Ingredient Notes And Substitutions
This is a great recipe to experiment with different ingredients. For example, use different colored peppers, sweet onion instead of red, more jalapeños, or different tomatoes.
Have fun with it!
- Fresh tomatoes – I used cherry tomatoes as I had a large surplus and my large tomatoes were not quite ripe yet. Always make sure you are using ripe tomatoes.
- Bell peppers – I used green peppers. These were from my greenhouse and hadn’t ripened to orange or yellow yet.
- Jalapeno peppers – I used 1 large jalapeño pepper feel free to use 2 or even 3, or leave the seeds in for even more heat. You can also use banana peppers, a serrano pepper, or your favorite chili peppers.
- Red onion – I used red onion, but you can use yellow onion, white onion, green onions, or sweet onions.
- Fresh lime juice – Use freshly squeezed lime juice for optimal flavor.
- White vinegar – Brings out the flavors of the vegetables, and helps the salsa last in the fridge longer.
- Spices – paprika, salt, ground cumin.
- Garlic cloves– a fresh garlic clove adds fantastic flavor to the salsa. You could also use garlic powder as well.
- Sugar – I used cane sugar. The sugar balances out the acidity of the tomatoes and vinegar.
- Fresh cilantro – No salsa is complete without cilantro! Adjust the amount to taste!
See the recipe card for quantities.
Chunky Garden Fresh Salsa With Fresh Tomatoes
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Bursting with summer flavors Chunky Garden Salsa is a refreshing snack made with fresh tomatoes, peppers, and aromatics and delicately seasoned with salt, ground cumin, and lemon and lime juices. This delicious and nutritious snack is a family favorite! It can be served on top of tacos or as a dip with your favorite chips!
This Chunky Garden Fresh Salsa recipe is a great way to celebrate tomato season. Enjoy the crisp flavor of fresh tomatoes while theyre in abundance. Not only is it tomato season, but peppers, onions, and herbs are also bountiful during this time of the year. Coincidence? I think not! Nature knew they were needed to make fresh, delicious salsa!
So, what are you waiting for? Pick those vegetables from your garden or go to a local farmers market near you and create a fresh salsa for the whole family to enjoy.
How To Make And Store Fresh Salsa
This homemade salsa recipe is easy to make. You just need chopped up fresh tomatoes, chilis, onions, cilantro, some lime juice, and seasonings.
Note that because this particular salsa recipe is made with fresh ingredients, it will last as long as you would expect cut fresh tomatoes to last. It’s best eaten right after you make it. Chilled, the salsa should last about 5 days or so.
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Our Best Tips For Making Homemade Salsa With Fresh Tomatoes
- Core & seed your tomatoes. To make sure your salsa isnt too watery, I recommend coring and removing the seeds from your tomatoes before adding them to your food processor.
- Dont over blend. Even if you like a smoother, more blended salsa, be sure not to completely purée it as it will become soupy instead of scoop-able.
- Start low on the salt. Remember that you can always add salt but cant take any out, so start low and add as needed. If youre serving the salsa with super salty chips or a saltier meal, you may only want to add a little salt to your salsa.
- Choose your spice. If you like a lot of spice like I do, feel free to keep the jalapeño seeds in! If not, simply de-seed your jalapeños and feel free to reduce down to one.
Do I Need To Peel My Tomatoes For Salsa
You dont have to peel the tomatoes when making salsa. However, some varieties of tomatoes have skins that become tough and bitter during cooking, so my advice is to take the time to peel. Most fresh tomato salsa recipes contain lime juice. However, lime juice does not have adequate acidity to make salsa safe canning.
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Why You’ll Love This Simple Salsa Recipe
- It has amazing flavor
- This salsa is made with fresh ingredients
- It has a quick prep time due to the food processor doing most of the work
- It is amazing how well it sticks to tortilla chips
- Easy to make in a total time of only 20 minutes
- A great way to use up a bountiful tomato crop
- Healthier than store-bought salsa
- It tastes just like your favorite restaurant-style salsa
Chunky Salsa Or Spicy Chunky Salsa
What I love most about this salsa is that you get to decide on the intensity of the spices. You have some people that like it extra hot while some prefer it more on the mild side.
You can even divide the salsa into two bowls and make two different spiced flavors.
For mild, serve as-is. The onions and spices are already going to give the salsa a nice kick.
If you like to take it up a notch, then add another ¼ teaspoon of black pepper. You will be amazed at how much spicier it is with only that much.
