Charcoal-grilled tomatoes, tomatillos, and peppers, hand-crushed in a molcajete. This is Salsa Majarra—a rustic salsa passed from my grandfather in Jalisco, to my mom’s garden in Chicago, to me.
👉 full recipe below, or head to my blog for step-by-step instructions, photos, tools, etc: https://www.jonathanzaragoza.com/recipes/salsa-majarra
Ingredients – YIELD: 2.5 quarts
1,645g heirloom tomatoes, whole (about 10–12 large)
635g tomatillos de milpa (about 12–14 medium)
235g poblano chiles, roasted/peeled/seeded (about 3 large)
155g banana peppers, whole (about 2 peppers)
125g garlic, whole, in skins (about 2 heads)
117g green jalapeños, whole (about 3–4 peppers)
85g red jalapeños, whole (about 2 peppers)
20g serrano chiles, whole (about 2–3 peppers)
8g habanero chiles, whole (about 1 chile)
Diamond Crystal kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
1️⃣ Grill everything
Heat a charcoal grill to medium-high. Place all ingredients on the grill, turning often until evenly charred and tender. Tomatoes/tomatillos should be blistered and soft; peppers blackened and pliable.
2️⃣ Steam & peel
Transfer tomatoes, tomatillos, and peppers to a bowl. Cover and let them steam as they cool, then peel and seed the peppers. Remove most of the blackened skins from tomatoes/tomatillos, but leave some char for flavor.
3️⃣ Make the paste
Using a molcajete, grind the grilled garlic with the poblanos into a paste. (Or chop/mash by hand.)
4️⃣ Crush the salsa
Add the paste back into the bowl. Wearing gloves, squish the tomatoes and tomatillos to your desired texture. Tear the peppers into strips and mix in.
5️⃣ Season
Add salt to taste, mash everything together, and adjust until the texture feels rustic and right.
#generationalcooking #generationalwealth #salsa101
35 Comments
Jonathan! Wow, thought you said no molcajete… Oh, other than the garlic… Looks fantastic!
God, I love you all!!!
DOOM guy approves your methods
Mama Z is a treasure, glad to see her back she is awesome, sister is great too wonderful familia.
Beautiful Mom ♥️☁️🍂
Would like the recepy
That looks sooooooooooooooo good!
Oh WOW!!!🥰🥰🥰
Love this man. Keeping with traditions while making your own ❤
Your recipes and videos and your interactions with your family brighten my day so much. Be blessed and continue to grow my man.
def look like your moms foo.
You said Only Manos wey 😢😂
Mamma Z is beautiful and has a mother's soul… Cherish your mother Jon, spend time with her, tell her you love her, trust me you'll miss her when she's gone…. I'm not crying btw my house is just very dusty….
Mama Z’s garden channel when?
Seriously love that you share tradition and family, not just recipes.
OMG! You and your mamita are so adorable.
Yum
That is too funny. I was just thinking of telling you that you need to get a nice outdoor kitchen going on like the one below so you can be outdoors this fall cooking. Even funnier with saying your mom put a nice pinch of salt in and saying you want two tablespoons of salt and sing you say add a little bit of salt and putting in a "cup of salt"😅😉
That's a tasty looking salsa ! I think you should bring a bowl of that over here to the Sonoran desert so I can taste that and make sure. 😁
Dang, I want to try that agua fresca! 🤔 I don't think we have that kind of cactus over here 😕
https://youtu.be/L-gnv4jrmnQ?feature=shared
"Fixed" — That is too funny. I was just thinking of telling you that you need to get a nice outdoor kitchen going on like the one below so you can be cooking outdoors this fall. Even funnier with hearing your mom say put 2 tbsp of salt in and she just puts in a nice pinch of salt in. When you say put in a little bit / pinch of salt and put in "half a cup" of salt 😅😉
That's a tasty looking salsa ! I think you should bring a bowl of that over here to the Sonoran desert so I can taste that and make sure. 😁
Dang, I want to try that agua fresca! 🤔 I don't think we have that kind of cactus over here 😕
https://youtu.be/L-gnv4jrmnQ?feature=shared
Autocorrect / AI sure can seriously screw things up! 😖🤪🤬
This cries out for a garden collaboration between your mom and Adam W's mom, who also has a spectacular garden
Looks delicious guys
This was so wholesome 🥹
“No molcajete, no blender, only your hands.”……2 seconds later, a molcajete appears… can’t trust anyone anymore.
Gorgeous lighting, veggies and mama all in one short 😍
Looks good 👍 Thanks
Love this video bruh! We gotta love and protect our jefitas. Love your channel, also thanks for the family recipe! That’s love!
– from Texas
It looks great right from the start.
Oh I thought martajada is because we crush it between two thing such as the morcajete y la Mano 👍🏼
What is this shorts business? We need a full video ASAP. You guys are adorable, and your videos on frijoles and salsa have been eye opening.
Fire roasted salsa? How could it be anything but amazingly good? ❤️
I've watched this video fifteen times and love it
Chef's 👌🤩
Your Mom is Beautiful 😊❤ that salsa looks amazing, my grandmother made salsa liike that😋
I believe do with your hands teast way better. Looks yummy.
Damn brotha your mom knows how to talk to the camera! I see where you get it from👏🏼 she needs her own channel
Now this is what real Mexican cooking is all about! Mi abuela le ensseno a mi mama y ella me lo transmitio. My abuela & mama are no longer with us . I cherish those memories.
Muchos gracias! Dios te bendiga a ti
y a tu familia❤