By Samin Nosrat
- Total Time
- About 20 minutes
- Rating
- 5(435)
- Notes
- Read community notes
A quick pass through hot oil transforms sage leaves. No longer leathery, they’re perfectly aromatic, ready to crumble into a simple combination of parsley, oil, shallots and vinegar. This fried sage salsa verde, which is adapted from "Salt Acid Fat Heat" (Simon & Schuster, 2017), can be drizzled over turkey, roasted vegetables, stuffing, casseroles or anything else that needs a little perking up.
Featured in: How to Make Your Thanksgiving Dinner Less Boring
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Ingredients
Yield:About 1½ cups
- 2medium shallots, finely diced
- ⅓cup red wine vinegar
- ½cup very finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves (from about 1 large bunch)
- ¾cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
- Fine sea salt
- 2cups neutral oil, such as canola or safflower, for frying
- ¾cup loosely packed sage leaves (from about 1 large bunch)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (3 servings)
284 calories; 21 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 27 grams carbohydrates; 15 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 291 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Line a baking sheet with paper towels and set aside.
Step
2
In a small bowl, combine the shallots and vinegar, and set aside for 15 minutes to soften. In a medium bowl, combine parsley, olive oil and a generous pinch of salt. Set aside.
Step
3
Pour the neutral oil into a medium saucepan and set over medium-high heat. After 2 minutes, add a sage leaf to test the temperature. (The oil should be around 360 degrees.) When the sage leaf sizzles, add the rest of the sage and stir with a slotted spoon or spider. As soon as the bubbles subside, after about 20 seconds, remove the herbs from the oil and spread them out onto the prepared baking sheet. Season lightly with salt. The sage will get crisp as it cools.
Step
4
Just before serving, use a slotted spoon to add the shallots (but not the vinegar, yet) to the parsley oil. Stir, taste and add salt and vinegar as needed to achieve a nice tang. Crumble and stir the sage into the salsa. The final sauce should be loose enough to drizzle from a spoon, so adjust with a little more oil if needed, then taste and adjust with salt and vinegar one last time before serving. Cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days. It makes an excellent accompaniment for Thanksgiving dishes, as well as any other roasted meats, vegetables or grilled fish.
Tips
- This salsa is best assembled right before serving, but the shallots can be macerated up to 4 hours in advance, and the sage can be fried up to 1 day ahead of time as long as it is allowed to cool and then wrapped in an airtight container and held at room temperature to keep it crisp.
- If you’re also planning on making the Herby Fried Shallot and Bread Crumb Crunch, you can fry the sage for both recipes at the same time to conserve oil.
Ratings
5
out of 5
435
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Cooking Notes
GF
Is it possible to freeze this salsa to be used at a much later date?
Erin
I know from freezing many salsas in the past that you could absolutely freeze this. Put it into an airtight bag (or vacuum sealing is even better), and pop into the fridge a day or so before using.
Nat
I made this last Thanksgiving and plan on doing so again this year. The acidity really is the perfect addition to just about anything on your plate!
Sandy
Some of us don't have access to fresh sage. Can this recipe be adapted to dried sage, and if so, how?
xaroline
Air fry the sage leaves for 2 min at 400 in single layers-They crisp up just asWell!
ERH
In the past I have always crisped up sage in a small amount of oil - essentially pan-frying it, I guess. Is the deep-frying necessary here?
Daniel Hagerty
Wow. I made a batch of this for Thanksgiving, expecting that only my wife and I would enjoy it as an alternative to gravy. The whole table went crazy for it, scraping it out of the bowl to get every last drop, and expressing mild irritation at me for not making more.Absolutely perfect on turkey, with scalpel-like acidity and freshness to cut through all the fat of the meal. I made another batch to get us through the leftovers weekend. This is now a family favorite!
ashley
last year i hosted thanksgiving for my very midwestern family and their midwestern pallets. there was a lot of tan and grey on the menu. but i had to make myself happy as well, so i made this fried sage salsa. it was without a doubt the best thing on the table, even though the old midwesterns balked at something so vinegary and green. it complemented everything so nicely and brighted up an otherwise heavy and creamy meal.also wonderful the next morning on soft scrambled eggs.
emmafirenza
I made this for Thanksgiving this year and fell absolutely in love with it. Do you think it would work well with prime rib for Christmas? It inspired me to want a bright fresh tasting condiment for the beef because of how well it went with turkey.
