Salsa Pebre Chileno

Salsa Pebre Chileno is a traditional accompaniment to an asado or barbecue in Chile. It’s made with ripe tomatoes, onion, lime juice and lots of cilantro. Add a little hot sauce for kick! 

When our Sunday FunDay host announced the theme of today’s event – salsa! – I decided to search on Google for a recipe I’ve never heard of. This world is WIDE, people, I want to taste it all. 

Salsa simply means "sauce" in English but I wanted something that could stand alone and not, for example, a curry sauce that you would cook meat in. This meant I actually had to search for the word “salsa” rather than its English translation. A search in Spanish for recetas para salsa, turned up all sorts of great ones. 

When I found the first salsa pebre recipe, I began searching specifically for that recipe title to see if they varied much from cook to cook. There were minor variations among the Chilean bloggers, some adding garlic, others using vinegar instead of lime juice but most were very similar to what I am sharing here. 

Salsa Pebre Chileno

What you need to know is that Chilean pebre is not eaten on top of the grilled meat at a barbecue but on bread warmed on the grill or on salads. It’s also the condiment of choice for Chileans making choripáns – aka chorizo in a bun. This recipe was adapted from several on the interwebs but this one formed the basis: Que Rica Vida. It's in Spanish but for those of you who don't speak the lingo, use Google Translate. 

Ingredients

1/2 medium onion

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 generous bunch cilantro 

2 ripe, firm tomatoes

1 tablespoon canola or other light oil

1/2 teaspoon red hot sauce (or more if you like your pebre spicy)

Salt

Serve salsa pebre on

grilled bread

a toasted bun with chorizo (choripán) like hot dog relish

or alongside grilled meats

Method

Peel the half onion and chop it roughly. Put in a food processor and process until very finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl.

Pour the lime juice over the onion and leave to marinate. 

Wash the cilantro and dry very well. (I use a salad spinner.) Cut off any hard stems and discard them. 

Place the leaves and tender stems in the food processor and chop very finely. Put the cilantro in the bowl with the onion but don’t stir yet. 

Wash the tomatoes and remove the seeds. (You can leave the seeds in but then your salsa is going to be very wet.) Cut the tomatoes into chunks then chop them finely in the processor. 

Place the tomatoes and any juice in the bowl with the cilantro and onion. Add in the oil, hot sauce and salt to taste. Stir to combine well. 

Serve right away or cover the bowl and let it chill in the fridge until ready to serve. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and, who knew but May is National Salsa Month so we are sharing salsa recipes or recipes made with salsa as an ingredient for the celebration. Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla. Check out all the links below. 

• 7 Layer Dip by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Celery Rhubarb Pico de Gallo by Cook with Renu
• Homemade Smooth Taco Sauce by Palatable Pastime
• Mile High Salsa Pie by Making Miracles
• Olive Oil-Poached Salmon Bellies with Cantaloupe-Preserved Lemon Salsa by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Pico de Gallo: Classic Tomato Salsa by Our Good Life
• Roasted Jalapeño Salsa by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Salsa Pebre Chileno by Food Lust People Love
• Three Bean Enchiladas with Corn Salsa by A Day in the Life on the Farm

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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