This homemade salsa recipe has ALL of the restaurant salsa goodness in only 5 minutes! You can use canned tomatoes year round (or fresh tomatoes when in season), fresh cilantro, Serrano, and lime. This style of homemade salsa needs NO cooking and can be eaten immediately.
Homemade Salsa Recipe
My favorite thing about any Mexican restaurant is the salsa and ALL the fresh-made tortilla chips to scoop it up!
That is exactly why I created this super easy recipe.
I wanted a restaurant style salsa that involved NO cooking and used only a blender.
Before I started making homemade salsa, I thought it would be complicated and time-consuming.
Au contraire! It’s SO easy, simply delicious, and crazy affordable!
I do love a fresh pico de gallo with garden tomatoes, but when it’s not tomato season, canned tomatoes are a brilliant solution for a salsa recipe!
Just be sure to grab the no-salt-added tomatoes, then YOU control the salt in the recipe.
How to make salsa (no matter what season it is)
Step 1: Open a can of diced tomatoes and pour into a food processor or blender (with juice).
* Note: If you want to make this salsa recipe with fresh tomatoes, simply substitute 2-3 fresh Roma tomatoes, cored and diced, for the canned tomatoes in this recipe.
Step 2: Loosely chop the red onion, garlic, cilantro, and Serrano pepper and add to blender. The chopping isn’t required, but it helps the blender create a uniform salsa in a shorter time span.
This means you’ll get less friction from the blades and you won’t “cook” your salsa.
Step 3: Pulse the food processor or blender until ingredients are well-combined. Season with Kosher salt and black pepper.
Step 4: Refrigerate 3-5 days in an airtight container; serve chilled.
* See full recipe below
What I love about this homemade salsa recipe:
~ It doesn’t have to be tomato season to enjoy homemade salsa!
~ It’s healthier and cheaper than restaurant salsa.
~ Takes 5 minutes to make…a couple of easy steps will get everything into a blender, pulse, and you’re done!
~ Can be eaten immediately. I dare you to NOT eat it straight from the blender. Good luck with that!
~ Fulfills the deepest salsa cravings.
~ Save money! Store-bought salsa is expensive if you have a habit as we do here at TKG HQ.
~ YOU control the salt and sugar. Packaged salsa is usually too salty and too sweet for my taste.
~ Vegan, gluten-free, and paleo! For the win!
Salsa Recipe FAQ and Tips
How long does homemade salsa last?
Anywhere from 3-5 days. It really depends on how airtight your storage container is and how often it’s opened and closed. That means less air exposure is better to keep the salsa fresh.
How to make salsa spicier
You can make it spicier by adding more fresh Serrano pepper to the recipe at the beginning.
Keep in mind that no two peppers have identical heat, so you’ll have to experiment…carefully.
If you have already blended your salsa and want it spicier, you can add more Serrano pepper in small amounts.
Just chop into smaller pieces before adding it to the food processor to make sure it blends more uniformly.
How to make salsa less spicy
You can make it less spicy by using jalapeno pepper in place of Serrano for the entire recipe. Fresh jalapenos are typically not as hot, yet delivers a nice pepper flavor.
If you want Serrano, but not so much heat, reduce the amount of Serrano at the start of the recipe and experiment from there.
But again, no two peppers have identical heat, so you’ll have to find what works for your taste buds.
Can you freeze homemade salsa?
I would have no problem freezing salsa made with canned tomatoes.
If it’s made with fresh tomatoes, I’d say no, unless you plan to cook them before using them in salsa.
Homemade Salsa Ingredients
- no salt added diced tomatoes (canned)
- fresh cilantro
- red onion
- fresh lime
- Serrano pepper
- fresh garlic
- salt
- black pepper
- ground cumin
Tools I use for this recipe:
- chef knife and cutting board
- rubber gloves (for seeding peppers)
- garlic press
- 7 cup food processor (fitted with the chopping/mixing dough blade)
- airtight container
More Mexican recipes for your party
Copycat Chipotle Rice – Cilantro Lime Rice
Easy Homemade Salsa Recipe (for any season)
TOOLS NEEDED
Ingredients
- 1 14.5 oz can No Salt Added Diced Tomatoes reserve juice
- 1/4 cup Cilantro
- 1/2 small Red Onion 1/3 cup chopped
- 1 Lime juiced (with pulp)
- 1 Serrano Pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 clove Garlic peeled and chopped
- 1/4 tsp Ground Cumin
- 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper
Instructions
- Place TOMATOES (drained), CILANTRO, ONION, LIME, SERRANO PEPPER, GARLIC, and CUMIN in a food processor fitted with the chopping/mixing dough blade, or place in a conventional blender.
* If you want to make salsa with fresh tomatoes, simply substitute 2 to 3 fresh Roma tomatoes, cored and chopped, for the canned tomatoes in this recipe
- Blend on medium to high speed until well-combined; add SALT and PEPPER to taste.
- Add the reserved tomato juice in small amounts to adjust consistency, if needed.
- Cover and refrigerate in an airtight container up to 5 days; serve chilled.
RECIPE NOTES
Nutrition
Traci Antonovich
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