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.
You must try this~absolutely delicious and gorgeous. I used Fire roasted San Marzano tomatoes (a must) and roasted about 2/3 of my peppers (Jalapeño, Serrano and Fresno) and used half the sugar and next time will omit especially if you have sweet, ripe tomatoes. Would make a great gift with a bag of tortilla chips ;-)
I just had a quick view for the post, but I think I can make this, so easy, I have had salsa many times , but haven’t made this dish myself. Thanks.
I’ve made this on multiple occasions now, it is my GO TO recipe. Yes, it’s a little time consuming and makes a big mess, but wow can it pack an amazing flavor punch if you do it right. It is my favorite salsa in the world, nobody does it better than me.
I reverse the order of instructions a little bit. I puree the canned tomatoes (I get the fire roasted kind, diced or crushed doesn’t matter) and the chilis (hot of course). Then I add the tomatoes and cilantro and garlic and pulse a little more til its just about what I’d expect out of a jarred salsa. Get your spices in there too (salt and cumin, I leave out the sugar it doesn’t add anything IMO) Then, in another bowl I’ve had the onions and jalapenos and serranos (or whatever pepper I added..I always do one jalapeno and either a habenero or serrano for the other) soaking in lime juice the whole time. Then throw that bowl in, stir a little and pulse til its nice and chunky.
I don’t like perfectly smooth salsas, I want some chunk in there, particularly from the onions and peppers so that’s why I reversed the order. Sometimes I leave 1/4 of the peppers and onions out and just hand dice and stir in at the end. I’m an onion fiend, so if you’re an onion person…you might try adding them in last to leave them a little more chunky.
i hope it’s healthy on cheat meal day
First try at homemade salsa and now I guess I will never go back to store bought!! This was so delicious. The whole family loved it.
Thanks for Sharing. Easy to cook! just make it and enjoy.
Had an abundance of tomatoes, jalapenos and onions in the produce box this week so I tried your recipe. It was perfect! I didn’t have any green chiles so had to do without those bu it is perfect. I made two batches: One for hubby using white onion and no cilantro. This recipe is a real keeper!
Great recipe. I made it two different ways at the same time since I had some questions.
1) Couldn’t find San Marzano crushed tomatoes at the store, they only had peeled san marzanos or fire roasted crushed san marzanos. So I went with half of the recipe with the peeled, and half of the recipe with the fire roasted.
2) Don’t like sweet stuff so I put sugar in my fire roasted version and none in the other. Honestly couldn’t tell much of a difference. I did 1 teaspoon in the halved recipe. Since I couldn’t tell a difference in my taste test initially, I went ahead and threw the other 1 teaspoon into the second batch just in case its one of those things that just works well as salsa sits longer.
3) Went with the “hot” chiles. They only had mild or hot at the store.
Ultimately, I like this recipe very much. Its definitely hot, too hot for my husband. Not sure if all the heat came from the hot chiles or if I left some jalapeno seeds in accidentally. Next time I will use the mild chiles. I slightly prefered the fire roasted tomato version, but they were really very similar, not a big deal. I like chunkier onions in my salsa so next time I will probably throw them in chopped after processing other stuff, although this salsa would be perfect for cooking and as a topping, whereas my chunky version will work well with chips for me.
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I think you really nailed it. Reminds me very much of Chuy’s Tex Mex salsa which I love (A popular Dallas/Austin Texas restaurant chain)
This is better than any restaurant salsa. Just delicious! I didn’t have any green chillies but it was good without it. Thanks for the great recipe.
Wow! You did an incredible job with this recipe! It’s delicious! My entire family loved it. Thanks so much for sharing!
Made this recipe with my son (10yr old) on a rainy cold Saturday. What a success! Showing him some knife skills, taught him to use a can opener. Told stories. Substituted some of the tomato for a handful of tomatillos so I could teach him to blanch. Finally an hour or so away from technology to just talk with my son. Salsa turned out absolutely incredible btw. Thanks
The store only had peeled whole San Marzano tomatoes. Would you throw the juice in there too? I just crushed them by hand and omitted because the salsa already seemed liquidy enough. It is a great recipe and one I’ll be returning too again and again! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Jon,
Yep, just dump it all in! :)
I LOVE this salsa! I would like to can this salsa to make it last longer and give as gifts. Are there any ingredients I need to add for canning? If anyone has tried this does it change the taste? I am new to canning. Any help is appreciated!
Thanks!
Excellent recipe! Our Southwest(AZ),salsa recipe is great(almost identical),howevetthose fresh jalapeños add much more flavor, than our canned ones do. :) Bravo, and yum!! Thanks for sharing recipe. SC