What to Do with Overripe Tomatillos – 10 Tasty Recipe Ideas

You can use overripe tomatillos in a variety of ways. You can add them to your favorite salsa recipe or you can make a delicious quesadilla or even a refreshing salad. The tart flavor of the tomatillos goes really well with Mexican flavors.

What to do with overripe tomatillos? Use them in our 10 tasty recipe ideas.

Tomatillos are also known as Mexican husk tomatoes. They’re a versatile fruit that can be used in many different ways.

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I use them to make salsa, salsas, guacamole, and more. It’s so easy to make this versatile fruit taste delicious, but it’s hard to know when they’re ready for the trash bin.

Here are 10 tasty ways to use up your overripe tomatillos.

What to Do with Overripe Tomatillos – 10 Tasty Recipe Ideas

Tomatillos are green husked tomatillos that have been ripened on the vine. When they’re ripe, they become soft and sweet. They’re a bit like a cross between tomatoes and green peppers. You can use them in many dishes, but if you’re looking for something unique to serve alongside chicken, you might want to try roasting them.

1. Make a Chili

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While we’re talking about cooking with overripe produce, what better time than to talk about overripe tomatillos? You know those giant purple globes of fruit? They’re usually not really very good in salads, but they can be used in soups or sauces that contain tomatoes.

If you have some overripe tomatillos and a can of tomatoes in the pantry, you can make a nice chili out of them. Simply combine the two, cook them in a skillet for about an hour, and serve. It’s quite tasty and you might not even need meat to make it complete.

2. Make a salsa

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Another option is to simply make a salsa. That way, you don’t need to use the overripe tomatillos, but you can still use the tomatoes. It’s always good to use the leftovers in something else you can eat, even if it’s just another meal’s worth of leftover salsa.

3. Add Them to a Sauce

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Tomatillos are a common ingredient in Mexican cuisine and it’s not uncommon to find them sold at Mexican grocery stores. However, most people don’t know what to do with them once they’ve overripe.

This recipe makes it easy by turning these into a delicious and tangy salsa or sauce. You’ll be able to eat them straight out of the fridge, or you can use them as a topping for nachos, fajitas, or quesadillas.

4. Add Them to a Soup

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Not only are tomatillos delicious as a stand alone snack, but they’re also perfect when mixed in with other ingredients. If you’re looking for a delicious tomato-based soup that’s easy to make, this is the one!

You’ll just need to add some water, broth, or even beer to get the process started. When you’re done, you’ll have a great way to get your vegetables and fruit into your diet and your taste buds in the process.

5. Make Chutney

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Tomatillos are used to make chutney. In India, people make a sweet chutney called “mango chutney.” You can also try a tart chutney made from apples, or a spicy chutney made from peppers, ginger, and garlic. You can even use overripe tomatillos to make a savory salsa.

6. Make a Dressing

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If you want to go for a more savory dressing, look no further than this overripe tomatillo dressing. It can be used in a variety of dishes, from the obvious ones like burritos and enchiladas, to more unusual ones like guacamole.

The key to this dressing is to use a lot of fresh tomatillos. If you find that you don’t have any in your fridge, you can use ripe tomatoes instead. Once you make your dressing, store it in the refrigerator.

The only problem with this is that you can’t eat it until you’re ready to. So, if you want to try this recipe, be sure to make the dressing ahead of time so that you can use it when you want to.

7. Add Them to Pickled Onions

Pickled onions are one of my favorite things to make. You can make them with fresh or even frozen onions, but for the best results, I think it’s best to use pickling onions.

However, if you don’t have any on hand, overripe tomatillos can work perfectly fine as an alternative. If you’re looking for a side dish to go with your main course, this is a delicious option that can be made at the last minute.

8. Use Them for Jalapeno Poppers

Jalapeno poppers are one of those dishes that seem like they should be hard to make at home.

However, making them yourself is actually pretty easy and there are two ways you can do it.

One way is to bake the poppers and then freeze them. This way, they will cook as soon as you’re ready to use them and you can just pop them into your mouth without the hassle of the whole “opening the oven” thing.

The other way is to add the jalapenos to the sauce in which the poppers are going to be served. The result is a spicy dip with a milder heat.

Either way works, and both recipes are below.

9. Make Fondue

There are certain foods that have such an association with Switzerland and other parts of Europe that you’d be forgiven for thinking fondue was a Swiss dish. While this is not the case, there are some delicious dishes that you can make with overripe fruit and that still make use of the flavor profile. One of the best examples of this is fondue.

10. Use Them as A Garnish

You can use overripe tomatillos in many ways, but they make for a great garnish on grilled meats and burgers. A recipe like this works best if you marinate the meat in the juice you’ve made from them, then grill the meat and, once it’s cooked, remove the tomatillos from the grill and slice them up. You can serve the sliced slices with the rest of the sauce that you made with the overripe tomatillos.

Conclusion

So, what can you do with overripe tomatillos?

Tomatillos are ripe when they turn bright green and soft. You can use them as a salsa ingredient or a garnish for tacos, but you may have to remove the husks. If you want to use the husks, you can remove them by pulling off the outer husk and leaving the inner husk on.

Don’t forget to check out our post on what to do with overripe pears in case you have some of those around!