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Who doesn’t love a great salsa?  Tomato salsa with fresh tomatoes or canned, Mexican salsa, fruit-based salsa, hot, spicy, medium, mild.  So many to choose from!  It can be difficult to find the best one to make fresh.  Go no further!  This super easy, as spicy or not as you want it, salsa recipe made with fresh tomatoes and vinegar is as awesome to eat as it is easy to make.

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SALSA IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE INGREDIENTS

I’ve always been a firm believer with anything that I make, that your end result will be based on the quality of your ingredients.  I am fortunate enough to organically grow most of my fresh produce during the summer months.  It’s at the height of the season that I whip this sensational salsa up and can for winter eating.  If you don’t have a garden, I recommend going to your local farmers market (often times if you chat up the local farmer you can buy bulk, usually by the bushel, tomatoes for a reduced cost) or your local food shop if need be for all the fresh ingredients listed.  The fresher the better!

This recipe makes a chunky spicy salsa.  You can make this as chunky or not as you like or as spicy or mild as you want.   A full list of ingredients and recipe card will be listed at the end of this post.  No worries to jot anything down, just print and go!  

DETERMINE QUANTITY

As with any recipe, the first step is determining the quantity of each ingredient needed to make as much or little as you like.  When my produce comes on, it’s a matter of weighing my product, specifically the tomatoes to determine how many batches I will be making.  I can then determine the rest of the ingredients based on the number of batches.

For fresh tomatoes, I have found that roughly 9-10 pounds of tomatoes (depending on the size of the fruit) will be enough for one batch. 

PREPARE SALSA INGREDIENTS

Once you have your fruit weighed out, begin to prepare your tomatoes.  Blanch the tomatoes, remove the skins, and core.  My post, How To Prepare Tomatoes For Canning!  It’s All About The Process goes into additional detail about these steps.

Once you have the tomatoes peeled and cored, give the tomatoes a good squeeze to get out as much of the juice and seeds as possible without losing any of the flesh.  Chop or break up to desired consistency (chunkiness)  and place into a measuring container.  I use the Pyrex Prep-Ware 8 Cup measurer.  I let the tomatoes sit as I am processing.  A lot of water will gather from the tomatoes.  Continue draining periodically as you prep.

Next up?  Preparing the rest of the produce.  This is where I break out my Cuisinart Food Processor.  Makes the work quick and easy!  If you don’t have access to a processor, chop away.  Chop to the size you would like for your salsa’s consistency.  I will be giving food processor instructions for the remaining ingredients.  

PROCESS SALSA INGREDIENTS

Peel the onions and quarter them.  Give a few whirls in the processor to chop as chunky or as fine as you like.

Green peppers, quarter, core and remove the seeds.  Give a few whirls to the desired size.

Jalepeños remove the stem.  Remove as many seeds for a milder salsa as you wish.  WARNING! Wear gloves while chopping or cutting into thirds for the processor.  Process to pretty fine consistency.  You can see in the picture below how fine.  DO NOT INHALE the peppers after opening the processing cover.  Trust me, hold your breath until it ventilates a bit.

Peel the garlic.  Add all to the processor and chop very fine.       

ADDING IT ALL TOGETHER

In a large stockpot, add the tomatoes and your prepped ingredients.  Give a good stir.  Add the remaining ingredients, tomato paste, tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, canning salt, pepper, and cumin.  Stir to combine well. 

Bring the mixture to a slow boil and cook at a slow boil for about 10 minutes.  Once cooked, can according to your preferred method.  Utilize the water bath method or the steam canning method for canning this salsa, processing for 15 minutes when at 1-1000 feet altitude.

I’ve tried a lot of salsa recipes for canning over the last 13 years, and this is by far the BEST recipe I’ve made.  There is not a time that we have it while entertaining that the recipe (or a jar) is not asked for.  Guaranteed!

Give it a try!  Do not want to can it?  Make it and give away as gifts, eat fresh or freeze it.  Freezing salsa is not my favorite method, but if you do, be sure to drain when un-frozen as there will be a bit of excess fluid due to the freezing process.

Be sure to print the recipe, give it a go and let me know your thoughts!  

Happy Salsa’ing!

Be Well,

Suzan

NOTE: As stated, this recipe is “loosely” taken from the original Ball salsa recipe. The amount of ACV required in the original recipe is for 1/2+ cups of vinegar for approximately the same amount of product. I personally find this too acidic for my liking. Should you want an original recipe from Ball, look to their Ball Blue Book for canning. Otherwise, understand this recipe has not been “tested” by the powers that be, other than our own family for the last 18 years 😊