Homemade Salsa: Easy and Delicious Salsa Recipe

Looking for a delicious and flavorful Homemade Salsa Recipe? Today I am sharing how to can salsa so you can make this tasty salsa recipe at home with fresh garden tomatoes! It is full of flavor and easy to make with the right tools!

HOMEMADE SALSA RECIPE

We love chips and salsa at our home and eat them regularly. It is a snack the whole family can enjoy together. Nothing beats a delicious homemade salsa recipe…am I right?! You can make your own salsa with our easy to make salsa.

MATERIALS NEEDED FOR HOMEMADE SALSA

There are some tools that you will need to can salsa at home. The right tools always make the job so much easier. I am sharing my favorite items here that I use to make our salsa recipe.

• Canner with Rack
• Essential Canning Tools
• Large Stock Pot
• Canning Jars
• Wide Mouth Canning Lids
• Wide Mouth Canning Rings
• Garlic Press Tool
• Herb Scissors
• Food Safe Latex Gloves
• Cutting Boards
• Blendtec Blender
• Food Processor
• Immersion Blender
• Hot Pads
• Pairing Knife

DO YOU HAVE TO PEEL TOMATOES TO CAN THEM?

Tomato skins can be tough and taste bitter, so we prefer peeled — but it’s not necessary to remove them from tomatoes to be canned. You can remove peels from the tomatoes in a few different ways…and using a vegetable peeler is not one of them…haha.

To remove the tomato peels these are three easiest ways:

• Blanching/Boiling
• Roasting
• Freezing

We prefer the quick and easy blanching method which I have shared how to do in the next section.

HOW TO REMOVE TOMATO SKINS

Boiling is the quickest and most convenient way to peel a tomato. The skin lifts easily from the tomato without removing any of the tomato meat—and the partial cooking helps preserve the tomato’s fresh flavor, texture and bright red coloring.

Step 1: Prepare the pot of water and tomatoes

Place a large saucepan on the stove filled with two-thirds of water and bring to a boil.

As the water heats, use the time to give the tomatoes a little prep. Rinse them each with a little bit of water to remove dirt and debris. Fill the sink with the clean tomatoes after putting the plug in to hold the water you will be adding.

Step 2: Pour boiling water over tomatoes

After the water is boiling, pour the water gently over the tomatoes so that all the tomatoes are covered. Let the tomatoes sit in the boiling water for a minute.

Step 3: Peel skins from tomatoes

Then carefully remove on tomato at a time a peel the skin off of each tomato. The tomatoes will be hot so be careful. The skins should slid easily off of the tomato. If there is a stubborn skin spot, simply remove the small piece with a knife.

Step 4: Remove any bad spots

If you tomatoes have some spots that are decaying or look bad, simply cut them away from the good part of the tomato. Then chop the tomatoes into small chunks and throw into a large clean bowl.

WHICH TOMATOES ARE BEST FOR SALSA?

The best tomatoes for salsa are the ones that are abundant, ripe, and have more meat on them. The easiest to find are Roma tomatoes; although some people use San Marzano tomatoes.

Ultimately, whatever tomatoes you are able to find will work. Look for deals at your local farmers market or a local grower so you can buy more for less. The grocery store tomatoes will work but will not be the best unless they get them from a local source. 

I prefer using tomatoes that have more meat and that are chunkier with less seeds. If you do find tomatoes that have a lot of seeds you can simply remove them with a spoon as needed.

Some of our favorite varieties of tomatoes for fresh salsa are the following:

• Roma
• Beefmaster
• Little Mama
• Big Mama
• Amish Paste Tomatoes

SMOOTH SALSA OR CHUNKY SALSA

If you prefer a smoother salsa recipe rather thank chunky, either use an immersion Blender in your pot while its cooking or, transfer the salsa into a blender or food processor and blend until the salsa reaches your desired consistency.

HOW TO CAN SALSA

1. Remove the peels from the tomatoes using one of the methods mentioned above. Chop them up and set in a bowl. In a food processor, or by hand, chop the onions, peppers, jalapeños and cilantro.

2. Pour into a large stock pot. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper and other spices.

3. Bring all the ingredients to a boil over high heat, stirring often so it doesn’t scorch on the bottom of the pot. Reduce to medium- low heat and simmer for 2 hours.

4. While the salsa cooks, sterilize your jars, lids, and bands in boiling water. I like to run just the bottles and the rings (NOT THE LIDS) through a dishwasher cycle so they are freshly sanitized and still hot when the salsa is ready to go into the jars.

5. Add the hot salsa to the sterilized jars, leaving a 1 inch gap at the top of the jar. Clean off the edge of the jar before closing with the lid and band.

6. Use a canner bath to can your salsa jars for an additional 25 minutes in boiling water. Be sure to place the jars carefully into the pot so they are balanced and in the rack properly.

7. Carefully remove the jars and place on a cooling rack or a hand towel on the kitchen counter.  Once the jars have completely cooled, test that each lid is sealed by tapping on the top. If you hear a hallow sound, you need to process that jar again.

8. Your salsa can be stored on the shelf for 18 – 24 months.

EASY RECIPE FOR SALSA

Interested in seeing some other Canning Recipes?  

Check these out:

• Bottling Tomatoes
• Bottling Peaches
• Freezer Jam
• Apricot Jam