Recipe Collection: Mexican Salsa

Written by Kate Tietje and updated by Sarena-Rae Santos in December of 2023. 

You know that delicious, thin, flavorful salsa that they serve in good Mexican restaurants?  I love that.  I can’t eat in Mexican restaurants because they have corn and soy in everything, which can’t be avoided.  Sadly.  But there’s nothing wrong with the salsa…I just don’t ever get any.  Then I thought, why not make my own?

In 2010, I was searching for a perfect salsa recipe for canning, but I had the wrong thing in mind.  Instead of thinking of this delicious Mexican salsa that I love, I thought of typical jarred salsa.  I looked up some recipes on the Internet that people said were popular.  I tried them out.  I was very unimpressed.  I should know by now that most of the time…other peoples’ recipes don’t quite work out for me.  There’s nothing wrong with them; I just apparently have unique tastes. 🙂

In 2012, I wanted to can salsa again, and I’d just had a little bit of that Mexican salsa (served with a quesadilla at a local organic restaurant, if you’re curious), and it reminded me that that was what I wanted to go for.  So, I set into my kitchen with 54 lbs. of tomatoes and used some of them to make a small batch of salsa.  My thought process was if it came out “okay,” I’d have a few pints to eat up through the year, and that would be it.  If it came out great, I’d make more batches.  Long story short, I made more batches.

Recipe Collection: Mexican Salsa

Ingredients:

• 4 quarts tomato puree (about 8 – 10 lbs. of tomatoes)
• 6 – 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 – 3 tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. sea salt (I used my Real Salt)
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1 – 3 tbsp. minced jalapeno
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions:

Step 1: Start with fresh tomatoes.  Quarter them and remove their cores; add them to a blender.

Step 2: Blend on low.  Roughly puree it, leaving some small chunks (or to the texture of your choice).

Step 3: Pour into a large pot and turn this on medium-high.  Let it come to a boil.  It will get all foamy and bubbly.

Step 4: Once the tomatoes have cooked down slightly and the foam has cleared, add garlic, onion, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, and salt.

Step 5: Allow the salsa to simmer for 30 minutes, then taste and adjust the jalapeno amount, depending on your spice preference.

Step 6: When the salsa is done, scoop it into a clean pint jar with a ladle.  Add a lid and ring.  Place your finished jars into a canning pot.

Step 7: Fill with water and process for 20 – 25 minutes.

Then your salsa is done!  Allow it to cool before putting it away.  This should make 5 – 6 pints, depending on how much you let it cook down.  I like to keep mine a bit on the thinner side.

If you do not want to can it, keep it in the fridge for up to a week or freeze it for up to 6 months.

What’s your favorite salsa?