Homemade Restaurant Salsa
This homemade salsa recipe is super fresh and tastes just like it’s from a Mexican restaurant! It’s easy to make with fresh or canned tomatoes. You can even freeze leftovers!
Be sure to try my Loaded Cowboy Queso recipe next!
Making homemade restaurant-quality salsa is so much easier than you might think, and it’s so easy to add in your favorite salsa additions like corn and black beans!
I’ve been making this recipe for several years and you just can’t go wrong. You literally throw everything into a food processor, blend it, and eat it. It’s that simple.
Plus, you can totally freeze leftovers. (How you ask?)- Read on!
Storing Homemade Salsa
- This salsa should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. It’s best if used within 5 days. Or, you can also freeze it!
How to Freeze Salsa
- Freezing leftover salsa is an excellent alternative to letting it go bad in your refrigerator. There are just a few tricks you need to know:
- Thicken it up: Otherwise it will be too watery after being frozen. You can do this one of two ways:
- Mix in tomato paste.
- Simmer it on the stove to let excess liquid evaporate. Let it cool completely before freezing.
- Store in portion sized containers with a little excess room at the top for expansion when it freezes.
- Thicken it up: Otherwise it will be too watery after being frozen. You can do this one of two ways:
Uses for Leftover Salsa
- Salsa is more than just something you serve with chips! You can also add salsa to tomato-based sauces, serve it with eggs, over salads, on burgers and hot dogs, and more.
My Kitchen Tools for This Recipe
- This is the bowl pictured in this recipe and I love it, I bought it specifically for serving up this salsa. It fits a ton and is great for a crowd. The quality is fantastic and it looks like an authentic Mexican Restaurant bowl. Plus, it’s not expensive!
- This is my mini food processor, also pictured above, and I love it. I have to process the salsa in batches but it doesn’t take up a lot of space and really gets the job done!
- You may also use a blender instead of a food processor.
Try These Next!
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👉Note: If you’re big into homemade salsas and hot sauces, you absolutely want to check out my friends at Chili Pepper Madness. They have enough mouth-watering, spicy, and delicious recipes to last you a lifetime!
This homemade salsa recipe is super fresh and tastes just like it's from a Mexican restaurant! It's easy to make with fresh or canned tomatoes. You can even freeze leftovers!
- 28 oz. whole plum tomatoes, with the juice 1 large can
- 1 small white onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 1-2 jalapeño peppers diced, with seeds removed
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 Tablespoons lime juice
- 1-2 handfuls fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- 1½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (optional)
- Pulse all ingredients thoroughly in a food processor until it’s reached your preferred texture. (You can also use a blender)
- Refrigerate for a minimum of 30-60 minutes, the longer the flavors can blend together, the better!
- Serve with your favorite Mexican foods and enjoy!
- Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- This salsa is great with Cowboy Queso, Cajun Chicken Tacos, Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps, and Mexican Scrambled Eggs!
Recipe Source: The Chunky Chef
Is it spicy, we both like ours pretty spicy and I can never get it that way?
Hey Wendy! I would KEEP the jalapeno seeds in the salsa then, definitely!! ENJOY! I love it spicy too! -Stephanie
Can you can this salsa for later instead of putting it in the refrigerator
Hi Drake! I’ve never canned my own salsa but I do believe you need to cook it in order to can it. I don’t know any additional details though, although it would be a nice thing to learn!
I did a little research and yes you can can it for up to five months but you have to add vinegar to do that to add acidity so it doesn’t go bad or get bacteria
I used stewed tomatoes and used almost 2 tsp of cumin. My salsa tastes great but is more of a greenish brown color. Has this happened to anyone else? Could it be that extra Cumin? I left out the sugar because we prefer salsa that it less sweet too.
Hi Carol, my guess would be that maybe your stewed tomatoes were a little darker in color vs. a brighter red? I’m not quite sure but I hope you liked the way it tasted! 🙂 Happy New Year! -Stephanie
The one pot pizza pasta was delicious
Hi Deb! I’m so happy you enjoyed the one pot pizza pasta! That’s definitely a fun one that we love to make in our house! 🙂
My husband eats salsa on everything and is very picky about how I make it. I followed the recipe exactly as written even adding the sugar and was surprised that he said this was Great salsa. This is a good recipe to keep on hand during the winter months when you don’t have fresh garden tomatoes.
Hi Colette! I’m so happy your husband loves the salsa! I have to say, I was surprised when I tried it, it really is good! Thanks so much for letting me know how you did! 🙂
Hi- this was great!
I know, right!
Holy cow, this looks like the best restaurant salsa ever and I don’t have to travel to the states to get it. 🙂 I can’t wait to try this at home.
YAY I hope you do get to try it, it’s so easy to just blend everything together- I eat it every day when I get home from work, it’s almost gone already… oops! 🙂
Ahhhhh, thank you SO MUCH for the shout out and sweet words 😀 😀 Your salsa looks ah-mazing! I’m soooooo glad that you love the salsa… we pretty much always have a big container of it in the fridge, it’s too addicting 😉
I’m SO happy to have this recipe now, I’ve been dying for this exact taste in homemade salsa for evaaaaaaaaa!!!