I’m still on a canning kick here. How can I not be with all the great produce that’s available this time of year?
Today I’m sharing my canning recipe for a good, basic salsa. The tomatoes are still coming in and peppers are ready, too, so it was time to go ahead and put up a few jars of this deliciousness to keep on hand for the winter. It’s so nice to open a jar of homemade salsa when it’s cold out and be able to taste those fresh summer tomatoes once more. Mmmmm. A jar of this in my Salsa Chicken recipe in the middle of winter…well, I have to say it’s just fabulous.
This recipe makes five pints. That’s just about right for our household. If you want to make more, you can double or triple the recipe. Just make sure that you keep the same proportions to guarantee that it’s safe for canning.
3 pounds tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 medium onions, finely chopped
1 1/2 sweet green pepper, chopped
3-9 jalapeno peppers, halved, seeded and chopped
9 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups white or red wine vinegar
3 tsp. granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. pickling salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 bunch Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
Prepare the jars, lids and rings as usual. You can review how I manage this part of the process in my last post. Fill the canner with water, bring to the boil and hold until ready to fill the jars.
There is a lot of prep work involved in this recipe. It’s not difficult at all, just peeling and chopping. And you begin by preparing your tomatoes.
I prefer Roma tomatoes for salsa and I had a few yellow tomatoes on hand, so I included them as well. You can use any combination of tomatoes you like. To make peeling the tomatoes easy, simply drop them into boiling water for one minute. Then drain them and put them into cold water for a few minutes.
The skins will slip right off. It makes the peeling so simple!
I debated about whether to include all the chopping and mincing photos here for illustration purposes. After thinking it over, I decided that if you cook at all you certainly know how to dice peppers and onions, so I’m sparing you having to scroll past 15 photos of chopped vegetables!
Chop the tomatoes, onions and green pepper and jalapenos. I used three jalapenos for this amount of salsa because we like ours pretty mild. You can add up to nine if you like it hotter. You could also substitute a hotter pepper if you like, but don’t add more than the equivalent of about nine jalapenos so you don’t upset the pH balance of the recipe and make it unsafe for canning!
Finely mince the garlic. Combine all ingredients in a stainless steel or enamel saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and boil gently, uncovered, for 25 minutes or until desired consistency, stirring frequently. Your house will smell like the most delicious Mexican eatery by the time this finishes cooking!
Carefully remove the hot jars from the canner and ladle in the salsa to within 1/2 inch of rim (head space). Return the filled jars to the canner. Begin timing when the water returns to a boil. Process 20 minutes for half-pint and pint jars.
Makes 5 pints or 10 half pints.
Enjoy!
Yields 5 pints or 10 half-pints
A home canning recipe for basic tomato salsa.
1 hrPrep Time
45 minCook Time
1 hr, 45 Total Time
Save Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 pounds tomatoes, peeled and chopped
- 3 medium onions, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 sweet green pepper, chopped
- 3-9 jalapeno peppers, halved, seeded and chopped
- 9 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 cups white or red wine vinegar
- 3 tsp. granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. pickling salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 bunch Italian parsley, chopped
- 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Prepare jars, lids and rings according to manufacturer’s directions. Fill canner with water, bring to the boil and hold until ready to fill jars.
- Combine all ingredients in a stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered for 25 minutes or until desired consistency, stirring frequently.
- Remove hot jars from the canner and ladle salsa into each to within 1/2 inch of rim (head space). Process 20 minutes for half-pint and pint jars.
- Makes 5 pints or 10 half pints.
Notes
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–Based on a recipe in Small Batch Preserving.
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