Chef Lupita
Arroz a la Oaxaqueña
Oaxaca's red rice, stained with tomato and fried in lard, steamed with carrots, ejotes, black beans, and epazote. The side that anchors a Oaxacan family meal and earns its place beside the main.
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Papas en Salsa Verde
Created by
Estado de México potatoes cooked in a sharp green tomatillo salsa, bright with chile serrano and cilantro, the kind of weeknight cazuela that stretches a few pesos into dinner.
Side Dishes
Mexican
Weeknight
Quick Meal
Budget Friendly
15 min
Active Time
25 min cook•40 min total
Yield4 servings
Estado de México, the central highlands around Toluca and Texcoco, is where I place this version. Potatoes grow well in the cool altitude, tomatillos fill the mercado baskets, and chile serrano gives the salsa its clean bite. This is not a party dish. This is what you cook when the week is long and the money is tight.
The salsa verde is the dish. Tomatillos are boiled just until they turn olive green, not until they collapse into sour water. Serrano, white onion, garlic, and cilantro go into the blender, then the salsa is fried in a little manteca de cerdo until it darkens and smells cooked. No me vengas con atajos. Raw blender salsa poured over potatoes tastes thin and nervous.
I learned this kind of cazuela from women who cooked at market fondas, where every ingredient had to earn its place. Potatoes stretch the meal. Salsa gives them character. A clay cazuela on the table, warm corn tortillas beside it, maybe frijoles de la olla if there is time. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Potatoes are native to the Andes, not Mexico, but they became part of central Mexican home cooking after colonial trade routes carried them north and cooks adapted them to local sauces. Salsa verde built on tomatillo, a pre-Columbian ingredient cultivated in Mesoamerica for centuries, is one of the clearest examples of an indigenous base surviving inside everyday mestizo cooking. In the central highlands, tomatillo and serrano salsa became a practical way to season inexpensive vegetables, eggs, chicken, and pork without turning every meal into a costly stew.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small waxy potatoes
Quantity
1 1/2 pounds
peeled if thick-skinned and cut into 1-inch pieces
tomatillos
Quantity
1 pound
husked and rinsed
fresh chile serrano
Quantity
2 to 3
stemmed
white onion
Quantity
1/4 medium
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
peeled
fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
Quantity
1/2 cup, packed
kosher salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
manteca de cerdo
Quantity
2 tablespoons
potato cooking water or warm water
Quantity
1/2 cup
warm corn tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small waxy potatoespeeled if thick-skinned and cut into 1-inch pieces | 1 1/2 pounds |
| tomatilloshusked and rinsed | 1 pound |
| fresh chile serranostemmed | 2 to 3 |
| white onion | 1/4 medium |
| garlic clovespeeled | 2 |
| fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems | 1/2 cup, packed |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| manteca de cerdo | 2 tablespoons |
| potato cooking water or warm water | 1/2 cup |
| warm corn tortillas (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •10-inch clay cazuela or heavy skillet
- •Medium saucepan for potatoes
- •Small pot for tomatillos
- •Blender
- •Wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Cook the potatoes
Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water by one inch. Add a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer and cook 10 to 12 minutes, until a knife enters easily but the pieces still hold their shape. Drain, saving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Do not cook them until they fall apart. The potatoes still need to finish in the salsa.
- 2
Boil the salsa base
Place the tomatillos and chile serrano in a small pot and cover with water. Simmer 6 to 8 minutes, just until the tomatillos turn olive green and soften. Pull them out before they burst. Overcooked tomatillo gives you a dull, sour salsa, and then you will blame the recipe. The recipe is not the problem.
- 3
Blend the salsa
Transfer the tomatillos and serranos to a blender with the white onion, garlic, cilantro, salt, and 1/4 cup of the saved potato water. Blend until smooth but still alive with green flecks. Taste for salt. The salsa should be bright and sharp because the potatoes will soften it.
- 4
Fry the salsa
Heat the manteca de cerdo in a 10-inch clay cazuela or heavy skillet over medium heat. Pour in the salsa carefully. It will sputter. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until the color deepens and the raw onion smell disappears. La manteca es el sabor. This frying step gives the salsa body so it clings to the potatoes instead of sliding off like green water.
If the salsa gets too thick while frying, loosen it with a splash of the saved potato water. Add water little by little. A flooded cazuela is how good potatoes become soup. - 5
Simmer the potatoes
Add the drained potatoes to the fried salsa and fold gently so the edges do not break. Add the remaining potato water only if needed. Simmer 6 to 8 minutes, until the potatoes absorb the salsa and the sauce coats them in a glossy green layer. Taste again for salt. Potatoes are greedy. They take more salt than you think.
- 6
Serve from the cazuela
Serve warm directly from the cazuela with corn tortillas. This is a side dish, yes, but with frijoles de la olla it becomes a meal. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and the central highlands know how to feed a table without wasting anything.
Chef Tips
- •Use waxy potatoes if you can: small white potatoes, Yukon gold, or the little papas cambray sold in Mexican markets. Russets fall apart too easily and turn the salsa pasty.
- •Good tomatillos feel firm and sticky under the husk. If they are yellow, wrinkled, or soft, leave them at the market. If the tomatillos are not good today, do not make salsa verde today.
- •Two serranos give you a lively salsa. Three make it sharper. This dish is tangy first, hot second. Not all Mexican food is trying to punish you.
- •Do not skip frying the salsa. A raw salsa has its place at the table, but these potatoes need a cooked salsa that has touched fat. Así se hace y punto.
Advance Preparation
- •The potatoes can be boiled up to one day ahead and refrigerated. Bring them close to room temperature before simmering in the salsa so they do not break.
- •The salsa can be blended up to one day ahead, but fry it only when you are ready to finish the dish. Fried salsa tastes best the day it is cooked.
- •Leftovers keep refrigerated for three days. Reheat gently in a skillet with a splash of water so the salsa loosens without turning the potatoes mushy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 275g)
Calories
335 calories
Total Fat
10 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
5 mg
Sodium
625 mg
Total Carbohydrates
56 g
Dietary Fiber
8 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
7 g
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