When I hopped off the plane a couple weeks ago from Texas, I bought everything to recreate a cashew queso I fell in love with over lunch. I also bought everything to recreate Salsa Doña, a creamy jalapeño salsa from Tacodeli, that I fell in love with during another lunch. Between those lunches and recipe testing, I’m dubbing this the summer of salsa (and chips). Because I’ve eaten a lot of them.
Salsa Doña is made from minimal ingredients—jalapeños, garlic, oil, lime juice, and salt. The jalapeños and garlic char under the blazing hot oven before their meaty insides blend into an incredibly creamy salsa, so creamy you’ll go looking for cream in the ingredient list. It’s not there. With the large base of jalapeños, this salsa runs hot. So hot! Though, once you get past the initial heat of the first bite, it’s intoxicating, hard to quit, even.
Before we jump into the how to, I have a warning. Maybe don’t serve a bowl of Salsa Doña next to a bowl of Cashew Queso at book club as the sun goes down on the outdoor patio when the light fades and the queso and the salsa begin taking on the same color. Also, maybe don’t bring this to happy hour without a little label labeled SPICY! Maybe do serve it with a semi-sweet drink, like the Watermelon Agua Fresca from my book or this hard lemonade. And finally, don’t let these warnings deter you from making this salsa. I’m starting to sound like a pharmaceutical commercial during Nightly News. This drug can help. It might cause a stroke or even death, but this drug can help. It’s spicy, but Salsa Doña might just be my favorite.
How to Make Salsa Doña
There are several methods for making Salsa Doña. One includes boiling the jalapeños. I’ve never been a huge fan of boiling my veggies, so I opted for the roasting/charring method. Begin by lopping the head, the stem, off each pepper. Then, using a paring knife or a grapefruit spoon, scrape the insides out, including the seeds, without piercing the pepper. By removing the seeds before cooking, we’re helping control the heat of the salsa.
Then roast the peppers and garlic on a baking sheet under the broiler until charred. This process is similar to roasting red peppers over an open gas flame. We’re doing the same thing under a broiler. Remove the garlic halfway through. Due to its smaller size, the garlic will cook faster than the peppers.
Next place the garlic in an airtight container to steam. Then add the peppers once done. (I love these food storage containers.)
They’ll look like this after steaming. It’s time to remove the skins. They should slip right off. If not, try steaming a bit longer. Or, char them a bit longer next time. Add the jalapeno peppers, garlic, and all remaining ingredients to the blender and blend on high until it whirls into a creamy dreamy spicy Salsa Doña. Just add chips and a drink.
This is a copycat recipe of Tacodeli’s Salsa Doña. It’s a creamy, spicy salsa best served with salty chips and a slightly sweet drink. Note: this salsa is best made atleast one day in advance.
Scale
Ingredients
1 lb. jalapeños 4 cloves of garlic, skin on 1/4 c. grapeseed oil (or similar neutral oil) 2 tbsp. lime juice 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Instructions
Place baking rack in the upper third of your oven. Preheat on broil.
Meanwhile, cut the stems off the jalapeños and carefully remove the seeds without piercing holes in the sides of the pepper using a paring knife or grapefruit spoon or a combination of both. (Note: Wear food-safe gloves or skip touching your eyes during this process. Wash your hand thoroughly afterwards.)
Place jalapeños and garlic on a baking sheet then place under the broiler to char. Once skins of the peppers char on top, flip, and char the other side. Remove the garlic after flipping the peppers and place in a container with a lid.(Note: Watch closely during the charring process as broilers vary greatly from oven to oven. With that said, I’m purposely omitting an exact times and instead giving visual cues. For reference, in my oven, it took 20 minutes total, taking the garlic out after 10 minutes and flipping the peppers. My broiler tends to run low and my jalapeños were quite large.)
Once charred, place peppers in the container with the garlic, and cover for 10 minutes to steam.
Remove the garlic peels and rub the skins of the peppers off. The skins should slide right off.
Place all the ingredients in a high-powered blender, and blend on high until smooth, about 40 seconds. Store covered in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. Salsa is best after a day of rest, once the flavors have had time to calm down and meld together.
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Oh my gosh, this was so so so good! My husband and I ate the entire batch last night; addicting doesn’t even begin to cover it! Love how the heat hit you a few seconds after you ate it. We had strawberry rhubarb margaritas with it and the pairing was just perfect!
