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This restaurant style Homemade Salsa recipe can be made with canned or fresh ingredients and is ready for snacking in only 5 minutes! Serve with some salty tortilla chips or spoon on top of your tacos, burritos, or nachos. This is the perfect addition to all of your favorite Tex Mex meals!
Why make this salsa?
- Quick and easy: this recipe comes together in 5 minutes and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Fresh or Canned Ingredients: use what you have on hand, grab all of those fresh summer tomatoes, or if needed you can use your canned tomatoes. This allows you to make great quality salsa all year long. Personally I love the texture that comes from using canned tomatoes, but some people prefer all fresh, you can also do a combination of the two.
- Control the heat: you are in control of the spiciness of this recipe. If you would prefer you can leave the membranes in the jalapeno, you could add more jalapeno, or you could even toss in a Serrano for a little extra heat.
- Sweetness: using a little touch of honey in this recipe cuts through the acidity of the tomatoes and gives you a nice smooth taste.
Ingredients:
Notes on some ingredients:
- Tomatoes: use one can of diced tomatoes and one can of diced tomatoes with green chiles if needed. Or grab one pound of fresh tomatoes.
- Chile: this recipe is made using jalapeno, removing the seeds and membranes makes for a nice mild salsa that pairs nicely with meals and is great for serving with tortilla chips. If you personally want more heat add in extra jalapeno or even a Serrano pepper.
- Honey: adding this cuts through the acidity of the tomatoes and gives a smooth flavoring.
Serene’s Tip: For extra flavor, give the tomatoes a quick roast in the oven before blending.
How to make (Step by Step)
- Step 1: Add ingredients to food processor and pulse the ingredients together.
- Step 2: Taste and adjust salt and lime juice as necessary.
Expert Tips:
- The type of tomatoes you use matter! For this particular salsa I love using canned tomatoes. It’s quick and easy. If you’re using fresh I would go for a Roma tomato or a San Marzano. If using fresh tomatoes I would recommend roasting them in the oven first, or even boiling them on the stovetop for about 10 minutes.
- When adding the ingredients to the processor add the garlic, jalapeño and onion first. This ensures that it gets chopped up nice and fine. No big chunks of garlic left to disrupt your enjoyment.
- Start with a small amount of lime juice. Lime can be overpowering. So start small and add more to taste if needed. If you add too much there’s no going back.
- Adjust to taste. One of the best things about making your own salsa is that you can customize it and make it more to taste. More salt, more jalapeño for more spice, more honey, or more lime juice.
- Pulse the Processor: we want our ingredients to be chopped up but still be chunky, don’t overblend.
F.A.Q’s:
What is the difference between salsa and Pico de Gallo?
Pico de Gallo is not made in a food processor or blender, it is made by dicing up the ingredients and has a chunkier texture. Here is a recipe for Pico de Gallo.
Can this be made in a blender instead of a processor?
Yes. If all you have is a blender you can use it, just be careful to not overblend.
How do I can this salsa?
This recipe can be used for canning, a small amount of vinegar will need to be added to help with preserving and a water bath method should be used.
More Salsa Recipes:
- This mild and creamy Avocado Salsa is great as a topping and also doubles as a salad dressing.
- Fresh and bright this Strawberry Mango Salsa is perfect for a fun summer treat.
- A classic Salsa Verde recipe that is easy to make!
Easy Homemade Salsa
Homemade restaurant style salsa! So easy to make and tastes just like it's from your favorite restaurant! Perfect for dipping chips into or spreading all over some tacos.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prepare Ingredients: Add the onion, jalapeno, and garlic to the food processor and pulse until chopped up.
- Pulse: Add in the tomatoes and continue to pulse until the tomatoes break down and release juices.
- Season: Add in honey, salt, 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, and juice of 1/2 lime (start slow with the lime as it can overpower, you can taste and add more if desired)
- Blend: Pulse in the processor to desired consistency. Chunky or smooth. Taste and adjust salt, honey, or lime juice as needed.
Video
Equipment
Notes
- Tomatoes: recipe can be made with fresh or canned tomatoes, or use a mixture of the two. The 1 pound of fresh tomatoes will replace using both the cans of diced tomatoes.
- Chile: this recipe is made using jalapeno, removing the seeds and membranes makes for a nice mild salsa. If you personally want more heat add in extra jalapeno or even a Serrano pepper.
- Honey: adding this cuts through the acidity of the tomatoes and gives a smooth flavoring.
- Salt: taste and adjust as needed in this recipe.
- Storage: Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Salsa too thin? Simply strain out some of the liquid.
Nutrition
Serving: 11/3 cup | Calories: 25kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 197mg | Potassium: 67mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 232IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Recipe first posted in 2014. Updated on February 20, 2018. And again June 11, 2021 with new images and information.
Photography done by the talented @KJandCompany.co
Why did my salsa come out brown? After using the food processor? Do these peppers or tomatoes oxidise in the air?
1. My husband LOVES this salsa and now hates store bought (S.B.) salsa. He says that he tried to eat some S.B. with his chips today and found it to be disgusting by comparison. He used to love eating S.B. salsa, but I guess he’s spoiled now. :p
2. It’s very easy to make. 95% of the ingredients are just dumping it into the food processor/blender. The other 5% is just because I’m being Extra by adding a diced Habanero (deseeded and deribbed). I also prefer to use a can of diced Jalapenos because I add more than one (~3).
3. The cost to make this is comparable to the cost of store bought salsa per ounce. If you buy the cans of tomatoes and cans of tomatoes/green chilis on sale or BOGO, you can cut down the costs quite a bit.
4. This recipe makes enough for an entire party. And the recipe is incredibly fast to throw together.
If you lot live near a Safeway, swing by their Deli department. They sell tortilla chips made fresh every day near the Deli counter. They’re also slightly cheaper (by about $0.50) than a regular S.B. bag of chips. Pairs very well together.
Thanks for the tip. I did not know that about Safeway.
I didn’t have the cilantro or peppers (would definitely add then next time),but the recipe was still really good! I used agave nectar since I was out of honey. I’m going to be making this very often, I highly recommend this recipe! Who knew salsa could be so easy?
this was quick easy and delicious! i used fresh garden tomatoes !!!
I love to cook. Finding and updating new menu recipes every day makes me more interested and interested in my work. Today’s my lucky day, Homemade Salsa is great, just follow the instructions and everything is easy, I like that. Thanks for your sharing
Why does it come out brown.
Your salsa came out brown? It typically is red, because of the tomatoes.
It’s because the cilantro got blended with it. I normally just chop it by hand and stir it in last
Hi, your scaling doesn’t work. when you multiply by 3x, it says 3 30oz instead of 3 10oz.
Yes, you can can this. Fill your sterilized jars to about 1/2 inch from top of jar. Pressure cook at your 10 setting for 15 minutes. Remove from cooker and let sit on your counter for about 24 hours. Easy!
Thank you Donna!
Can this be frozen?
Hiw long would you leave it in the Canning Pot for them to Seal up? New to Canning and wanna make this for my family.