Casa M OG Salsa Roja
★ Issue CMSC·21–007 · Published 14 Feb 2021
Mexicansalsasauce/condiment

Casa M OG Salsa Roja.

Toast onion and serrano, build heat with garlic and tomatoes, finish with Chain Reaction® for a salsa that actually works

PREP 10 min
COOK 30 min
TOTAL 40m min
SERVES —  
HEAT hot
BLEND RATING 4.9 140 reviews · Chain Reaction®
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Made with Chain Reaction®Shop
You'll need
10-inch skilletBlender or food processorWooden spoonFine-mesh strainer

Toast onion and serrano, build heat with garlic and tomatoes, finish with Chain Reaction® for a salsa that actually works

Ingredients

For the Salsa:

  • 2 Tablespoons avocado oil
  • 1 large sweet onion
  • 2 serrano chiles, stemmed, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 5 Roma tomatoes, cored, seeded, juices discarded

Pulling It All Together:

  • 2 teaspoons Casa M Spice Co® Chain Reaction®
  • 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, plucked (no stems), chopped

Method

  1. 01

    Heat oil and sauté onion and serrano

    5 min

    Get that avocado oil smoking hot over medium-high, then drop in your onion and chiles. Dial it back to medium and cook until the onion turns translucent — you're building a foundation here, not browning anything.

  2. 02

    Add garlic, cook until fragrant

    2 min

    When the onion's ready, add your garlic and let it wake up — just until you smell it, no color on it or the onion. Burnt garlic kills the whole thing.

  3. 03

    Add tomatoes and simmer

    10 min

    Tomatoes go in now. Let everything cook about 10 minutes until it's heated through and the tomatoes start giving up their liquid — that's when you know the flavors are marrying together.

  4. 04

    Purée with Chain Reaction®

    2 min

    Transfer everything to the blender, add your Chain Reaction® for that layered heat and depth, then pulse until it's smooth. This is where the magic happens.

  5. 05

    Reduce and thicken

    10 min

    Back to the pan with your purée — cook it down another 10 minutes until you've lost about a third of the volume and the salsa has actual body to it. A thin salsa is nobody's salsa.

  6. 06

    Finish with cilantro and season

    1 min

    Stir in your cilantro, taste it, and add salt to brighten everything up. Trust your palate — a pinch of salt can lift flavors you didn't know were hiding.

  7. 07

    Serve hot or chill

    Serve it hot straight from the pan, or let it cool and refrigerate in a sealed container for cold salsa later. Either way, it's ready to work for you.

From Mike's Notebook

01

Seed your tomatoes and discard the juice—that liquid dilutes the salsa and makes it watery.

02

Toast the onion and serrano hard enough to soften them completely; raw centers muddy the flavor.

03

Add cilantro last, off heat, so it stays bright green instead of turning dark and bitter.

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