The best homemade salsa is made with juicy tomatoes, jalapeños, onion, fresh cilantro and plenty of spice and flavor! A little spicy, slightly sweet, and perfect with salty chips. Great for game day/tailgating, parties, Mexican recipes and more!
This is one of my Salsa recipes I know you’ll want to keep on hand!
Chips and salsa is such a classic snack combination, and one that we in the chunky chef household are fairly obsessed with!
Jarred salsa can be good, and it certainly is convenient, but we love making homemade salsa. That way we can control the texture, heat level, quality of the ingredients, etc.
This recipe has been on the website since 2015, and while it’s been updated a couple of times over the years, the recipe itself has remained the same.
The same is true for this updated version, the recipe is the same, it just has some updated photos, clearer instructions, and more in depth tips and tricks.
It’s a really simple recipe, but over the years readers just like you have had questions regarding substitutions, freezing options, etc… and I wanted to update the post to reflect those answers so you’ll have everything you need to make the best salsa ever!
How to make homemade salsa?
This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.
- Add vegetables to food processor. There’s no need to chop them finely, just a rough chop so they’ll fit in the processor.
- Add seasonings.
- Add lime juice. Fresh lime juice tastes best, but bottled will work in a pinch.
- Process. Pulse a few times, then process until the salsa is the consistency and texture you’d like.
Helpful Tip!
I wrote this recipe the way we love this salsa, but feel free to use the ingredient amounts as a guideline and go by your own preferences and tastes. It’s your salsa after all!
Variations of this recipe
- Spicy – to increase the heat, try adding an additional jalapeno, add a serrano pepper, or add some cayenne pepper.
- Mild – to make this salsa more mild, you can omit the jalapeno, or at the very least, make sure you remove the ribs and seeds from the pepper.
- Texture – I prefer a semi-smooth salsa, but you can make this salsa any consistency you like best.
- Fresh – if you don’t have canned tomatoes, you can use about 8-12 roma or plum tomatoes, and blend as directed. If you’d like the salsa a bit more wet, feel free to blend in some tomato juice, vegetable broth or water.
- Smoky – for a smoky flavor, try adding a chipotle in adobo, or some of the sauce that’s in the can with the peppers. This will add a bit of heat as well.
- No food processor – if you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender, or just use your knife to cut everything down into very small pieces.
FAQ’s
It may seem like an out of place ingredient, but I’d be willing to bet that sugar is probably in a lot of your favorite salsas. Not only does it help to counteract any bitterness from the tomatoes, it balances all the flavors to really round out your salsa and make it the best you’ve ever had.
If you prefer a really thick salsa, drain the liquid in the can of whole tomatoes (personally I would drain it into a container, rather than down the drain). Then process the salsa as directed and add back some of the liquid from the can, a little at a time, until you have the consistency you’re looking for.
I don’t personally have the canning expertise to safely advise you on that, but this recipe is very freezer-friendly, if you’re looking for longer storage. I do believe some readers have canned this salsa, if you wanted to page through the comments they may have shared tips.
Making homemade salsa ahead of time
While this salsa tastes incredible right away, I think it gets even better when made ahead of time! All the flavors have time to really meld together. I like to make this salsa a day or so ahead of time.
Plus I like cold salsa, so it gives the salsa plenty of time to chill. If you don’t enjoy cold salsa, after it hangs out in the refrigerator for a while, feel free to let it sit at room temperature for a little bit before serving.
Freezing
Homemade salsa can also be frozen, for up to 6-9 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Storage
Leftover salsa should be refrigerated in an airtight container and enjoyed within about a week.
More Salsa Recipes:
My Favorite Food Processor!
You can use any food processor or blender for this recipe, but I’ve had this model for years and really love it. It’s easy to take apart and clean, and the large capacity means I don’t have to break the recipe down into smaller batches!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 28 ounce can whole plum tomatoes including juice
- 1 small white onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 or 2 jalapeño peppers seeded and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin or to taste
- 1 tsp kosher salt or to taste
- 1/4 to 1 tsp granulated sugar optional, and to taste
- 1 or 2 handfuls cilantro this is probably 1 or 2 cups worth
- 3 Tbsp lime juice fresh is best
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor. Pulse a few times to break up larger pieces, then process until texture is mostly smooth (or as smooth or chunky as you'd like).
- Taste the salsa and based on personal preference, adjust salt/sugar levels as necessary.
- Transfer to airtight container and refrigerate for a couple of hours for best flavor.
- Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Chef Tips
- Recipe makes approximately 4 cups.
- I’ve estimated this will serve about 12, with roughly 1/3 cup as the serving size.
