Papalote's Salsa

We spent 5 years in San Francisco within walking distance to the amazing Papalote Mexican restaurant, ordering their burritos for parties and random weeknights.

Their salsa is to die for. I swear I eat it like it is a soup, how fast I go through it! I have been able to get it in the East Bay from Whole Foods, but it has not been in stock for a while. They have some other flavors, like Chipotle and Habanero, but their classic is the one I crave.

So here is an attempt at recreating this SF masterpiece of a salsa. Not tangy like most store bought ones, a deep flavor from smoky roasted tomatoes — since the exact original recipe isn’t publicly released.

So here’s a copycat Papalote salsa recipe you can make at home that captures that rich, smoky, slightly spicy flavor:

🔥 Copycat Papalote Salsa (Roasted Tomato Style)

Ingredients

• 5–6 medium Roma tomatoes, cored and halved

• 10 dried chiles de árbol (stemmed, halved, seeded)

• 2 tsp ground dried pasilla peppers (or 1 pasilla chile, stemmed and seeded)

• 1–2 tbsp kosher salt

• 1 tsp sugar

• 1½ cups water

• 2 tbsp hulled pumpkin seeds (pepitas) — adds creaminess and texture

• 3 tbsp white vinegar

• ¼ cup finely chopped scallions

• ¼ cup coarsely chopped cilantro

Instructions

1. Char the Tomatoes

   • Preheat your broiler to high.

   • Place Roma tomato halves flesh-side up on a foil-lined baking sheet.

   • Broil until the tomato skins are slightly blackened and blistered (about 5–7 minutes).

2. Simmer

   • In a heavy pot, combine the roasted tomatoes with the chiles de árbol, pasilla, salt, sugar, and water.

   • Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer ~15–20 minutes until thickened.

3. Toast Pumpkin Seeds

   • While simmering, toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan until lightly brown and fragrant.

4. Blend

   • Stir in the vinegar, then transfer the mixture (careful — hot!) in batches to a blender.

   • Add the toasted pumpkin seeds and blend until smooth.

5. Finish

   • Pour salsa into a bowl, then stir in scallions and cilantro.

   • Chill for a few hours to let flavors meld — it tastes even better the next day.

📌 Tips to Make It Extra Close

• Some variations leave out vinegar to mimic the retail jar version that lists no added vinegar on the ingredients.

• You can roast some garlic with the tomatoes if you like a garlickier sauce.

• Use fire-roasted tomatoes from a can if broiling isn’t convenient.

🌶 Flavor Notes

This style of Papalote salsa is known for:

• Smoky roasted tomato base

• Layered heat from the chile de árbol and pasilla

• Rich texture from pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

• Bright finish from scallions and cilantro

On sourcing the peppers, the ones listed here are annoyingly hard to find unless you live near a solid Mexican market. But you can still get very close to Papalote vibes with easy swaps.

🌶️ For chiles de árbol (heat + sharp bite)

They’re mainly there for clean heat, not flavor complexity.

Best options (pick one):

• Red pepper flakes
  → Use 1½–2 tsp, simmer with the tomatoes

• Thai dried chiles (if you can find these more easily)
  → Use 5–6, seeded

• Cayenne pepper
  → Start with ½ tsp, then adjust

🌶️ For ground dried pasilla (deep, smoky richness)

Pasilla gives that dark, almost chocolatey backbone Papalote is famous for.

Best swaps (in order):

1. Ancho chile powder – closest match
   → Use 2 tsp

2. Guajillo chile powder – brighter, still legit
   → Use 1½–2 tsp

3. Chipotle powder – only if needed
   → Use ½–1 tsp max (it’s smokier + spicier)

4. 1½ tsp ancho + ½ tsp chipotle powder = shockingly close to pasilla depth.

There is actually a really cute video of Mexican women watching Rachel Ray’s episode on a classic mexican dish, using all the typical American kitchen canned and powdered chiles, and they are all cringing and going NO!!! It makes you think twice about how Americans think everything can come from a package. It can’t. Same applies to Indian food- I once tried to make a butter chicken dish in a 20 minute recipe and it was AWFUL. Real food tastes like real food. Not out of a box. My mom, born and raised in Croatia, refused to ever let us eat canned soup- saying it tastes like a can. I didn’t know what than meant until I was in college and stocked up on a bunch of them for cheap, always thinking the beautiful images on the can would tell me how they taste- and I finally get what she meant. Or the scene in that Hollywood movie with Brad Pitt- dumping out canned food for him and his dog, almost the same thing… and you realize, ANYTHING traditional, whatever culture, is better than what most of us eat in America. We have access to everything, but often, in the mainstream, pick the worst items, all shells of what they were meant to be. Maybe we should start by shopping at non traditional grocery stores, and supporting traditional restaurants!! Or traveling more and getting out of our bubbles to expand our palettes, and eat some real food.

For example, just a quick google search for the chilis above says this, but it’d be crap!:

• 2 tsp ancho chile powder

• 1½ tsp red pepper flakes

• Pinch of cayenne (optional)