I am trying to duplicate chuy's salsa.
My ingredients are
1 lb roma tomatoes
1/2 white onion
1 serrano pepper (my wife likes it mild, 2 if just for me)
Pinch of cilantro
Lime juice
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
I started roasting the vegetables and that helped the flavor a lot. I cut back on the onion just a bit because i was getting onion breath, so i felt it was too strong.
The salsa is good, but it just feels like it's missing something, but i'm not an expert and have no idea what. I can eat chuys by their large tub.
by orangefrido18
29 Comments
That’s pretty much how I make my salsa, but I use fresh garlic and some cumin.
Maybe a little more cilantro and some actual garlic and some onion.
A bit of Chicken Bouillon, or MSG definitely will make the flavour pop more…
Maybe use fresh garlic instead of powder?
It’s been a minute since I had Chuy’s salsa, but I will say that almost always the trick to getting something at home to taste more like a restaurant is to either (a) add butter or (b) add MSG. 🙂
So obviously likely not butter in this case, so maybe try to add a little MSG. (And I do mean a little… it doesn’t take much… add a small amount at a time and then taste to see if you need more.)
MSG
More cilantro
I’d steer clear of using Roma tomatoes. You’re making salsa, not pasta sauce. You will definitely be able to taste the difference.
Chips and a beer?
Man 1 pound of tomatoes to 1 pepper what’s wrong with you
More salt, shot of tabasco just for the slight acid.
Cilantro, garlic, onions and way more peppers.
A lot of chili powder. A lot.
As a full on salsa snob from the green chile empire who just canned 40 jars this harvest –
Ground cumin
Mexican oregano
Green Chile
More lime juice
I would vary tomato type, chile type, roasting vs raw, and heavy or light on the chile powders to see which combinations you like most. That’s what I’m doing to try figure out which styles and outcomes I like. For non-pico styles, you can try “re-cook” it too.
👍
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but maybe a can of El Pato enchilada sauce (red can)? I haven’t used that particular flavor, but Google says it is mild. And adding El Pato to salsa was kind of a thing on here for a while.
I made salsa like I normally would and added the yellow can, and it was great, but maybe too spicy for a milder pallet.
> 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
I’d make that 1 Tbs kosher salt, plus 1 tsp MSG
Chicken boullion is awesome in salsa.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/SalsaSnobs/comments/jqe9xk/first_post_i_attempted_to_recreate_chuys_table/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SalsaSnobs/comments/jqe9xk/first_post_i_attempted_to_recreate_chuys_table/)
Where are you. One time, when I was visiting friends in Austria, I tried making salsa and had to use 3x more cilantro than I do in Mexico because it’s flavor was so much milder
I’ve never had Chuy’s salsa, but for me, adding just a touch of chipotle peppers in adobo or a chipotle flavored hot sauce will make it taste more like restaurant salsa.
A bit more cilantro and orange juice
Did you start with good tomatoes? That’s usually the culprit for me in stuff like this. Supermarket Romas, at least here in Chicago, are just absolutely terrible. Unless I have access to good tomatoes, I start with quality canned tomatoes and they make the salsa much better. Other than that, make sure you salt enough. But, yeah, good tomatoes. It’s also why my homemade pasta sauces sucked until I started using canned (or grown-in-my-garden.)
Color
I think you might be missing cumin.
Chuy’s secret ingredient is crushed canned pineapple. Just a little whirled up with your salsa.
More salt and cilantro
Start with 10 more Serrano peppers and more garlic!
One of the keys to reproducing a restaurant salsa is to use canned tomatoes. Generally, most restaurants don’t have/take the time to hand dice crates of tomatoes.
Both time I have managed to sweet talk a salsa recipe out of a restaurant filibertos salsa quemada and Rubio’s salsa picante; they both include canned tomatoes.
It’s missing umami. Add chicken bouillon or tomato chicken bouillon
Fresh garlic, more cilantro and maybe a splash of vinegar.