This fire-roasted salsa starts over hot coals, which is a great way to infuse vegetables with an open-flame flavor. Make it the day before you plan to serve it, store it in the fridge, and enjoy!

This recipe is a quick and easy way to add extra flavor to homemade salsa. You grill a few ears of corn, then add kernels to the rest of the mixture. Feel free to mix and match flavors and ingredients to suit your needs and preferences.

Do you want a hit of smoke to this fire roasted salsa? We recommend using fruitwoods like apple or cherry.

Ingredients for Fire Roasted Salsa:

Tomatoes, medium-sized and firm
Jalapenos (you can sub with serrano or cayenne pepper for this salsa)
Small onion (red or white)
Pasilla pepper, sub with poblano
Garlic
Fresh lime juice
Salt
Olive oil
Cilantro

How to Make It

Grill set up: Prepare your charcoal grill for high heat and direct cooking. Add your choice of fruitwood if desired. The vegetables need charring to make salsa. This process moves quickly, so keep a close eye on them.
Prep veggies: Place unpeeled garlic cloves onto an 8″ x 8″ piece of foil. Top with a small amount of oil. Gather opposing sides and ends and seal the packet. Make sure there is a little room for steam to build.
Wash tomatoes, jalapenos, and pasilla pepper, then blot dry with paper towels. Brush with olive oil.
Peel the onion and cut it in half. Brush with olive oil.
Grilling the veggies: Place vegetables and garlic packet on the grill and cook until skins take on a deep brown appearance and skin begins to pull away from the tomatoes.
Stagger the cooking times, as some items cook faster than others.
Rotate the vegetables for even browning.
Remove and cool: Remove vegetables and garlic from the grill and place them onto a clean plate. Let them rest for 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
Peel and process: Peel the charred skins away, remove the seeds from peppers and tomatoes, and place them in a food processor with the garlic.
Roughly chop the onion and add to the processor.
Add lime juice and a few pinches of salt and pulse 8-10 times.
Taste for flavor and adjust accordingly.
Storing: Transfer the fire-roasted salsa to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Serving: Right before serving, chop half of the cilantro and stir it into the salsa. Add the remaining whole leaves to the salsa as a garnish.

How to Use Fire Roasted Salsa

Serve with tortilla chips as an appetizer.
This fire roasted salsa is a great topping for Smoked Cream Cheese.
Use this salsa on steak tacos, quesadillas, nachos, and more!
Check out all our best grilled and smoked appetizer recipes!

Fire Roasted Salsa

This fire-roasted salsa starts over hot coals, which is a great way to infuse vegetables with an open-flame flavor. Easy and delicious!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Tex Mex

Keyword: Salsa

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 25

Servings: people

Calories: 26kcal

Author: Sabrina Baksh

Ingredients

5 medium tomatoes firm
2 medium jalapenos
1 small onion peeled and halved
1 pasilla pepper
2-3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup lime juice (use more if preferred)
Salt
Olive oil
1/4 cup cilantro garnish

Instructions

Prepare your charcoal grill for high heat, direct cooking. Add your choice of fruitwood if desired. Keep in mind that the vegetables need charring and won’t be on too long.
Place unpeeled garlic cloves onto an 8″ x 8″ piece of foil. Top with a small amount of oil. Gather opposing sides and ends and seal the packet. Make sure there is a little room for steam to build.
Wash tomatoes, jalapenos, and pasilla pepper, then blot dry with paper towels. Brush with olive oil.
Peel the onion and cut it in half. Brush with olive oil.
Place vegetables and garlic packet onto the grill and cook until skins take on a deep brown appearance and skin begins to pull away from the tomatoes.
Stagger the cooking times as some items cook faster than others.
Rotate the vegetables for even browning.
Remove vegetables and garlic from the grill and place them onto a clean plate. Let them rest for 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
Peel the charred skins away, remove the seeds from peppers and tomatoes and place them into a food processor with the garlic.
Roughly chop the onion and add to the processor.
Add lime juice and a few pinches of salt and pulse 8-10 times.
Taste for flavor and adjust accordingly.
Transfer the fire-roasted salsa to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Right before serving, chop half of the cilantro and stir into the salsa. Add the remaining whole leaves on top as garnish.