Homemade Salsa

Total time: 5 minutes
5 from 2 votes

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This fresh Homemade Salsa tastes exactly like the kind they serve at a restaurant. In no more than 5 minutes, some juicy, ripe tomatoes are blended with veggies and spices you know and love that make a perfect salsa. Warm up a batch of tortilla chips, whip up this quick recipe, and get to dipping!

a jar of Homemade Salsa

Reasons You’ll Love This

Chunky – This recipe is for those chunky salsa lovers out there. There is plenty of veggie goodness you can pile up onto your chip!

Perfect Pair – Homemade Salsa pairs well with any kind of Mexican food you can think of! Put it on some tacos, in your burritos, or on top of some nachos.

Parties – This is a go-to appetizer to put out for parties, or small get togethers when you need something last minute and delicious.

Fresh – Have I mentioned yet how fresh this salsa is? Even better if you use some of the ingredients from a garden of your own.

No Dicing – If you hate mincing and dicing, you’re in luck! You just gotta throw chunks of these veggies into a food processor, then blend!

Homemade Salsa in a bowl with tortilla chips on the side

This stuff is seriously SO addicting, it’ll have you go through a whole bag of tortilla chips on your own. What’s even better is that it comes together in 5 minutes, so you barely have to wait or work for it!

Ingredient Info

Ingredients to make Homemade Salsa
  • Roma Tomatoes – Roma tomatoes are the most popular type of tomato to use in a salsa. If you want you can use heirloom tomatoes instead.
  • Red Onion – A red onion packs that extra punch of flavor, and adds a pretty purple color to the salsa. You can substitute this for a white or yellow onion if you’d prefer.
  • Cilantro – This adds so much flavor and color to the salsa. Don’t be afraid of adding a few of the cilantro stems to the mix as well, they also have a ton flavor in them!
  • Garlic – Fresh garlic is a must for this recipe! You don’t have to mince it, just give it a rough chop and throw it in.
  • Jalapeño – This may be a little scary, especially if you don’t like spice. But don’t worry, as long as you core the jalapeño, and take out all the seeds, it won’t add any crazy amount of spice to your salsa. If you like it spicy, add a bit of the core and some seeds if you’d like.
  • Lime Juice – I cannot stress enough how much of a difference fresh lime juice will make in this salsa recipe. I highly recommend squeezing your own, but if not, bottled will still be fine. You can also use lemon juice if you don’t have any limes.
  • Diced Tomatoes – A can of diced tomatoes is key to making a good salsa. The canned tomatoes have an extra level of sweetness, and the juice from the can absorbs all the rest of the flavors in the salsa.
  • Sugar – This may seem weird, but since tomatoes are fairly acidic, the sugar just balances out that acidity.
Homemade Salsa in a bowl

Step by Step Instructions

  1. To a food processor, add roughly chopped tomatoes and red onion.
  2. Then, core and remove the seeds from the jalapeño. Roughly chop and add it to the food processor along with some roughly chopped garlic, and cilantro.
  3. Lastly, add the sugar, salt, cumin diced tomatoes and lime juice. Place the lid on top of the processor and pulse the mixture together a few times. 5 or 6 small pulses is usually good. Do not over blend. Pour the salsa from the food processor into a serving dish, serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!
How to make Homemade Salsa

Tips and Advice

Storage – The great thing about this recipe is that it can last in the fridge for up to 7-10 days. In fact, this recipe tastes even better after sitting in the fridge overnight! This will store nicely in a mason jar, or leftover pasta sauce jar.

Equipment – All you need is a food processor for this recipe, as well as a knife and cutting board to chop up all the ingredients.

Homemade Salsa in a food processor

Spice it up!

We all like our salsa to taste a bit different, so it’s up to you to add as much or as little as you’d like of everything. Maybe you fancy more garlic? More jalapeño? More salt? Maybe you want to add something to the salsa that wasn’t listed in the ingredients. Go for it, and make it yours!

Homemade Salsa on a tortilla chip

FAQs

Is it worth it to make your own salsa?

Yes, it absolutely is! Produce usually costs under a dollar per lb, and a can of diced tomatoes is usually only a few dollars. Not to mention this makes a huge batch, it tastes amazing, and it lasts in the fridge for a long time.

Do you peel tomatoes for salsa?

Not for this recipe! You can leave the tomatoes how they are. Some more traditional recipes will have you peel the tomatoes.

How do I make my homemade salsa thicker?

You can add an extra tomato and some more chopped onion if you’d like. You can also drain some of the juice from the canned diced tomatoes if you don’t want so much liquid in your salsa.

a bowl of Homemade Salsa

Serves Well With

Salsa makes a great dipping sauce or topping to lots of different foods. Need some ideas? Here’s a few great meals you can serve salsa with.

Recipes You’ll Love

Need some more dips for those chips? Check out a few more of these similar recipes that are sure to become staples in your household.

Homemade Salsa

Tried this recipe?

I love to hear from readers who make my recipes! Please leave a comment and review below. If you have photos, tag me @lovefromtheoven on Instagram and Pinterest along with #LFTOrecipes

A jar of chunky homemade salsa on a purple background.

Chunky Homemade Salsa

5 from 2 votes
Servings 6 servings
Prep: 5 minutes
Total: 5 minutes
In no more than 5 minutes, some juicy, ripe tomatoes are blended with veggies and spices to create the perfect homemade salsa.

Ingredients
 

  • 5 Roma Tomatoes (roughly chopped)
  • 14 ounces diced tomatoes (canned)
  • 1/2 medium red onion (chopped)
  • 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
  • 1 jalapeno (remove the seeds)
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro (chopped and measured lightly packed)
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons sugar (OPTIONAL)

Instructions
 

  • Place all ingredients into a food processor.
  • Pulse for 1 to 2 seconds at a time, repeating until desired consistency is reached. On average it should take 5-6 pulses to create a great consistency.
  • Place in a serving dish and enjoy.

Notes

Storage: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 
  • The salsa fits perfectly inside a quart sized mason jar for storage.
  • The exact amount of salsa will vary depending on the size of your vegetables.

Nutrition

Calories: 31kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 1gFat: 0.3gSaturated Fat: 0.03gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gSodium: 204mgPotassium: 271mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 583IUVitamin C: 18mgCalcium: 32mgIron: 1mg

The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.

Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine Mexican

Meet Christi, Love From The Oven

I’m Christi I love sharing easy & delicious recipes that your family & friends will love. I’m a mom, baker, cookbook author and lover of sprinkles.

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5 from 2 votes

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2 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Made this last night and aside from adding an additional jalapeno, I followed the recipe exactly and it was a great success. My son and his wife have salsa all the time and gave it a thumbs up.