For those who like it extra hot, go ahead and add a fresh jalapeno or a red hot chili pepper into the food processor.
Use this restaurant style salsa just about any way you like. I froze my extra in 4-ounce freezing jars because we have a household of two. One jar is a perfect size for a salsa dip.
Now if you’re looking for an uncooked tomato recipe you’ll have to try Homemade Tomato Bruschetta. It is traditionally used as an Italian appetizer on little crostini toasts. I also use that one as a dip.
Use this recipe straight up as a dip, to enhance tacos, roll up in burritos and stir into Spanish rice.
This post contains affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
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Special Equipment For This Recipe
- Food Processor I love this model for its large capacity.
- Blender Ive used this blender for years, and it still works like a charm.
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AND DONT FORGET, IF YOUVE MADE THIS RECIPE, LEAVE A COMMENT AND PLEASE GIVE IT A STAR RATING LETTING ME KNOW HOW YOU ENJOYED IT!
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How To Make Homemade Chunky Salsa
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Types Of Salsa Explained
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Salsa is considered by many to be the cornerstone of Mexican cuisine. The use of it in Mexico predates Spanish colonialism, and even the word salsa was used then, too . Salsa’s role in both Mexican and Mexican-American cooking has changed over time, but the core elements have remained the same.
According to Gabriela Cámara, author of My Mexico City Kitchen, “There are so many Mexican salsas that you could easily fill a cookbook with nothing else. A salsa can be cooked or raw, blended or chunky, made with fresh chiles or with dried ones that you soak and blend.” Even though the number of Mexican salsas is virtually endless, most recipes fall into several main categories or types. We’ve rounded up some of the most commonly found salsas to take a look at what makes them unique, and how to use them in your cooking.
Water Bath Canning Instructions:
There are two different kinds of canning, hotpack and raw pack. This recipe uses the HOT packing method of canning for superior color and flavor of preserved salsa!
Hot-packing is the best way to remove air and is the preferred pack style for foods processed ina boiling-water canner. At first, the color of hot-packed foods may appear no better than that ofraw-packed foods, but within a short storage period, both color and flavor of hot-packed foodswill be superior.
https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/usda/GUIDE01_HomeCan_rev0715.pdf
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Pico De Gallo Vs Salsa
Salsa, in Spanish, simply means “sauce” and can take a variety of forms. Pico de gallo is a type of salsa made with chopped fresh tomatoes and onions, cilantro, fresh chilis, lime juice, and salt. With its chunky nature and relatively low amount of liquid, pico de gallo is a lot like a relish in texture. As it’s a fresh salsa, it needs to be kept refrigerated and will keep for up to 5 days.
Other salsas, such as salsa verde, are often made with similar ingredients as pico de gallo but are cooked and/or pureed, giving them a saucier consistency.
Chunky Tomato Salsa Recipe
The taste of Summer is here! Who doesnt love fresh salsa or pico de gallo salsa?
I dont know what it is, but there is something about the fresh flavors of tomatoes, onions, and cilantro that come together so well and taste like a burst of Summer in your mouth.
Pile this restaurant style salsa high on nachos, serve it on the side to garnish tacos, or gather with friends and family to snack with tortilla chips.
This recipe is a staple for Mexican cuisine-themed dinner nights and cookouts!
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Variations Of This Recipe
- SPICY to increase the heat, try adding an additional jalapeno, add a serrano pepper, or add some cayenne pepper.
- MILD to make this salsa more mild, you can omit the jalapeno, or at the very least, make sure you remove the ribs and seeds from the pepper.
- TEXTURE I prefer a semi-smooth salsa, but you can make this salsa any consistency you like best.
- CANNED if you dont have fresh tomatoes, you can use a 28 oz can of whole plum tomatoes. You might want to add a pinch of granulated sugar to balance out the acidity thats in canned tomatoes.
- SMOKY for a smoky flavor, try adding a chipotle in adobo, or some of the sauce thats in the can with the peppers. This will add a bit of heat as well.
How To Make Fresh Salsa
Chop up the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno to be about 1cm thick. Then add them all into a pile on a cutting board and chop them again and again until you get the pieces as small as you want. Add it all to a medium sized bowl.
Chop up the cilantro into tiny pieces. Add the cilantro, garlic, lime juice, salt, sugar, cumin, chili powder to the bowl and stir it all together until nicely mixed. Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for at least 1 hour, up to overnight before enjoying.
