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This is the Green Taco Sauce they serve at your favorite Taqueria! Served warm in a bowl to scoop up with tortilla chips and even better if you drizzle it on your favorite tacos!
This is the green sauce.
The Green Taco Sauce that you can call fake guacamole. Drizzle on your favorite steak tacos, chicken tacos, or burritos. I’m not kidding – this is what they serve you at your favorite taqueria. It’s because avocados aren’t as economical so one simple ingredient swap makes this taste just as delicious, but so much easier on the pocket.
Taco truck green sauce is easy to make and comes together with just a handful of ingredients. And as luscious and creamy it is, would you believe there’s no dairy? It’s also completely gluten-free, AND there is no avocado in this recipe.
Avocado haters, this one goes out to you!
We start by grabbing some Mexican squash and tomatillos. They make rich taqueria guacamole without having to add crema or avocados. We’ll cook them and then blend them with a combination of serrano peppers and jalapeno, with onion, garlic, cilantro, and a few other flavor-packed ingredients.
That’s it!
And unlike a guacamole salsa which combines salsa verde (green salsa) ingredients with avocados, this one uses Mexican zucchini as the base and is such a great starter for dishes like enchiladas and so much more.
Table of Contents
Ingredients for green taco sauce
- Mexican squash: also called calabaza or Calabacita, which means little squash. It is the base of a good salsa verde Taquera. I use about 12 ounces of squash and don’t suggest using more than that for this recipe.
- Tangy Tomatillos: you’ll remove the papery husk of the tomatillos before we boil them in a pot with the squash.
- Spicy Serranos: I remove the seeds and ribs to keep things mild, using 2 serrano peppers. I find that it is just about all we can handle in terms of spice. Remember chiles Serranos are the ones that have the heat here.
- Jalapeños: add a complexity to the sauce and take it to the next level. Remove the ribs and seeds to keep the spice level at bay!
- Garlic: you’ll need a handful of whole garlic cloves. We’ll fry these in the oil with the remaining ingredients.
- White Onion: I cut these into large wedges before frying. All of this will get blended up in a blende or food processor later.
- Avocado oil: we’ll use this to fry the ingredients for the salsa verde Mexicana.
- Cilantro: adds earthiness to the recipe. I use both the leaves and stems.
- Chicken Bouillon: adds the salt that this recipe needs and gives it a bit of umami. Feel free to use a vegetarian alternative to keep things vegan/vegetarian-friendly!
Use this green taco sauce on:
- Marinated Mojo Steak Tacos
- Mexican Street Corn Chicken Tacos
- Blackened Shrimp Tacos
- Ancho Chicken Street Tacos
- Carne Asada
Other homemade dips and salsa recipes:
- 5-Minute Blender Salsa
- Creamy Mexican Corn Dip
- The Best Guacamole Recipe
- 5-Minute Creamy Avocado Dip
Green Taco Sauce
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Mexican squash also called calabaza or calabacita, cut into large chunks (1 medium or 1 small)
- 5 tomatillos husks removed
- 1-4 Serrano peppers seeds and ribs removed
- 1 jalapeno pepper seeds and ribs removed
- 4 garlic cloves
- ½ medium white onion cut into wedges
- ⅓ cup avocado oil or vegetable oil
- ½ cup cilantro leaves + stems
- 1½ teaspoon chicken bouillon plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon lime juice optional
Instructions
- BOIL: add mexican squash and the tomatillos to a medium sauce pan with water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower the heat so that it simmers, and cook until the tomatillos start to burst, about 7-9 minutes.
- FRY: while the veggies boil, add the oil to a medium skillet. Cook the garlic, onions, and peppers in oil until the veggies are slightly charred, about 5-7 minutes. Set aside for now.
- TRANSFER: the boiled veggies using a slotted spoon to a blender. Discard the liquid, it can make your salsa bitter. Carefully hold down the lid with a towel, and blend until smooth.
- BLEND: Transfer the fried ingredients with the oil and chicken bouillon to the blender. Blend until combined. Add the cilantro and continue to blend until it breaks down into specks. Taste and see if you need the lime juice; I don’t use it.
- ADJUST: Add the lime, if using, and pulse. You can also use a tablespoon of water if the sauce is too thick to squeeze out of a bottle, I typically don’t need it. Season with more bouillon if needed.
- STORE: Transfer to a bowl or a squeeze bottle and let cool completely before refrigerating. I like to serve this warm or room temperature but you can refrigerate and serve this too! Keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Hi all the way from the UK!
We don’t have / hard to find tomatillos over here… could you suggest a substitute please? Or canned?
Thanks!
Hi Leanne! I would say if you can find canned, please use those. Drain the can so you don’t end up with too much liquid in the green sauce. If canned is not an option, I think the closest thing would be green tomatoes and you may need to up the lime juice a tad bit to bring it to the same tartness as a tomatillo! Hope that helps and I hope you enjoy the sauce 🙂