants used canned tomatoes and mix them with fresh ingredients. Try it that way and let us know. Thank you for visiting.
Dear m Martinez after talking with Hispanic ladies in the manager in the grocery store I’m using 6 tomatoes two jalapenos to Garlic’s one green chili in about seven or eight cilantro stocks and stuff tastes pretty good anyway the heat level is where I want yet the next day the heat level is gone and I’m not sure what is it supposed to be like this anyway thank you and take care and God bless
Hello Glen,
That is what happens with a lot of salsas, the heat mellows the next day. You can reheat the salsa and you will feel some of the heat coming back.