Homemade Salsa - Quick and Easy
This is the best quick and easy recipe for Homemade Salsa with fresh summer produce. It is a vegan delight to serve as an appetizer with chips or as a side with quesadillas and enchiladas.
Summer is upon us, and our gardens are getting ready to produce some wonderful tomatoes and jalapenos. The first thing that comes to my mind when I see fresh tomatoes, jalapenos, and cilantro is this quick and easy Homemade Salsa.
Making the best restaurant-quality salsa at home is so simple and absolutely needs no cooking process. A good food processor definitely helps to get a great texture in our fresh salsa and also makes it easier on our hands.
If I am making a quick small batch, I just chop all the ingredients and call it Pico de gallo. My boys love a good, flavorful Homemade Salsa and enjoy it with not just chips but with many other dishes.
Ingredients needed
What kind of Tomato to use
Since this Homemade Salsa recipe is heavily tomato-based, it is important to use a good-quality tomato. I love using Roma tomatoes or some kind of plum tomatoes, mainly because of their pulpy texture and fewer seeds.
There is also one more important kind of tomato that is needed for this recipe to make it just like a restaurant, and that would be canned/tinned tomatoes. I use diced tomatoes mostly, and also try to go for low-sodium or no-salt-added varieties.
Onions and Pepper
I love using red onions to make this Homemade tomato salsa. That adds a lovely color and flavor. My next choice would be a yellow onion.
Jalapenos are very important, and they add a lot of flavor to Homemade Salsa. You could add, depending on how hot you like the salsa. I usually add one large one with most of the seeds taken out.
If I am looking to make it a little spicier, I leave a little seed in the jalapenos. The seeds of the pepper are what carry the heat. If you like spicy salsa, then this Habanero Salsa / Xni Pec Salsa is amazing.
Fresh Herbs
Cilantro is very essential in making delicious Homemade Salsa. I add a touch more cilantro than normal, as I love the flavor. We also need a couple of cloves of garlic.
Other ingredients
Salt and lemon juice are two other ingredients that we need to make this restaurant kind of tomato salsa. You can add both of these depending on your taste.
Step-by-Step Process
There is no cooking involved in this Homemade Salsa recipe. We just have to coarsely chop the ingredients and place them in the food processor bowl. It is helpful if we place the onions, jalapenos, and garlic at the bottom of the bowl and then top it with the rest of the ingredients. This ensures that the tomatoes don't get too mushy.
- So we first chop the onion, garlic, and jalapenos and place them in the jar. Next goes the coarsely chopped tomatoes.
- Then go in the cilantro, canned tomato, lemon juice, and salt needed.
- Then we run the food processor in short intervals until the ingredients are all chopped up and look uniform.
- Once the food processor does its job, the Homemade Salsa is ready to serve. You can serve it straight out or chill it for a little while.
What can I serve this Homemade Salsa with
I would absolutely recommend making a big batch of Homemade Salsa with a quesadilla or with Black beans, cheese, and rice Chimichangas. If you are looking for a different kind of quesadilla, I would highly recommend trying this Crispy Delicata Squash Quesadilla.
Chips and salsa are just made for each other. Here are some chips that I love and are very easy to make at home.
I also like to have a bean dip or a cheese sauce when I am serving this salsa with chips. Check out these dips to make for your next party.
Expert Tips and FAQs
- Since this recipe is heavily tomato-based, it is important to use a good-quality tomato. I love using Roma tomatoes or some kind of plum tomatoes, mainly because of their pulpy texture and fewer seeds.
- There is also one more important kind of tomato that is needed for this recipe to make it just like a restaurant, and that would be canned/tinned tomatoes.
How long can we store this salsa?
This salsa can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days in a well-sealed container. I will emphasize again a well-sealed container, as the smell can seep out if not closed airtight.
More Mexican
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Recipe
How to make Homemade Salsa
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 small Red onion or ½ large (coarsely chopped)
- 4 medium Roma / plum tomatoes coarsely chopped
- 1 large Jalapeno seeds removed
- 2 cloves Garlic roughly chopped
- ½ bunch cilantro coarsely chopped
- 1 can Diced tomato 14 oz can
- 1 teaspoon Salt Or as needed
- 2 tablespoon Lemon juice freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Coarsely chop the onions, tomatoes, garlic and cilantro.
