How to Bring Tomatillos Tangy Goodness to the Kitchen

Tomatillos are for more than Salsa Verde

Tomatillos are a fun plant to grow in the garden and an awesome, tangy addition to dishes from your kitchen! They make way more than just Salsa Verde — although there certainly is nothing wrong with that wonderful green salsa! Some say they are better cooked or charred but I think they are also awesome raw.

Growing Tomatillos

Starting From Seed

Garden centers rarely stock tomatillos so you will probably need to grow them from seed. I start mine indoors under grow lights in January or February. When the days get warmer, they can be moved outdoors to a cold frame or even a warm spot in the garden. Just be sure to bring them indoors in the evening until the nights start warming up. I plant my tomatillo seedlings outdoors in May when night temperatures are reliably over 50 degrees in my area. Don’t expect to pick fruit from the tomatillo until September, though. They take a long time to ripen.

Give Them Room!!

Tomatillos take up a lot of space and to get a bountiful harvest you need two plants that help each other set fruit. You can get fruit with just one but not as much. So set aside an area about four feet by four feet for your plants. Tomatillo vines can be caged like a tomato but since the fruit is held above the ground and the vines put down additional roots where they touch the soil, I don’t stake or cage mine.

Easy to Grow

Tomatoes and tomatillos are related and are grown much the same way. Check out Love Those Mouthwatering Tomatoes! for more info. Tomatillos are also called husk tomatoes and ground cherries are a close cousin. Like tomatoes they need heat to thrive and they are not as susceptible to diseases. Their main pest in my garden is flea beetles. The tiny beetles eat lots of small holes in the leaves but don’t seem to overly stress the plant or the fruit.

They are an attractive plant, covered with small yellow flowers that attract lots of little bees and other pollinators. The flowers hang upside down from the stem and will keep blooming until frost. Of course those late blooms don’t have a chance to grow into a tomatillo but they are still a cheerful sight.

Harvest

When the tomatillo has filled out the papery husk — even to the point where it has split open the papery covering, it’s time to harvest. That is almost always September and October in my garden.

Cooking with Tomatillos

How to save all that green goodness

Tomatillos are easy to freeze. In years where I have a bumper crop, I peel off the husk, rinse the fruit, throw them into a gallon sized freezer bag and put them in the freezer. That way I can enjoy their tart goodness all winter long. When tomatillos have been frozen, they are best used in a cooked preparation. They make an excellent roasted salsa verde and I’ve used them as the base for a creamy sauce for tofu.

Cooked or Raw?

Many sites recommend cooking or charring tomatillos at least slightly to bring out their flavor and there are many wonderful recipes that use them that way but raw is good too. Uncooked tomatillos have a slightly crisp texture, a little like an apple. They are tarter than a tomato and when combined with their softer sweeter cousin bring a nice yin and yang to the party.

This quick and easy dish does just that — combining raw tomatillos and tomatoes as a sauce/salsa for a chili-coated seared tofu.

Green and Red Salsa with Chili Coated Tofu

Ingredients

For the Salsa

• 1/2 cup chopped tomatillos
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeño or other hot pepper (optional)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon chili lime seasoning
• Salt to taste

For the Tofu

• 1 block of firm or extra firm tofu
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1 tablespoon of chili lime seasoning
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 to 2 tablespoons avocado oil

Directions

If you’re not using extra firm tofu, press excess water out of the tofu with a tofu press or sandwich the tofu between two plates and place a weight on top, like a 16 ounce can. Do this first so that the tofu will be ready to cook after you’ve made the salsa. Press the tofu for 20 to 30 minutes. After draining, pat the tofu dry with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. If you’re really short of time, this step can be skipped, your tofu just won’t be quite as crispy.

For the Salsa

Chop the tomatillos and tomatoes in about a half-inch dice. Finely chop the jalapeño or other hot pepper and the cilantro, if using, and combine in a small bowl.

Give it a quick mix then add the olive oil, lime juice, dried oregano and chili lime seasoning.

I used Rancho Gordo Chili Dipping Powder. Rancho Gordo is one of my favorite companies! They have awesome heirloom dried beans and really fresh spices. www.ranchogordo.com.

After your chili seasoning is in, add a pinch of salt to taste. Give the salsa one more mix and set aside.

For the Tofu

Heat the oil in a sauté pan. Mix the cornstarch, chili lime seasoning, oregano and salt on a plate or shallow bowl. Cut the tofu into eight “steaks”.

Dredge the tofu in the corn starch mixture shaking off any extra. You’re looking for a thin coating, not big clumps. Do just one piece at a time and place in the hot pan. By dredging one at a time your coating will stay crisper.

Sear about four to five minutes per side. Tofu is like toast. Some people like it lightly browned, others want a toastier slice. Cook it to your preference.

Cook the tofu to your desired doneness then with a spatula, flip to cook the other side. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to work in batches. You may also need to add a little more oil to the pan.

Plating

Arrange two or three slices of tofu on a plate. Top with salsa. Serve with vegetables of choice. I used green beans from the garden topped with a little olive oil and dried oregano. Broccoli and corn would also work well with this dish.

Notes

I used tomatillos, tomatoes, hot peppers, oregano and green beans all from my garden!! 😀 It’s a simple dish incorporating the last days of summer.

I love this salsa with cilantro. I just didn’t happen to have any the day I was cooking this. I also made it optional because some people can’t stand the taste. So sad! Lol.

This would also be good with chopped onions but my stomach doesn’t love them any more so I omitted them. If you like, go ahead and add them in. I’d do it with a light hand, though, because I think the tomatillos and the chili lime are the star of the dish and you don’t want to overwhelm them.

Finally, if you’re not into plant based eating, this would go well with grilled chicken or shrimp.

Let me know if you tried this and how it went for you!

Garden Notes

As I’m writing this piece, the Equinox was a few days ago and Summer is officially over. 🥲 But we still have heat and the last of the warm season plants are pumping out flowers and fruit as if they know they only have a little more time.

Tomatoes and green beans are still abundant. My peppers didn’t do very well this year but they are trying to finish strong and tomatillos, the late bloomer of the bunch, is just now coming ripe.

In the gaps in the garden where plants are finishing up, I’ve put in some fall/winter veg. Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, chard, beets, arugula and kohlrabi. I’ve never grown kohlrabi before so…fingers crossed. I’ll also start some lettuce and kale from seed this weekend.

The sunflowers in the garden look like drunken sailors. These are volunteers which come back every year and with recent rains their weight is pulling some branches down to the ground. There is only one plant per bed and yet they dominate. Birds are all over them as are bees of all stripes. This guy below is so laden it’s a wonder he can fly!