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Chunky Salsa Recipe For Canning Ingredients:
For best salsa results and nutrition:
Begin with good-quality fresh foods suitable for canning. Quality varies among varieties of fruitsand vegetables. Many county Extension offices can recommend varieties best suited for canning.Examine food carefully for freshness and wholesomeness. Discard diseased and moldy food. Trimsmall diseased lesions or spots from food
Can fruits and vegetables picked from your garden or purchased from nearby producers whenthe products are at their peak of quality-within 6 to 12 hours after harvest for most vegetables.
https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/usda/GUIDE01_HomeCan_rev0715.pdf
For safety purposes, follow measurements and instructions. This tested recipe originally came from the national center for home food preservation. The only changes you can make safely is with herbs and spices. Dont alter the measurements of tomatoes and lemon or lime juice. And dont substitute vinegar for lemon or lime juice Doing so is not safe.
- 3 qts of peeled fresh tomatoes The Roma variety is fleshier with less juice, so they make a chunkier salsa!
- 2, 12 ounce cans of Tomato Paste
- TWO cups of bottled Lime juice or Lemon Juice.
- 6 Jalapeno Peppers that have been seeded and chopped small. You can also use chilli peppers, or your favorite hot peppers.
- 4 long green pepper chillies, chopped and seeded.
- 3 cups of chopped onions.
- 4 cloves of Garlic chopped.
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- One tablespoon of ground Cumin powder.
- and a teaspoon of black pepper.
How To Make Chunky Garden Fresh Salsa With Fresh Tomatoes
Full directions and measurements for this dish are in the printable recipe card below. These step-by-step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe.
Remove seeds from bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and corbaci pepper, and dice.
Finely chop red onion.
In a medium size bowl mix peppers, onion, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, salt, cumin, and juices.
Allow salsa to mellow at room temperature before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.
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My Tips For Making The Best Salsa
Lets quickly walk through my best tips for making the absolute best bowl of pico de gallo salsa:
Use high-quality tomatoes. A ripe, red tomato is best. It should be aromatic and smell like a tomato. I know that seems like a silly sentence, but far too often I see tomatoes sold in the store that just dont smell like anything! In the summer months, when tomatoes are abundant, look for vine ripened or heirloom tomatoes. In winter, when good quality tomatoes are tougher to find, plum tomatoes or cherry tomatoes are the better choice.
Dont skimp on the onions and cilantro. We add a good amount of onion and cilantro to our salsa. You should be able to see them and taste them especially the cilantro.
Use fresh lime juice. Theres no room for the bottled stuff here. Pico de gallo should taste fresh, a heavy squeeze of fresh lime juice helps with that. As I mentioned above, apple cider vinegar does work as a substitute if you dont have limes.
Serve with homemade tortilla chips. Making your own tortilla chips is easy and they taste so good! Heres our recipe for tortilla chips to help you.
Chunky Fresh Tomato Salsa
Give me all the fresh toppings that require no ovens or stoves in the summer, please. This chunky fresh tomato salsa falls into that category with ease! It’s a bunch of chopped veggies seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper, and lime juice — what’s better than that?! Whether you’re a Mexican food aficionado like I am, or you just like fresh alternatives to salad dressings and other meal toppers, this quick salsa is sure to be your new bestie.
And the best part? You can make it in about 10 minutes . I adore it piled high on tacos or enchiladas, as a dip for my homemade baked tortilla chips, topped on scrambled eggs, and even on top of salads! It’s so fresh and bright and flavorful that you might even be inclined to make it on a weekly basis. Hey, no judgment here!
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How To Make Salsa
You will taste bright tangy notes from garden-fresh tomatoes, sharp notes from the onion and garlic, herbs and spice, and complexity from the secret ingredient canned items, all in one!
Spoon this flavorful salsa over eggs, on your favorite Mexican dishes, or just scoop it up with chips or fresh veggies.
You are going to love this recipe for game day, potlucks, parties, or just keeping it in the fridge for any time you need a zesty snack!
More Fresh Salsa Recipes
- Peppers: Use jalapeno for a milder flavor and serrano for a spicier restaurant-style salsa.
- Lime juice: I recommend fresh lime juice for the best flavor.
- Oil: For a rich, luscious dip, lightly drizzle your pico de gallo with good-quality olive oil before serving.
Nutritional information is an approximation based upon 6 servings. Exact information will depend upon the brands of ingredients and precise measurements used.
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