Trailside Tomatillo Verde
Dried tomatillo and chile powder rehydrated into a green sauce for tortillas, beans, or rice.
- calories
- 110
- weight
- 1.1 oz
- cal / oz
- 100
- protein
- 2 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 5 min
- total time
- 7 min
- water
- 120 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Snack
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Campfire coals
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Tomatillos | 1 lb fresh, roasted and dehydrated | yields roughly 1/2 cup of chips, ground to powder |
|---|---|---|
| Jalapenos | 2 | roasted with the tomatillos, dried and ground in with them |
| Garlic | 2 cloves | roasted and dried, or 1/2 tsp garlic powder |
| Onion | 1/4 white onion | roasted and dried, or 1 tbsp dried minced onion |
| Freeze-dried cilantro | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Granulated sugar | 1/2 tsp | cuts the sourness, leave it out if you like it sharp |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | from a dropper bottle, added at camp |
Method
- At home: spread whole tomatillos, jalapenos, peeled garlic, and onion chunks on a foil-lined sheet. Oil them lightly, salt and pepper, roast at 400F for about 45 minutes until the skins blister and darken.
- Cool, then blend to a rough puree with the cilantro. Spread thin on dehydrator trays and dry at 135F until it snaps, 8 to 10 hours. Break it up and grind to a coarse powder. Stir in the sugar.
- In camp: boil about 120 ml of water.
- Off the heat, stir the powder into the water a spoonful at a time. Let it sit five minutes; it keeps thickening as it hydrates.
- Stir in the olive oil and add water by the splash until it pours the way you want.
Salsa verde is mostly water, so carrying it wet makes no sense. Roasting the tomatillos, chiles, garlic, and onion first does two things: it drives off moisture and it caramelizes enough sugar to survive drying, which raw tomatillos do not. What comes home from the dehydrator is a green powder that costs about an ounce for two servings.
The rehydration is the part people rush. Tomatillo leather takes a few minutes to let go of the water, and if you judge the thickness at minute one you will end up with paste at minute five. Add the oil last; it carries the chile heat and keeps the sauce from setting up stiff in the pot.
Packing
One snack bag per two servings. Squeeze the air out and keep it dark, since light fades the green fast. The oil rides in its own bottle.
Variations
- Skip the dehydrator and buy dried tomatillo powder plus ground green chile; the flavor is flatter but the prep drops to zero.
- Stir the powder straight into a pot of instant refried beans instead of rehydrating it separately.
- Add a pinch of citric acid if you want it sharper than the tomatillos alone.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/salsa-verde-recipe