Spicy Pickled Tomatillo

September 18, 2020 by Madeline Horszt 4,311 Comments

Fresh picked tomatillos, with salt, peppercorns, and cumin seeds .

Grab your Balls it’s canning season! This is the one of those recipes you never knew you needed but life will never be the same without. We are completely addicted. Spicy pickled tomatillos are crispy, vinegary, salty and amazing all at the same time. Here at the South Shore Kitchen we love them straight from the jar, but they are also great on pizza, hotdogs, chopped up and tossed on a salad. The possibilities are endless, and the best part is they only take a few minutes to throw together.

As the Garden Grows

We have reached the point of gardening season where we have pickled and canned beyond our wildest dreams. The excitement of our first batch of pickles has long faded. We are left staring at a mountain of tomatillos. If you have never grown tomatillos, it is an experience. With extraordinarily little care or effort they grow more fruit than you could ever imagine. Yep, we said fruit! Tomatillos are actually related to gooseberries. Planted in full sun with a mate and a little bit of watering they can bear up to 10 pounds of fruit per plant. With that many tomatillos there isn’t much else to do but get to canning

Customize It

We love this recipe because it’s quick, easy and super customizable. Ingredients are given for one pound of cleaned and cut tomatillos. Depending on the size of the batch double or triple the ingredients according to your needs always staying with the 1:1 ratio of water and vinegar. We enjoy them best with a little bit of extra tang so add the bonus ¼ cup of vinegar per pound.

If this is your first time working with tomatillos here is the easiest way, we have found to prep them. First, peel the papery layer off each tomatillo. Sometimes they can be a little stubborn fresh off the vine. Pull at the edge of the up towards the stem and then pinch the papery shell and the whole thing should come up and off in one piece. Place in warm water for a quick soak. Make sure the water is not hot. You are not looking to cook your tomatillos but rather soften the sicky film of the fruit for easy cleaning. Lightly rub the exterior of your tomatillos until you have removed all of the sticky film and then rinse with clean, cool water. Next you will chop the tomatillos, we prefer wedge shaped. The number of pieces cut depend on the size of the tomatillo for a larger fruit you may have 8 wedges whereas a smaller one will only have a few wedges. Cut them however makes you happy but we suggest steering clear of cutting them too thin. You don’t want them to get mushy.

Serrano peppers sliced in half with garlic cloves

In a sterile glass jar add spices, tomatillo wedges, garlic and sliced serrano pepper halves. Once everything is added to the jar pour in the ¼ cup of white vinegar, then add water and vinegar in equal parts until tomatillos are covered and jar is full. Give it a good shake and store in the fridge. Shake once a day. You can eat them the next day, but they have full flavor after 3.

Keep It Spicy

We suggest 2 serrano peppers per pound of tomatillos. This ratio gives you a nice medium heat, feel free to adjust pepper quantities according to taste.

Pickled tomatillos can be kept refrigerated for up to 3 months. If you prefer traditional shelf stable canning, we suggest following the National Center for Home Food Preservation guidelines. Thanks for stopping by the South Shore Kitchen! Comment down below and tell us your favorite pickled veggie. Tried our recipe? Show us on Instagram @thesouthshorekitchen