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
Video
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
Disclosure: A Spicy Perspective participates in affiliate advertising programs. We may earn a commission when you make a purchase through links on our site.
We made this last summer and loved it! This year we are trying to not have any ‘added sugar
‘ to our meals. Would this taste okay without the sugar? Or has anyone tried that?
Sooo yummy! Thank you!
This is a wonderful salsa. my family loves it but it dose make alot. How could i cut this in half.
They did say it can be frozen. Next time you want some, it’s right there, waiting to be thawed.
This is the best salsa ever! My son said it tastes just like the salsa at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Forget the chips and just give me a straw ? Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Debra,
LOL! I could drink it with a straw as well. :)
This is pretty much my exact recipe, only I stopped measuring a long time ago and I’ve never tried using canned tomatoes along with the fresh. Fresh salsa is definitely the way to go. I can’t even eat canned salsa anymore. One thing I do sometimes to add depth is to roast the tomato, garlic, and jalapeno (just throw it all on a baking sheet and let it go for about 20 minutes at 400F, turning once if I’m not feeling too lazy). This in combo with the fresh cilantro and lime juice gets rave reviews. I bet using canned tomatoes would add a similar depth!
Anyway, thanks for the recipe because I can’t remember where I got mine from and it’s nice to have the proportions to check on and make sure I don’t get too out of hand with anything.
I would really love to try all your recipies. Especially my husband loves food.:-)
I make a very similar recipe. Ours has a little less lime juice, and add some ACV. Also, e use canned diced tomatoes, but I think crushed might be even better. I can’t wait to try it! BTW, when do you add your cilantro? I couldn’t find that step in the recipe.
Hi Jan,
Throw it in with the fresh produce and puree! :)
Can the salsa be canned?
Hi Mary,
I properly wouldn’t can this salsa because it’s fresh, not cooked. However, you can freeze it! :)
What type of fresh tomatoes do you recommend using? Also, could you use an emulsifier stick instead of a food processor?
Hi Sonya,
I would use whatever kind of tomatoes you can find that are ripe and sweet.
You can definitely make this with an immersion blender, but the texture may not be quite as consistent. Maybe you have one that came with a jar attachment? That would help!
Just tried this salsa recipe tonight. First time making salsa actually. If I had known how easy it was and good it turn out, I should have made some much sooner. Thanks for the recipe. This is definitely a keeper.
I have made this recipe a few times. I have found that it does NOT need the added sugar
What kind of tomatoes do I use?