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I’m so excited to share my favorite canned salsa recipe that tastes like fresh salsa!
This canned salsa recipe is tried and true. I have been making it for about 6 years, and it has turned out great each year!
I took a few different recipes I liked and mixed them together and subtracted some things to get the mother of all yumminess in a bottle. Trust me when I say that this is the PERFECT salsa recipe for canning.
This recipe is for a mild-medium salsa. You can make it spicier by adding more jalapenos… or milder by seeding your peppers, or taking some out all together.
This canned salsa recipe makes about 12-15 pints. If you don’t want that much salsa, or don’t have that many tomatoes and peppers on hand, go ahead and half it.
Canned Salsa Recipe
Yield: 12-15 pint jars
Canned Salsa that Tastes like Fresh Salsa
This recipe is for canned salsa that tastes just like fresh salsa. It is mild to medium in heat, but can be adjusted by adding more or less tomatoes and peppers to taste. Unlike most salsas, you do not need to simmer this salsa for hours before canning. So it tastes very fresh!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 35 medium to large tomatoes (I prefer Romas)
- 4 jalapenos (with seeds)
- 3 green bell peppers
- 2 red bell peppers
- 3 onions (any variety)
- 1 cup vinegar
- 2 teaspoons cumin powder
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- juice of 1 lime (optional)
- handful of cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare jars by sanitizing them in bleach water, or in a hot rinse cycle in the dishwasher.
- Wash vegetables.
- Chop Peppers and Onions with a food processor or blender. Dump in a very large mixing bowl.
- Add spices and vinegar to the mixing bowl.
- Add Lime Juice and chopped Cilantro (optional) to the mixing bowl.
- Core and chop Tomatoes with a food processor or blender. You can peel beforehand if you'd like, but I rarely peel my tomatoes for this salsa recipe.
- Strain the juice from the tomatoes before adding to the mixing bowl. I like to catch the tomato juice and can it to use in soups.
- Combine all ingredients. Taste with a torilla chip. Adjust the heat by adding more tomatoes (for milder taste) or more jalapenos (for a spicier taste).
- Fill jars with salsa. Wipe the rim clean, and top with a lid and ring.
- Process jars for 45 minutes. (adjust based on altitude)
Notes
More detailed instructions are available at TheCreativeMom.com
For questions about processing times, canning, or how to can tomato juice, visit the USU extension website.
Canned Salsa Ingredients
- 35 medium to large Roma tomatoes
- 4 jalapenos (with seeds)
- 3 green peppers (seeded)
- 2 red peppers (seeded)
- 3 onions (you can use red, yellow, whatever you have)
- 1 cup vinegar
- 2 teaspoons cumin powder (optional)
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- juice of 1 lime (optional)
- handful of cilantro (optional)
All of these ingredients in this salsa recipe can be adjusted to your liking. You can omit the cilantro, lime, sugar, and any of the spices.
You can also add more or less tomatoes and peppers to adjust the spiciness of the salsa.
Canned Salsa Supplies:
- Canning Kit
- Water Bath Pot
- Food Processor or Blender
- Strainer
- Knife & cutting board
- Pint Jars with lids and rings (this is actually a really good deal on Amazon)
Canned Salsa Instructions
Canned Salsa Recipe that tastes like fresh Salsa
- Prepare Jars
Before you start mixing things up, get your jars out and start sanitizing them so they’ll be ready when you are. There are several ways to do this.
I have found it’s easiest just toÂstick them in my dishwasher and push the sanitize button. Or if you don’t have a sanitize button, just run them through a really hot rinse cycle.
- Chop Peppers
I use my food processor for a lot of the chopping. Mostly because once I touch a jalapeno, I can’t take my contacts out for a week! I am a wimp for spicey stuff, and I don’t want all that juice all over my hands.
If you don’t have a food processor, try using the pulse setting on your blender, or just use an old fashioned knife and chop away!
