This homemade salsa recipe only takes about 10 minutes to make, it’s easy to customize (to make it extra spicy, smoky or tangy if you’d like), and it’s SO irresistibly delicious.
Happy Dos De Mayo!
Which also means…happy birthday to me!
My birthday feels a little extra-special this year because it also happens to mark exactly one more month until my wedding. (Can’t wait!) But every year, my birthday also happens to conveniently fall on the week of Cinco De Mayo, which I must say I couldn’t have planned better myself. Mexican food on my birthday for life! (Literally!)
Last year for my birthday, I had all of my friends over for an epic chips-and-salsa-a-thon, which was downright dreamy. Instead of cooking, Barclay and I drove around town all afternoon and picked up a dozen or so different salsas from our favorite Mexican restaurants. And then we whipped up an enormous batch of my classic margaritas, opened up a zillion bags of chips, and had all of our friends over for the most delicious taste test ever. Totally my kind of birthday.
This year’s plans are TBD, thanks to my sweet fiancé who knows how much I love a good surprise. But I did go ahead and whip up a batch of this salsa recipe to have on hand for my bday and Cinco De Mayo this week, which I’ve already been putting to good use. And hey — since I don’t eat many sweets or crave a traditional birthday cake anymore — this seemed like my kind of birthday treat recipe to share on the blog today. ?
Restaurant-Style Salsa Recipe | 1-Minute Video
It’s actually one that I shared on the blog a few years ago. But — like many of the recipes around here lately while I’ve been busy with wedding planning — it’s one that I recently re-photographed and updated to share with those of you who might have missed it the first time around, because I’m convinced that everyone needs this recipe in their lives.
Seriously, it’s been my go-to homemade salsa recipe for years. And for someone who makes homemade salsa nearly once a week, that’s sayin’ something.
But the best part? It’s incredibly quick and easy to make! Also, since it uses canned fire-roasted tomatoes (gotta use the fire-roasted), it’s a really accessible recipe to make year-round, even beyond your regional tomato season.
To make it, simply toss all of your ingredients together in a food processor or blender…
…puree until the salsa reaches your desired texture…
…then taste and season as needed.
If you’d like a smokier salsa, I strongly recommend adding in a chipotle pepper or two in adobo sauce. If you’d like a spicier salsa, you can add in an extra jalapeño (or just add in the seeds from the original one). If you’d like a tangier salsa, you can’t go wrong with extra lime juice in my opinion. And as always, don’t be afraid to add in extra salt to kick up the flavor if needed!
Then, once your salsa is all seasoned and ready to go, partay like it’s yo birthday and DIVE IN.
Seriously, I’ve made this recipe probably hundreds of times, and still never grow tired of it. So if you need some chips and salsa in your life this week — as I believe everyone always does — I can’t recommend it enough.
Enjoy, amigos!
The BEST Salsa Recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 (14-ounce) cans fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
- 1 bunch (about 2 cups loosely-packed) fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 1 large jalapeño, stemmed and cored
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (optional)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
Instructions
- Purée. Pulse all ingredients together in a food processor or blender until smooth. Taste and season with additional salt, if needed.
- Serve. Serve immediately, or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 5 days.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Add fresh lime and then,roast sweet onion and jalapenos on the grill. Add some cumin too and use Kosher salt.
I made this salsa to go with the slow cooker shredded chicken breasts in salsa.
This is wonderful. I’m not one of those people who has the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap- I like it fine- but the amount called for in the recipe seemed like a LOT of cilantro (and I’m a Californian who eats Mexican all the time – so cilantro isn’t exactly an exotic ingredient to me – we grow it in our herb garden) . So I halved it. I also added a little chopped green onion, the juice of 1 lime, and substituted 3 chipotle peppers in adobo for the one fresh jalapeño. The salsa is incredibly flavorful! Smoky. Mild/medium heat (just barely tingles, but it’s there). A+
That being said, the first person who tested it, who also likes cilantro, commented that the cilantro taste is definitely prominent. Maybe a touch too prominent. So I might even halve the amount of cilantro again next time i make it (and i will be making it again). Otherwise, great recipe.
Can you freeze or can this salsa?
Hi, was out of chipotle chili powder so I used a bit of ground ancho chili powder and three chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and it was wonderful!
Did the recipe get changed? I could have swore sugar used to be on there too!
WOW. I have been waiting on this receipe. I drained the tomatoes, added 1. 1/2 chipolti pepper in adobe, a teaspoon lime juice. A little warm, but extreamly tasty. Put Mexican cheese on chips; nuked them, put this really good salsa on. My wife said Mmmmmmmm. Says it all. Gonna try it on family this Easter.
¡Olé! This was amazing salsa! I made a half batch because it’s just the two of us and my husband (who is picky about salsa) absolutely loved it. We don’t like spicy so I did use use the seeded jaalpeño and added just a smidge of some adobo sauce only (no Chipotle pepper) and it came out delicious. I wanted to ask, the notes say to add extra lime juice for a fresher tatse but I didn’t see lime juice in the original list of ingredients. Thanks for a great recipe!
Best homemade salsa! I made it a few months ago and was craving it so much had to make it again for football Sunday. I have made salsa many times with fresh tomatoes, onions, jalepenos and lime, and it always never tasted right. This is perfect!
The best home made salsa. Even my husband loved it.
Ok, this is incredible. I tried the variant with chipotle peppers and added a tbsp of lime.