- I remove the seeds from my jalapeño peppers to reduce the heat level. This way you’ll get all the fresh jalapeño flavor and some heat, but not a crazy amount of heat.
- If you’d like, you could stir in some corn kernels, black beans, or chopped tomatoes for extra texture and flavor.
Video
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Recipe adapted from Averie Cooks
Milli says
This is absolutely the best salsa I have ever had and so easy.
Josh says
This salsa recipe was very easy to follow and to make. It easily became my new to go salsa. My family and friends greatly enjoyed it and will be part of our gatherings to come. Thank you for sharing would give it 10 stars if I could . It’s really that delicious!!!
Shawn Gallagan says
Excellent Salsa! Perfect balance of fresh cilantro and lime! Thank you for sharing!
Tina says
Has anyone canned this recipe? If so, what was needed?
Shelbi says
I have and I just did the hot bath for 25 minutes in pint jars. I didnt add anything extra to it except i use different peppers as my family loves the heat.. Works perfectly.
Dawn O'Keefe says
I have been making this salsa for years since I found your site! This salsa is incredible and I get so many compliments when I take it places! If only I could find a huge blender and triple the recipe!!!! I make it exactly what the recipe says and it’s great! Thank you!!!
Sue says
I made this for a gathering a couple of days ago. I have NEVER EVER RECEIVED so many compliments!!!!! Everyone wanted to know if I made it, I said yes. Recipe is on Pinterest I did however not make it hot enough. I only used 1/2 of a small jalapeño. I should have used the whole thing. Sooooo easy. Thank you for the recipe!!
Carol Daniel says
Great recipe, thank you! Will definitely be my “go to” salsa recipe from now on. I used fresh tomatoes from my garden. I have a kitchen scale so I was able to match the weight of the canned tomatoes. I used a vidalia onion and substituted a 7 oz. can of mild green chiles for the jalapenos as my grand daughter does not like spicy. Next time I’ll make 2 batches and use jalapenos in one. The addition of the sugar cuts down on the acidity of the tomatoes, whether they’re fresh or canned. I used a little less than 1/4 tsp. Makes a big difference. I doubt this will last more than a day around here!
Yvonne Alexander says
This recipe is spot-on. I made it for my weekly Taco Tuesday, and my family enjoyed it. I was up at 2 a.m. eating this salsa and tortilla chips. It’s that good!
John R says
Tastes like NICE restaurant quality! Wow! Thank you
Catherine Martin says
I made this using canned tomatoes with green chilies included. For a little more heat I added some ancho chile powder. My husband can’t tolerate garlic so I left it out…didn’t affect the taste at all. It was so fast and easy to make…and was just as good (if not better than) the salsa at our favorite Mexican restaurant. I won’t be buying salsa anymore!
Paul says
Damn that was good! I dont know how I avoided drinking it straight out of the blender.
Vivi says
I can’t have spicy food. What can I use instead of the jalapeno? Could I leave it out?
Thanks!
The Chunky Chef says
You could either use a green bell pepper, or leave it out entirely 🙂
Heather M says
I have made this recipe and adapted it when I only had fresh tomatoes on hand…its amazing…I don’t buy salsa anymore!
EmmaRhodes says
So how many tomatoes did you use I have some fresh from the garden
Kim says
Can this recipe be canned?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve never canned it, so I can’t say for certain… although I believe a few other readers have successfully canned this salsa 🙂
Nancy says
I’m thinking about canning this recipe also. Did you?
Tara says
I made it with 1 can chopped tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves, 1 small onion, 1 seeded red chile, handful cilantro and basil, 1 tsp cumin, salt and pepper, juice of half a lime. Delicious!!!
Tammy Chase says
Awesome flavor!
Ttfk says
I’ve been making this for a few months now. My wife can’t handle spicy, so instead of jalapeno I roast and deseed a full poblano pepper. I’ve had several people tell me it’s one of the top 3 salsas they’ve ever had, including restaurant ones.
Olivia Emily says
i saw your recipe in 2020 and make it very delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Kaytee says
Super easy and delicious! We left the seeds in the jalapeños for heat and added hot sauce. We only ended up using half of the can of tomatoes and it was still a bucket of salsa to feed a crowd. Everyone kept talking about how good it was. Great recipe
Beth says
I love this recipe! I was going through a large plastic container of salsa fresca a week and felt guilty about how much plastic I was using. I found your recipe and have been making a batch of it every single week for about three months now. (Salsa is a staple ingredient of the dish I eat ever day for lunch.) I now pretty much have the recipe memorized but I always double check myself, so while I was on here double checking myself I thought I should say thank you!