Start by chopping your peppers. I don’t like my salsa very chunky, so I gave it a GOOD chopping to get rid of any of those pepper chunks.
You’re going to need a big bowl or pot to mix the salsa all up in. - Chop Onions
Next, chop the onions. I love the difference in color and flavor the red onion brings, so I used about half yellow onion, and half red onion. And I chopped it probably too much here. But it’s really up to you how chunky you want it.
You will want to drain off any excess juice from your peppers and onions. This is already a pretty thin salsa, so if you don’t let the extra moisture run off, you’re going to end up with a REALLY runny salsa.
- Add Vinegar
After you have your peppers and onions mixed together and drained, add your vinegar. You need your vinegar because it adds the acid for canning.
If you are using this as a fresh salsa, I would recommend leaving the vinegar out. But if you’re canning it, keep the vinegar.
- Add Spices
Mix all of your spices into your onion/ pepper mixture. (garlic powder,Âcumin powder (optional),Âsalt,Âcayenne pepper, sugar,Âbrown sugar, and minced garlic)
- Add Lime Juice & Cilantro
Lime Juice and Cilantro are completely optional. Make sure to chop your cilantro before adding.
- Chop Tomatoes
I used about 35 large Roma tomatoes. Romas are the best because they are really meaty and not as juicy. But use whatever you have.
You can add more or less, depending on how spicey and how tomato-y you want it.
Take a knife and core the tomato.ÂAnd then quarter the tomato.
Then you’ll need to chop the tomatoes. Again, I used my food processor. You can do them as chunky as you like. After all, it’s your salsa! - Strain Tomatoes
Take a strainer, and strain a lot of the juice out of your tomatoes. In this photo, I show straining the juice down the drain, but I usually try to catch as much of the juice as I can. I will bottle this tomato juice for use in soups.
I strain the juice because a lot of canned salsa recipes call for simmering the tomatoes for hours and hours so the juice cooks off.
I don’t like the taste of cooked salsa, because I feel like it tastes more like a chili sauce than fresh salsa. So, since we aren’t simmering our salsa for this recipe, we’ll need to strain most of the tomato juice off.
If you are using heartier tomatoes, like Romas, you won’t have hardly any excess juice. But if you use plump, juicy tomatoes, you’ll need to get rid of that extra juice.
- Combine All Ingredients
Add your tomatoes to your pepper mixture.ÂStir it all together and taste it. It should be pretty close to perfect, but you can adjust the heat by adding more tomatoes (for milder taste) or more jalapeno peppers (for hotter taste).
Here’s my tip. Taste your salsa with a tortilla chip, because 99% of the time, that’s how I eat my salsa.
If you are making your salsa to eat fresh, stop here. If you are canning your salsa, go to the next step.
- Fill Jars
Fill up your pint jars with theÂsalsa. AÂjar funnelÂis absolutely necessary to keep your jars clean.
- Process Jars
Make sure to get any air bubbles out of the jar. Simply run a butter knife around the inside of the glass until all of the air bubbles have escaped.
Wipe off the mouth of the jar and put on your lid and ring.
Place your filled jars into a giant pot of boiling water. The water should be over the top of the jars by an inch or two. Boil for 45 minutes.
I useÂthis Water Bath Pot Âand it’s my very favorite ever! It has a rack so I can lift the jars out without burning my hands. I also have thisÂcanning kit, and it is SUPER helpful. ÂIf you don’t want to buy the whole kit, you’ll at least want aÂjar lifterÂand aÂjar funnel.
After processing, let your bottles sit on the counter at room temperature. Check your bottles after 24 hours and make sure they have sealed.
You’ll know they’ve sealed if the top of the lid doesn’t pop up and down when you press on it.
Don’t lose this salsa recipe like I did! You can pin this salsa recipe to your pinterest board, simply by hovering over the image above with your mouse and clicking on the “pin it” button that pops up.
And if you have more produce, try my recipe for how to canÂtomatoes andÂhow to can peaches.