I wish you could see the huge smile on my face! So glad you guys had the same experience as me, though I wish I had that Strawberry Rhubarb Margarita. Sounds amazing! I’m finishing a burrito with Salsa Doña shmeared all over. I can’t quit this stuff. Thanks for writing ❤️
No other recipe gets this close to the real deal! In fact, this salsa came out even better than Tacodeli’s (which I didn’t think was possible). Thanks for sharing!
We just discovered Tacodeli in Austin in October and fell in love with this stuff. They serve it by the bucket there! Look forward to trying this recipe! Thanks for putting this together.
Thank you so much for making this recipe! I am obsessed with taco delis dona sauce and am so happy i can make it at home!!! Have you tried any other variations/add ins?
This was great! I also added a small onion and one roma tomato and a pinch of cumin. I cut the jalepenos in half, and left them skin up so I didn’t need to turn them. I also recommend leaving the garlic cloves in the oven the whole time, but just leave them unpeeled. Saves the extra roasting time.
Also, next time you’re in Austin you should try Eldorado Cafe. The guy that came up with the salsas at Tacodeli is the owner and he came up with some new ones I like even more than the Dona. The addition of the tomato and onion got me closer to his Salsa X, but i’m still missing something…
Salsa Doña was created by a Female staff member in 2000, before the owner of El Dorado ever worked at Tacodeli. In fact most of the salsas at Tacodeli were on the menu before he started working there. He makes amazing food but let’s give Doña Bertha credit for her Salsa Doña.
This recipe sounds wonderful, but since our old stomachs can’t to heat, I would try making it with poblanos, which are milder, but still quite tasty.
Yum! Love the sound of this substitution.
Oh my gosh, this was so so so good! My husband and I ate the entire batch last night; addicting doesn’t even begin to cover it! Love how the heat hit you a few seconds after you ate it. We had strawberry rhubarb margaritas with it and the pairing was just perfect!
I wish you could see the huge smile on my face! So glad you guys had the same experience as me, though I wish I had that Strawberry Rhubarb Margarita. Sounds amazing! I’m finishing a burrito with Salsa Doña shmeared all over. I can’t quit this stuff. Thanks for writing ❤️
No other recipe gets this close to the real deal! In fact, this salsa came out even better than Tacodeli’s (which I didn’t think was possible). Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Oh, I’m so happy to hear you think so! I had to figure out how to curb that Salsa Dona craving all the way up in Minnesota.
We just discovered Tacodeli in Austin in October and fell in love with this stuff. They serve it by the bucket there! Look forward to trying this recipe! Thanks for putting this together.
Thank you so much for making this recipe! I am obsessed with taco delis dona sauce and am so happy i can make it at home!!! Have you tried any other variations/add ins?
This was great! I also added a small onion and one roma tomato and a pinch of cumin. I cut the jalepenos in half, and left them skin up so I didn’t need to turn them. I also recommend leaving the garlic cloves in the oven the whole time, but just leave them unpeeled. Saves the extra roasting time.
★★★★★
Also, next time you’re in Austin you should try Eldorado Cafe. The guy that came up with the salsas at Tacodeli is the owner and he came up with some new ones I like even more than the Dona. The addition of the tomato and onion got me closer to his Salsa X, but i’m still missing something…
Will do! Thank you for the recommendation!
Salsa Doña was created by a Female staff member in 2000, before the owner of El Dorado ever worked at Tacodeli. In fact most of the salsas at Tacodeli were on the menu before he started working there. He makes amazing food but let’s give Doña Bertha credit for her Salsa Doña.
This is it. I’ve tried other recipes and was disappointed. This recipe hits the nail on the head. Thank you so much for sharing! Love it.
★★★★★
Thank you so much for this! Did you broil on hi or low?!
Hi Michelle! I’ve only ever had a single broil setting on my oven. If I had to guess, I’d broil on high and watch. Let me know what you end up doing!
is it 1 lb of jalapeno or just 8like you have shown?
The amount will vary based on the size of the jalapeño.
This tastes just like the real stuff! I doubled up on the garlic because I’m a fiend. The taste of home is much appreciated by a Colorado transplant.
★★★★★