Ninfa's Green Sauce

Ninfa’s green sauce is the most copied Tex-Mex table dip in Texas, and for good reason. Mama Ninfa Laurenzo’s original recipe at her Houston restaurant, Ninfa’s on Navigation, has been launching baskets of fried tortilla chips since 1973 and remains the gold standard. The sauce is somewhere between salsa verde and guacamole: pale jade green, creamy, with just enough heat to keep you reaching for it.

The technique is part-cooked, part-raw. Green tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapeños, and garlic simmer together for fifteen minutes until soft, which mellows the raw vegetable bite and concentrates the flavor. Then ripe avocado, fresh cilantro, and salt go into the food processor with the cooked mixture and purée smooth in batches. Sour cream stirred in at the end gives the signature tang and turns the color from bright green to that distinctive pale jade.

Pro Tips

• Use truly green tomatoes (unripe), not regular under-ripe red ones. They have the right tartness to balance the rich avocado and sour cream.
• Process in batches as the directions specify. A crowded food processor leaves chunky bits and won’t get you that signature creamy texture.
• Make it the day you serve it. Avocado in any form goes brown overnight even with the lemon and sour cream, and the sauce is at its best fresh.
• Cover with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface (not just over the bowl). This buys you a few extra hours of green color.

Variations

• Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a quarter cup of crumbled queso fresco for a creamier, tangier version.
• Use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream for a tangier, lower-fat sauce.
• Stir in a roasted poblano pepper for deeper, smokier flavor.