Made with a handful of ingredients and requiring very little prep, this charred tomato salsa comes together in no time and tastes so fresh and flavorful: both sweet and spicy with a nice acidity, too. Your tacos, burritos, beans, and chips will never be so happy!

A jar of blistered tomato salsa.

I started making this salsa last July. It’s a simplified version of this ​fresh enchilada sauce recipe​, and when the tomatoes are at their peak, it is irresistible, the kind of sauce you want to spoon over everything.

And last summer and fall, as a family, we did: we spooned it over tacos, ​mostly these​, but also over a variation made with grilled chicken (the recipe for which I will share soon as it’s so fast and delicious… see photo below). We drizzled it over rice and ​bean​ bowls. We dragged our scrambled eggs through it and, of course, we dipped tortilla chips in it.

The beauty of this salsa is that it requires very little chopping and very little prep overall: place cherry tomatoes, a roughly chopped onion and jalapeño, and a few garlic cloves on a sheet pan; toss with olive oil and salt; broil for 10 minutes; then purée with fresh lime juice and cilantro.

As noted, it is especially tasty when made at peak tomato season, which here in Upstate New York feels an eternity away. Craving it recently, I made it with two beefsteak tomatoes my sister had left at our house at Easter and the remains of a can of yellow tomatoes, and I was shocked by how good it tasted.

Inspired by this victory using subpar tomatoes, I made it again with grocery store cherry tomatoes on the vine — the ones labeled “sugar bombs” — and it was even better: sweet and spicy with a nice balance of acidity, just what our tacos have been missing all these months, just the salsa we need to bridge the very long gap till true tomato season arrives.

How to Make Charred Cherry Tomato Salsa, Step by Step

Gather your ingredients: tomatoes, garlic, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, lime, salt, and olive oil.

The ingredients to make charred tomato salsa on the countertop.

Place the tomatoes, roughly chopped onion and jalapeño, and garlic on a small sheet pan and toss with olive oil and salt.

Tomatoes, garlic, chopped onions, and jalapeños on a small sheet pan tossed with olive oil and kosher salt.

Broil for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are beginning to char.

A small sheet pan with just-broiled tomatoes, onions, garlic, and jalapeños.

Transfer the vegetables to a food processor and add fresh lime juice and a pinch more salt.

A food processor filled with broiled tomatoes, onions, garlic, and jalapeños along with a pinch of salt and fresh lime juice.

Purée until smooth. Taste and adjust with more salt and lime juice to taste.

A food processor filled with puréed blistered tomato salsa aside a bundle of cilantro.

Finally, add roughly chopped cilantro and purée until smooth. (If you hate cilantro, leave it out — it’s tasty on its own without it.)

A bundle of cilantro added to a food processor filled with puréed blistered tomato salsa.
A food processor filled with blistered tomato salsa.

Transfer to a storage jar and serve immediately or store in the fridge for 1 week.

A jar of blistered tomato salsa.

Bring to room temperature before serving.

A jar of blistered tomato salsa.

Here are a few ways we eat this salsa…

… on grilled chicken tacos (recipe coming soon):

A place of grilled chicken tacos.

… on rice and bean bowls:

A rice and bean bowl with charred tomato salsa.

… with chips:

A bowl of chips with charred tomato salsa.
A jar of blistered tomato salsa.
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A jar of blistered tomato salsa.

Easy Charred Cherry Tomato Salsa

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5 from 16 reviews

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Description

Made with just a handful of fresh vegetables, this blistered tomato salsa is so fresh and flavorful and takes no time to blitz together. It’s a simplified version of this recipe for fresh enchilada sauce.

Notes:

  • Tomatoes: This salsa is especially good when tomatoes are at their peak, but it works surprisingly well with subpar tomatoes, too. Cherry tomatoes make the prep very easy, but you can use any tomato you like — you need roughly 28 ounces total. 

Ingredients

  • 1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1 jalapeño, seeded if you are sensitive to heat, roughly chopped
  • 28 ounces (5 heaping cups) cherry tomatoes, see notes above
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • small bundle of cilantro (an ounce or less), optional, roughly chopped

Instructions

  1. Heat the broiler to high for at least 10 minutes.
  2. Place the onion, garlic, jalapeño, and tomatoes on a small sheet pan. Toss with the oil and 1 teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal brand… use half as much if using Morton or fine sea salt). Transfer to the oven and broil for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are nicely charred.
  3. Transfer vegetables to a food processor. Add 2 tablespoons of the lime juice and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (again Diamond Crystal brand or half as much if using Morton or fine sea salt) or salt to taste. Purée until smooth. Taste. Mixture should taste both sweet and spicy with a nice balance of acidity. Adjust with more lime juice to taste — I always use 3 tablespoons of fresh lime juice. 
  4. Add the cilantro, if using, and purée one last time until smooth. 
  5. Use the salsa on your favorite taco recipe or serve with chips or store in the fridge for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Category: Sauce
  • Method: Broiler, Food processor
  • Cuisine: Mexican, American