- Make sure to remove the seeds from the jalapenos depending on how spicy you want your salsa.
- Place the chopped ingredients in this order inside the food processor bowl. First goes in the onion, then the jalapeno and then garlic. After this the tomatoes (fresh and canned) aling with cilantro, lemon juice and salt goes inside the bowl.
- Run the food processor in short intervals until the ingredients are well blended.
- Serve the salsa right away or chill for sometime and serve with chips.
Video
Notes
How long can we store this salsa
This salsa can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days in a well sealed container. I will emphasis again on well sealed container as the smell can seep out if not closed air tight.Other FAQ's
- Using canned / tinned tomato adds a lot of flavor and texture to the salsa.
- Make sure to remove the seeds from the jalapenos to adjust the spice level.
- I love using Roma or plum tomato for the recipe as they have less seeds.
- Salsa can be served right after it is made or can be refrigerated for couple of hours and served chilled.
This is one of my favorites. I always use this salsa for my favorite chips and even with my fried fish.
This is such an amazing salsa recipe, it looks so delicious and yummy! The color combination it gives makes it so enticing and tempting! Plus it's healthy for everyone to enjoy and love!
I am a huge fan of homemade salsa, especially with garden fresh vegetables in the summer! Excited to give this recipe a try!
Such a tempting salsa sandhya! That gorgeous color! I love my dips a bit spicy like the idea of leaving few seeds of jalapenos!!! Totally delish recipe!
Thanks Priya! I leave some seeds in as well for the spice 🙂
I love salsa with fresh ingredients. This one looks awesome. It's great you used fresh and canned tomatoes.
Thanks Lathiya!
Salsa looks superb. Homemade salsa is such a blessing as that small bottle form the store is just not enough for the mini-adults in my house. Thankyou for the recipe
While going through your post, one picture had my attention, you have fresh jalapeno in there..really miss fresh ones here.. I bet that makes so much difference in the taste.
Thanks a lot Jagruti! You are so correct. I grow jalapenos and freeze them to use year around.
This bowl of salsa is perfect for my evening munch with some chip bowl 😉
Love all the simple ingredients used here sandhya ! So easy and quick recipe.
Love the homemade salsa rather than the store-bought ones. It looks so refreshing and bursting with amazing flavors.
Superb share dear!! One of my favorite condiments to stock up on always! Love the freshness of summery tomatoes and my family loves the vine ripened ones for our salsa! Such beautiful clicks dear! They just pop out of the screen!
Just enjoyed salsa with homemade quesadillas yesterday 🙂
OMG wow this salsa looks so good. I am always making salsa, will try your recipe next
Thanks!
Such a tempting bowl of salsa. After having made salsa for the first time years ago, I don't buy the so vinegary ready made one anymore. It must be such a satisfying feeling to use ingredients from your garden.
You are so correct Mayuri. Once we start making our own, we don't want to buy the store bought ones again. Thanks 🙂
Give me this bowl of salsa and pack of chips and I am sorted for my evening munch. I loved the usage of red onions here. This one is perfect and easy recipe to make often for snacking.
Thanks Lata! This is a great snacking option to munch on 🙂
This salsa looks 100% perfect! Can't wait to try it with the canned tomatoes - never used anything but fresh for salsa before!
Thanks! Just a little changes in ingredients brought great flavors.
I love fresh salsa with chips in the summer. I can't wait to give this recipe a try!
It is the best with fresh homegrown tomatoes. Thanks!
Fresh homemade salsa is the best! It's so much tastier than the bottled type from the market. It's also ideal for Taco Tuesday!
Absolutely Denay! Thanks a lot.
Homemade salsa is the best! This one looks so good and really does look like what I get at Mexican restaurants!
Thanks Erika! Just a little tweak in the recipe and it works great.
Oh that bowl of salsa is so fascinating. Looking simply superb and extremely easy to make with basic ingredients.
Thanks a lot Shailender! It is a simple recipe and quick to make.
Everyone in my family is addicted to Salsa and chips and the combination is our favourite time movie snack. Your pics look so tempting.
Thanks a lot Vandana! I agree. Chips and salsa are very addictive.