Copycat Taco Bell Green Sauce
A great copycat recipe from our friends at Taco Bell. This green sauce is perfect for tacos, burritos or even as a dip for your tortilla chips.
My Taco Bell Hot Sauce is one of our more popular recipes so I naturally had to make this Copycat Green Sauce recipe from Taco Bell. Just as easy to make and you only need a handful of simple ingredients.
If you’ve been to Taco Bell before you remember that at some point they used to offer small packets of green sauce to go with your food.
I know that over the years not all Taco Bell outlets have offered this green sauce and getting mixed data on if they are still offering it. Doesn’t matter though as you can now make it at home and enjoy it whenever you want.
Taco Bell is notorious for changing its menu line up so depending on where you live, etc., you may never have seen this sauce offered. Think about the Taco Bell Pizza. Very popular in the ’80s and ’90s then it was no longer offered and is now back on the menu in limited areas.
How Hot Are the Peppers
The Scoville Scale is the measurement that tells you the spiciness of a given type of pepper.
| Pepper Type | Scoville Rating (Heat) |
|---|---|
| Bell Pepper | 0-0 |
| Banana Pepper | 0-500 |
| Poblano Pepper | 1000-1500 |
| Jalapeño Pepper | 2500-8000 |
| Serrano Peppers | 10,000-25,000 |
| Manzano Pepper | 12,000-30,000 |
| Tabasco & Cayenne | 30,000-50,000 |
| Habanero Pepper | 100,000-300,000 |
| Ghost Pepper | 855,000-1,000,000 |
| Carolina Reaper | 1,500,000-2,300,000 |
How to Handle Hot Peppers
- The capsaicin in hot peppers is what makes peppers hot. If you handle hot peppers gloveless, it’s a guarantee that you’re in for a nasty case of chili burn, both on your fingers and anywhere you rub. Like your face. Ouch!
- Even if you wear disposable gloves, be careful about what you touch. The gloves are going to protect your fingers, but touching any part of your body with the gloves after you’ve handled hot peppers can lead to severe chili burn.
- Resist the temptation to rub your eyes. Wait until you’ve removed your gloves and washed your hands thoroughly with soap.
Copycat Rating
Since the goal of a Copycat Recipe is for it to taste exactly like the original, it’s only natural to rate this recipe against the original. This Copycat recipe rates a solid 8 out of 10 in my opinion.
Gather your Ingredients
You will need the following ingredients to make this Copycat Green Sauce recipe from Taco Bell (see recipe card for quantities): Tomatillos, Jalapeños, Yellow Onion, Garlic Cloves, Fresh Cilantro, Low Sodium Chicken Broth and Vegetable Oil.
How to Make Taco Bell Green Sauce
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos, wash and cut in half.
- Stem and half the jalapeño peppers.
- In a saucepan, bring the tomatillos and jalapeños to a boil in the low-sodium chicken broth. Boil for 10 minutes. Strain the tomatillos and jalapeños reserving broth.
- Place the tomatillos, jalapeños and the remaining ingredients (except for the oil) in a blender and pulse until almost smooth.
- Heat oil in a skillet. Add the tomatillo mixture and cook for 4−5 minutes stirring constantly until thick. Add the salt.
- Pour in the reserved broth into the tomatillo mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Copycat Taco Bell Green Sauce
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 lb Tomatillos
- 3 large Fresh Jalapeño, seeded
- 2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
- 1 medium Yellow Onion, chopped
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 6 sprigs Fresh Cilantro, stems removed
- 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tsp Salt
Instructions
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos, wash and cut in half.
- Stem and half the jalapeño peppers.
- In a saucepan, bring the tomatillos and jalapeños to a boil in the low sodium chicken broth. Boil for 10 minutes. Strain the tomatillos and jalapeños reserving broth.1 lb Tomatillos, 3 large Fresh Jalapeño, 2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
- Place the tomatillos, jalapeños and remaining ingredients (except for the oil) in a blender and pulse until almost smooth.1 medium Yellow Onion, 2 Garlic Cloves, 6 sprigs Fresh Cilantro
- Heat oil in a frying pan. Add the tomatillo mixture and cook for 4−5 minutes stirring constantly until thick. Add the salt.1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil, 1 Tsp Salt
- Add the reserved broth to the tomatillo mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Nutrition
Nutritional information provided for this recipe is based on 1 serving. This information is an estimate and may vary based on several factors. If nutritional information is important to you and your diet, please verify this recipe with a Registered Dietitian.
This is a nice copy of the TB green sauce they put in packets and now sell in bottles, but it’s not the original green sauce they used to have on their steam table. The original was much less tangy like it had little or no tomatillos. I’ve been craving the original for years, and all the copycat recipes that say “original” or “old school” are referring to the newer green sauce, not the original-original. Guess it’s a matter of perspective!
i will rate once i have an opportunity to make it. i loved TB green sauce on bean burritos but when green sauce disappeared i stopped eating them.
Have you ever tried making the green sauce with Hatch green chiles? i have tried to duplicate green sauce using green chiles and next quite the same, i did this because i assumed green chiles had been used in TB green sauce.
You are correct. 50 years later, I’ve stumbled on to the REAL recipe and it doesn’t have tomatillos or jalapenos. It’s hatch chilis, water, xanthan gum, onion powder, salt, garlic powder and minced onions if you want. It’s as close as I can remember to the 1970’s style ‘green sauce’.
John, I’d love to see that recipe. I played around with these ingredients tonight and still didn’t come close. I’m jonesing for some of that original sauce!
This green sauce is excellent. Very tasty on tacos and my children loved it.