Homemade Salsa
This easy Homemade Salsa recipe is just like what you’d be served at a Mexican restaurant! It’s incredibly flavorful and features fresh ingredients like jalapeños, cilantro, lime juice, plenty of tomatoes and more. Grab your tortilla chips and be warned… this stuff is seriously addictive!
Homemade Salsa
Freshly made salsa will forever beat the jarred stuff. Have I ever been guilty of quickly grabbing a jar of salsa from the grocery store right before a party starts? Yes, of course! While it’s not half bad, it really can’t hold a candle when compared to the real deal. Freshly blended salsa features juicy tomatoes, spicy jalapeños, bold cilantro and so much more.
The best part of this salsa recipe (besides how deliciously fresh and flavorful it is) is how easy it is to make! Once you’ve gathered all of your ingredients, you just toss it all in a blended or pulse it together with a food processor until you reach your desired consistency. Make it smoother, chunkier, however you best like your salsa. You can also decide how spicy you’d like to make it.
When I serve homemade salsa on Cinco de Mayo, game day, or any other party with friends, it’s crazy to watch how quickly it disappears! It’s seriously addictive, especially when served with my favorite homemade tortilla chips. Feel free to go all out by also offering some guacamole and queso to really round out the restaurant experience. And don’t forget the margaritas either, of course!
How to Make Homemade Salsa
This blender salsa recipe is so easy to toss together! Fore more info about ingredient measurements and step-by-step instructions, scroll to the bottom of this page to find the recipe card.
- Blend. Add everything to a blender or food processor and pulse until you reach the desired consistency. For a true restaurant style salsa, pulse about 15-20 times.
- Taste. This is the fun part! Grab a tortilla chip and conduct a quick taste test. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Chill. Refrigerate the salsa for 1 hour before serving with chips. Enjoy!
Variations to Try
- Heat things up. If you want your homemade salsa to walk on the wild side, add more jalapeños! Keep in mind that the seeds in a jalapeño pepper are where most of the heat is, so include them or leave them out based on what sounds best to you. Or, swap the jalapeños out entirely for serrano peppers if you really want some serious spice.
- Canned tomatoes work just fine. I like to use plum tomatoes for this recipe. However, if you’re in a pinch, you can absolutely use canned tomatoes with the juices! No need to drain them. If you happen to already have a can of tomatoes ready to go, this is a great recipe to use it for.
Storage
In an airtight container in the fridge, homemade salsa will stay fresh for about 2-3 days. Keep in mind that once it’s been dipped into with chips it may not stay as fresh. When new bacteria (like salty chips) gets introduced to salsa, the shelf life decreases.
I usually don’t have leftovers to store because it disappears every time it’s served!
Tips for the Best Homemade Salsa
- Be careful with the blender! If you want a chunkier salsa, be careful not to pulse the food processor or blender too much. Pulse a little bit at a time just until you reach the desired level of chunkiness!
- Use freshly squeezed lime juice. Bottled lime juice won’t create the same fresh flavor that real limes do. Plus, the lime zest adds a tangy flavor you can’t replicate.
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Get the Recipe: Homemade Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 whole plum tomatoes, roughly chopped or 28 ounce can whole tomatoes with juice
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 whole jalapeno, seeded and roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon lime zest
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne
- Tortilla chips, for serving
Equipment
- 1 food processor
Instructions
- Add the tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, zest, cumin, salt and cayenne to the bowl of a food processor.
- Close the lid and pull the salsa until the consistency you desire. For restaurant style, pulse 15-20 times.
- Taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper, as needed.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Serve with chips.
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