8 Salsa Recipes for Scooping, Drizzling, or Eating With a Spoon

Our favorite salsas to scoop up with chips or spoon into tacos.

By
Genevieve Yam
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Genevieve Yam
Senior Editor
After graduating from the International Culinary Center, Genevieve cooked at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Per Se. Prior to joining Serious Eats, she was an editor at Epicurious. She grew up between Toronto and Hong Kong and is a graduate of the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She currently lives in New York with her husband and two cats.
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Published April 28, 2025
Side view of spooning salsa match onto eggs

Serious Eats / Lorena Masso

Snacks are the most important part of any party, and large bowl of tortilla chips would be incomplete without guacamole and salsa. While jarred salsa is acceptable (and customizable) in a pinch, it's worth taking the time to make your own. Not only does preparing salsa from scratch allow you to customize its level of spice, but you can also choose the freshest ingredients and add a smoky depth of flavor by charring the vegetables and chiles. Below, we've gathered eight easy and delicious salsa recipes—including a crunchy salsa macha, simple tomatillo salsa, and refreshing pico de gallo—for scooping with tortilla chips, drizzling over tacos or tamales, or even just eating with a spoon.

May 2019

  • Classic Pico de Gallo

    Classic Pico de Gallo
    Also known as salsa fresca, pico de gallo is a bright and punchy chip-topper. Get the recipe » [Photograph: J. Kenji López-Alt]. J. Kenji López-Alt

    This classic pico de gallo is fresh, light, and colorful, and is versatile enough to put on just about everything. Our recipe calls for little more than fresh tomatoes, a white onion, hot chiles—either jalapeños or serranos work well—and cilantro. A squeeze of lime and a dash of salt rounds it out and helps draw out flavor from the tomato and onion.

  • Salsa Negra (Sinaloan Salsa for Seafood)

    Overhead view of salsa negra in a molcajete with tostadas and ceviche

    Serious Eats / Lorena Masso

    Salsa negra’s punch of heat, complexity, and savory backbone pairs perfectly with seafood and more. Here, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and Jugo Maggi—a potent seasoning sauce—come together to give the salsa a super-charged punch of umami.

  • Salsa Macha

    Overhead view of salsa matcha

    Serious Eats / Lorena Masso

    Spicy and smoky, this Mexican do-it-all condiment is great on almost everything. Peanuts, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds bring a deep nuttiness and crunch, and a blend of chiles gives the salsa a fruity, smoky backbone.

  • Charred Salsa Verde

    Mexican clay bowls with tortilla chips and charred salsa verde on a colorful traditional Mexican textile, with a hand dipping a chip into the salsa

    Serious Eats / Two Bites

    This charred salsa verde is smoky, spicy, sweet, bright, and complex—the perfect accompaniment to enchiladas, burritos, and tacos. After you've broiled the tomatillos, onions, and chiles, just toss them—and all their exuded juices—into a blender with cilantro and purée. To intensify the salsa's flavor, we pour the puréed mixture into heated oil before seasoning and serving.

    Continue to 5 of 8 below

  • Roasted-Tomato Salsa

    Overhead view of a hand dipping a chip in salsa

    Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

    You could make a salsa from exactly the same ingredients called for here without roasting them first, but the difference in outcome is dramatic. Broiling the tomatoes, jalapeño, garlic, and onion before pulsing them in a food processor brings out their flavors and gives them a richness they lack when raw. Stir cilantro and lime into the blended salsa, then give the mixture some time to sit and strengthen in flavor before serving.

  • Yucatán-Style Hot Dried-Chili Salsa (K'uut Bi Ik)

    20160522-kuut-bi-iik-yucatan-hot-salsa-2-thumb-1500xauto-432017.jpg
    J. Kenji López-Alt

    Fruity, fiery, and intensely smoky, this deep-red Yucatecan-style salsa has the added benefit of requiring almost no cooking. We microwave dried árbol and pasilla chilies until they're fragrant, then blend them with a mixture of lime juice, grapefruit juice, and orange juice, which substitutes nicely for the sour-orange juice traditionally used here.

  • Extra-Hot Yucatán-Style Roasted-Habanero Salsa (Chile Tamulado)

    20160507-habanero-salsa-yucatan-09.jpg
    J. Kenji López-Alt

    24 whole habanero chilies go into this supremely hot Yucatán-style salsa, which gets a fruity edge from the same combination of grapefruit, lime, and orange juices used in the k'uut bi ik recipe above.

  • Basic Salsa Verde (Mexican Tomatillo Salsa)

    Sopes with Refried Beans and Salsa Verde
    Crispy fried sope shells, followed by a rich and creamy layer of refried beans, a drizzle of hot and tangy salsa verde, crunchy toasted pepitas, and a fresh sprinkle of onions, jalapeños, and cilantro make for a filling meal with a whole slew of textures. Get the recipe! » [Photograph: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]. J. Kenji López-Alt

    For those who like the citrusy, bright flavor of a good salsa verde, this is the most basic and straightforward way to get there. Simply simmer tomatillos, peppers, and an onion until the vegetables are thoroughly softened, then purée with cilantro in a blender. All in all, you'll spend a grand total of 15 minutes and be rewarded with a salsa that's superior to the store-bought stuff—plus the bragging rights that come with making salsa by hand, of course.

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