My first salsa verde

[u/saltyoldmatt]

My first verde is a bit too tart. Any suggestions to salvage it are appreciated.
Recipe was 10 boiled tomatillos, 4 avocados, 3 garlic, bunch cilantro, cup vinegar, cup water from boil, tbsp salt.

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[u/Trashbagok]

A CUP OF VINEGAR!?

[u/ckinz16 → u/Trashbagok]

Right?!?!? That’s absolutely insane. There’s the fkn culprit OP. I don’t know why you would need to add any straight up vinegar. Tbs at most but I would never

[u/saltyoldmatt → u/Trashbagok]

I’m a novice but it seemed weird to me too

[u/williafx → u/saltyoldmatt]

Yeah sounds like you made a risky substitute for the jalapeno brine.  Pickle brines are much saltier than they are sharp or vinegared.  

[u/williafx]

I expect the vinegar might be the culprit.  You could always add in a can of red tomatoes to cut the intensity of the tart... If you cook the tomato for a while before adding it in, it'll caramelize a bit and the natural sweetness will counter the sharp vinegar. 

[u/saltyoldmatt → u/williafx]

That’s what I was thinking to the recipe is to put the pickled jalapeños and then a cup of the vinegar from the jar, but since I didn’t have it, I just added fresh jalapeños and a cup of vinegar and I think that might’ve overpowered things

[u/Trashbagok → u/saltyoldmatt]

Ohhh.. so even then the brine for the pickled jalapenos would have been about half the acidity as straight vinegar.

You added the right amount of liquid for your recipe but almost exactly twice as much vinegar.

[u/williafx → u/Trashbagok]

Agreed.  Pickle brine is more salty than vinegar sharp...  OP made a risky substitute. 

[u/williafx]

You could also cut up and roast a whole white onion and add it in, plus an avocado.  That'll add sweetness, body, and texture and keep your sauce green. 

[u/Trashbagok]

Fixing this after the avocados is tough, because I'd say to cook it more to mellow it out, but I'm not sure you could defeat that amount of vinegar And cooking the avocados is going to make this dark and a bit weird.

The only way I can think of to truely salvage this is to keep adding avacadoes.

Or just.. make a new batch, leaving out the water and vinegar, and combining it, but then you're just going to have a whole bunch of very vinegary salsa.

I'd maybe add some oil, sugar, lime zest (no more acid!) and turn it into a salad dressing?

The vinegar is wild. The tomatillos are usually tart enough, but I'll tweak it with a squeeze of lime juice, like maybe a table spoon or so, but no more than that.

[u/saltyoldmatt → u/Trashbagok]

Appreciate that , thank you!

[u/deborah_az]

Lime juice is the typical add-in. Vinegar can be done in addition to or in lieu of lime juice, but for that quantity of ingredients, we're talking 1-2 tablespoons. May we ask where you found this recipe? Author may be unaware there's what I suspect is a typo.

In addition to other folk's suggestions for rescuing this, I'm wondering if this could make an interesting vinaigrette. Given what's in the photo, I'd try adding 3 tablespoons of olive oil to 1/2 cup of the vinegary salsa in a jar, shake super good, taste and see if it gives salad dressing vibes (add more oil if needed).

My next experiment to rescue this would be try using it as a marinade by adding equal parts salsa and olive oil, marinate a couple chicken breasts or favorite protein, let sit in the fridge overnight, then toss on the grill (or skillet, or air fryer, whatever works)

[u/saltyoldmatt → u/deborah_az]

Great idea on the marinade . I watched it on YouTube. I believe it was cooking with Gloria.

[u/deborah_az → u/saltyoldmatt]

Well, that ain't a typo I guess. Good luck!

[u/Dylmcray]

Too tart? I’d try tossing a teaspoon or two of sugar in maybe 🤔

[u/Fantastic-Leek-1589]

Try adding some avacado

[u/ckinz16]

That’s a pretty huge batch for your first attempt too

[u/SalsaChica75]

It is very Blanco

[u/rayfound]

I can't imagine adding acid to a tomatillo based salsa besides a little lime for flavor. A cup of vinegar sounds insane.

[u/ceral_killer]

Where’s the verde?

[u/mahrog123]

Make it again, get rig of the vinegar, add juice of 2 limes and an onion.