Homemade Salsa Recipe
by Sommer Collier — last updated on May 20, 2025 How To Make Salsa – We’re sharing our secrets for making The Best Homemade Salsa Recipe we have ever tried. It’s healthy, fresh, and easy to adjust! Serve for game day or as a healthy snack!
Why We Love This Best Homemade Salsa Recipe
There is a tomato overload in my backyard right now. Every year I plant way more tomato seeds than any family needs, in the hope that a few plants will survive and thrive. I am not known for being the best gardener, yet I do get lucky now and again.
This year, my tomato plants took off, providing us with a seemingly endless supply of seven varieties of garden tomatoes. I have been eating them in salads and sauces for the last month. Yet I always say, when life gives you tomatoes… Make salsa!
There are hundreds thousands of tomato salsa recipes online. Why should you make this one?
Well, we think this is The Best Homemade Salsa Recipe around because it is healthy, quick to make, offers a fine chunky texture, and is brimming with absurd amounts of flavor.
Want to know the secret to perfectly delicious salsa?
Ingredients You Need
Sometimes fresh tomato salsa recipes, made with just fresh ingredients, can come off with a shallow acidic flavor… Lacking depth. Whereas, salsa made with canned ingredients alone can taste store-bought.
I believe you need both fresh and canned ingredients to make the best homemade salsa recipe.
Here is everything you need to make the most delicious homemade salsa:
- Ripe tomatoes – cored and quartered, no peeling necessary! (romas or plum tomatoes are a good choice)
- Red onion – peeled and quartered (or yellow onion)
- Garlic cloves – peeled
- Jalapeños – stemmed and seeded
- Cilantro
- Fresh lime juice
- Ground cumin
- Sugar – optional. Sometimes the tomatoes need a little boost to balance the acidity.
- Salt
- Canned crushed San Marzano tomatoes – or fire-roasted tomatoes
- Diced green chiles – your choice of mild, medium, or hot
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!
Get the Complete (Printable) Best Homemade Salsa Recipe + Video at the End of this Post!
How To Make Salsa
Prepare the veggies and add them to your food processor (or blender) along with lime juice and seasonings. Chop to a fine grade, or blend.
Next, add the canned crushed San Marzano tomatoes and green chiles. Puree again until almost smooth to create an even yet chunky consistency. The canned tomatoes provide a rustic essence and sweetness that accentuates the fresh produce, while the canned green chiles deliver a smoky quality that fresh peppers lack.
Add more cumin and salt to taste, and refrigerate until chilled and ready to enjoy.
Tips & Tricks
- If you don’t own a food processor, you can use a blender instead! Just be careful not to over blend, since you want some texture here. Or, finely chop all of the ingredients and mix them up in a bowl for a chunky salsa.
- For the best flavor, use the freshest ingredients!
- Chill the salsa before serving. It will bring the flavors together beautifully!
Serving Suggestions
Spoon this flavorful salsa over eggs, on your favorite Mexican dishes like quesadillas, chicken enchiladas, tacos al pastor, chicken tacos, breakfast tostadas, and burrito bowls. Use it in 5 Layer Bean Dip, Slow Cooker Taco Tater Tots, or our Baked Tacos Recipe. Or scoop it up with tortilla 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!
Frequently Asked Questions
Selecting a favorite tomato for salsa is tricky because there are so many wonderful varieties! However, we recommend Roma tomatoes or Plum tomatoes in this recipe because they are easy to find and offer a tangy-sweet flavor. If you have an abundance of tomatoes available to you, look for tomatoes that fit this criteria…
Still a little firm when ripe
Bright red in color
Strong sweet tomato flavor
Yes, this recipe has zing, but if you are sensitive to spicy heat, you can adjust our Best Homemade Salsa Recipe by adding fewer jalapeño chilis and being sure to purchase the mild canned green chiles.
Or if you prefer to take the heat up a notch, try throwing in a habanero, serrano chiles, or chipotle peppers in adobo sauce!
This salsa will keep well for 10-12 days if kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Be sure not to let it sit for too long (over a couple of hours) at room temperature.
You can also freeze this homemade salsa for up to 4 months by putting it in a freezer-safe container and then wrapping it with foil. This will change the texture a bit after thawing.
Looking for More Delicious Salsa Recipes? Be Sure to Try:
Best Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered
- 1 red onion, peeled and quartered
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 3 jalapenos, stemmed and seeded (you can substitute 1-2 habanero or serrano peppers.)
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2-3 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2-3 teaspoons sugar (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 15 ounces crushed San Marzano tomatoes (1 can)
- 4.5 ounces diced green chiles, mild, medium, or hot (1 can)
Instructions
- Place the fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppers, cilantro, lime juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, 2 teaspoons sugar (if using), and salt in a food processor. Pulse until the contents are fine and well blended.
- Pour in the crushed tomatoes and green chiles. Puree until mostly smooth. Taste, then add more cumin and sugar if desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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Most excellent! Not too spicy, and I loved the inclusion of cumin. I never considered using both canned and fresh tomatoes, but it worked. I would like a bit more garlic, but this is an easy adjustment.
This is a great salsa recipe that turned out really tasty! My daughter loved it
Made exactly as written. Fan flippin tastic!!!! Love it!!! 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁
OMG 😁 I love this recipe ❤❤❤ thanks
Great tasting and easy to make. I like spicy more than the rest of my family but this had the right flavor keep us all happy I used 2 teaspoons cumin but 5 garlic cloves and certainly more than 1/3 cup cilantro. Will definitely make this again.
Cookware set can help here better
I made this for a recent summer gathering and it was a huge hit! Thanks so much for sharing.
Authentic San Marzano tomatoes are not sold crushed. Whole or filet peeled are the only options.
Crushed are available. You can google it.
Crushed San Marzano are a fake product. You can google THAT!
How do I know if my San Marzano tomatoes are real?
So, if you spot a can of diced San Marzano tomatoes, you’re looking at a fake. Also, some brands even flat-out say the’re not from Italy in the label’s fine print. The real deal will also have the DOP seal and a Consorzio San Marzano certification number on the bottom of the can.
Awesome salsa! Perfect.
Quite tasty I used 2 jalapeños and ten ounces of green chili. I’m added a dash or three of ground ancho chili pepper. I was taught to simmer my salsa growing up in Central Texas. It helps the spices marry. Salsa is always better the 2nd day!
We tried to make this for my family, and my family really love it. I will introduce your recipe for my friends. Thank you so much. I love it
This was delicious and so easy! Not going to buy jar salsa anymore.
The only thing that I do differently is I roast my whole tomatoes, pealed whole cloves of garlic and slice my onions into thick slices under the broiler till slightly browned and blackened then add to everything else in blender and pulse until desired thickness this is a great base recipe yummy