Name
Repeat. Great on roasted vegetables
Louise Antony
Not at all worth the time, and a waste of cooking oil. (Unless you filter and save the oil. More time and effort). A simple salsa verde would work just as well.
absolut_foodie
I needed a recipe to make the most from my overgrown sage in the garden and found this. I doubled the sage and halved the shallot (only had one on hand). Served with a simple roast chicken, steamed baby potatoes, and peas. Used the leftover mixture on scrambled eggs the next morning. Fantastic flavor and I will definitely make again.
Linda
Just gets better, will definitely make this again.
Name
This got many compliments at our traditional Thanksgiving table. I loved how it freshened up all the “family favorite” recipes that my mom and aunt would never dream of changing. ;-) I like how it was a great condiment by itself or in combination with the cranberries and gravy. (I also made a pumpkin spice guajillo chile hot sauce that worked the same way.) Like some other commenters, I didn’t love frying the sage or making it immediately before dinner. May try softening it in oil or vinegar.
ashley
last year i hosted thanksgiving for my very midwestern family and their midwestern pallets. there was a lot of tan and grey on the menu. but i had to make myself happy as well, so i made this fried sage salsa. it was without a doubt the best thing on the table, even though the old midwesterns balked at something so vinegary and green. it complemented everything so nicely and brighted up an otherwise heavy and creamy meal.also wonderful the next morning on soft scrambled eggs.
Dave
Can dried sage (not store bought) be used and are there any changes ?
Michelle Mentzer
Terrible - Tasted overwhelmingly like raw shallots. I made it exactly to recipe, using fairly small shallots. (I often like dressings with raw shallots). Then I spent an hour trying to salvage it with other flavors. Finally simmered it to cook the shallots - now it's edible.
Jane Conlon
Delicious addition the the Thanksgiving table, and very fun to put together!Everyone loved this sauce! It’s vibrant with an earthy underpinning and, honestly, so much more beautiful on the plate than gravy!
Caryn
This recipe finally got me to breakdown and pick up a spider. What a difference that tool makes! The result was perfectly fried sage that didn't burn (it picked up the leaves quickly) and way less mess. The salsa itself was good, tasty and I used it in salads and as a topping for butter beans. Next time I will increase the amount of sage...that was the only flavor I found myself wanting more of.
Amy Christine
I made this for Thanksgiving and the general consensus at the table was that it was just salad dressing. The shallot and vinegar dominated, which isn't bad in a salad, but for turkey topping it wasn't great - very one note - onion-y and sharp. Additionally, the sage flavor was, sadly, completely undetectable. It ended up in the garbage. Alternatively, Samin's herb bread crumb, shallot-y topping was a big hit.
Rebecca T.
I would call this a chimichurri rather than a salsa verde since it’s ingredients are so similar. I followed the directions exactly and it was just what the turkey needed. Thank you Samin!
Daniel Hagerty
Wow. I made a batch of this for Thanksgiving, expecting that only my wife and I would enjoy it as an alternative to gravy. The whole table went crazy for it, scraping it out of the bowl to get every last drop, and expressing mild irritation at me for not making more.Absolutely perfect on turkey, with scalpel-like acidity and freshness to cut through all the fat of the meal. I made another batch to get us through the leftovers weekend. This is now a family favorite!
DermottC
This was a big winner! We had it on Thanksgiving Turkey, and it was delicious. It was even better schmeared on French bread and eaten with turkey soup!The macerating process on the shallots is key - this cuts the sharpness of the onions and the vinegar makes a nice "cut" into the parsley.
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