El Pollo Loco Avocado Salsa Copycat Easy Recipe

This copycat of El Pollo Loco’s avocado salsa is avocado, jalapeno, coriander, onion, vinegar, salt and water blended smooth in about five minutes. It comes out pourable rather than chunky, more like a thin guacamole you can spoon over anything. No dairy goes into it, so this homemade version is vegan.

This is a home copycat recipe. It is not made by, affiliated with or endorsed by El Pollo Loco, and the restaurant’s own recipe is its own.

What makes this salsa different from guacamole?

Water and vinegar, mostly. Guacamole is mashed avocado held together by its own fat, so it holds its shape in the bowl. This salsa is thinned right down and blended smooth, which turns the avocado into a pourable sauce, and the vinegar brings a sharpness that lime alone does not. The heat behaves differently too. Blending the jalapeno spreads it evenly through the batch rather than leaving it in visible pieces.

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Copycat El Pollo Loco Avocado Salsa

This is one of the easiest things you can make. Wash and roughly cut the vegetables, throw everything in the food processor and let it run. Since it all becomes a puree, there is no point chopping anything finely.

A note on the avocados. This salsa is forgiving of fruit past its best looking, the ones with a few brown patches or dark threads through the flesh from bruising. That is only oxidation and it blends away. What it will not rescue is genuinely spoiled fruit. If an avocado smells sour, rancid or fermented, or the flesh has gone slimy or grey-black throughout, it goes in the bin. Blending does not fix off, it just hides it until the first mouthful.

How spicy should you make it?

You control this entirely with the jalapeno. Most of the heat sits in the white pith and the membranes holding the seeds, not in the flesh. Scrape the pith and seeds out and you get all the green, grassy jalapeno flavour with only gentle warmth, which is how I make it. Leave half the pith in for a noticeable kick, or the whole chilli intact if you want it hot.

Chillies vary wildly, even from the same plant, so taste a sliver of yours first. If you overdo it, blending in another half avocado will soften the batch.

Coriander adds freshness. If you are one of the people who tastes soap in it, use flat-leaf parsley instead with an extra squeeze of lime. Coriander is sold as cilantro in the United States, in case you are following an American version.

Tools and equipment you need

A food processor is easiest. A stick blender in a tall jug works just as well with less washing up, and a standard blender is fine too, though you may need to scrape the sides once or twice. The goal is a smooth, pourable sauce flecked with green, not a puree so fine it turns pale and foamy.

Ingredients

• 2 avocados, ripe (about 400 g of flesh)
• 1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed and quartered
• 1 cup water (250 ml)
• 1 tbsp white vinegar (20 ml)
• ¾ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp minced coriander
• 2 tbsp diced onion

Instructions

1. Mix avocados, water, jalapeno, vinegar and salt in your food processor.
2. Puree the mix for a few seconds, until the jalapeno is minced and the sauce is smooth.
3. Pour into a bowl, stir in the coriander and onion.
4. Cover and chill until it is ready to serve.

How do you get the texture right?

Add the water in two goes rather than all at once. Blend with half of it, see where the salsa lands, then thin it from there. Avocados differ a lot in size and water content, so a fixed quantity is only a starting point. You are aiming for something that pours off a spoon in a steady ribbon.

Keep the coriander and onion out of the blender and stir them through at the end. Blended coriander goes muddy and slightly bitter, and blended raw onion turns unpleasantly sharp within an hour. Then let it sit in the fridge for 20 minutes, as the salt needs time to pull the flavours together.

What to serve it with

Corn chips, obviously, but it is best treated as a sauce rather than a dip. Spoon it over burrito bowls, black bean tacos, roasted sweet potato, grilled corn, or pinto beans and rice. It is very good over anything charred, where the coolness plays against the smoke.

How long does it keep?

Two days in the fridge, three at the outside, in an airtight container. This is raw avocado with nothing preserving it, so it is not a make-ahead-for-the-week job.

It will brown on top before it goes off. To slow that down, press cling film directly onto the surface so there is no air gap, or pour a thin layer of water over the top and tip it off before serving. If it darkens anyway, stir it through or scrape off the top few millimetres, as oxidation is harmless. Do not freeze it, since blended avocado turns watery and grainy on thawing.

El Pollo Loco avocado salsa FAQ

Is El Pollo Loco’s avocado salsa vegan?

This homemade version is, since nothing in it comes from an animal. The restaurant’s own recipe is not published and formulations change over time and between markets, so if you are eating out rather than cooking at home, ask the restaurant directly or check their current allergen and ingredient information rather than assuming.

Can I make it without a food processor?

Yes. Mash the avocado thoroughly with a fork, mince the jalapeno as finely as you can, then whisk in the water and vinegar a little at a time. It will not be as silky and you will get small pieces of chilli through it, but the flavour is the same. A stick blender is the middle ground if you have one.

Why does my salsa taste bitter?

Over-blending is the usual cause. Whipping air into avocado and coriander for a minute or more turns the flavour bitter and the colour pale. Blend in short bursts and stop as soon as it is smooth. Bitter jalapeno pith and older avocados close to turning can also contribute.

Can I use lime instead of vinegar?

You can, though it moves away from the original. Lime gives a rounder citrus sharpness while white vinegar gives a cleaner edge that is closer to the restaurant version. If you want both, use half a tablespoon of vinegar and a squeeze of lime on top. Serrano works in place of the jalapeno for more heat, but avoid smoked chillies like chipotle, which muddy the fresh taste.

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