A home canning recipe for a Basic Salsa featuring fresh tomatoes. Make it as mild or spicy as you like. Save a little summer flavor for colder weather.
I'm on a canning kick around 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.
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How to Can Basic Salsa
Before you start, get everything you need together. All your jars, lids, kitchen towels, produce, knives, canner, funnel. Everything. It's so much easier than having to run around looking for something while you're in the middle of a canning session.
Prepare the Jars and Lids
Prepare the jars, lids, and rings as usual. You can review how I manage this part of the process in this 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.
Prep the Tomatoes
I prefer Roma tomatoes for salsa but I also had a few yellow tomatoes on hand, so I included them as well. You can use any combination and types 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!
Prep the Remaining Ingredients
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 the ingredients in a stainless steel or enamel saucepan.
Cook the Salsa
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!
Fill and Process the Jars
Carefully remove the hot jars from the canner and ladle in the salsa to within ½ inch of the rim (headspace). Return the filled jars to the canner. Begin timing when the water returns to a boil. Process 20 minutes for both half-pint and pint jars.
Cool Completely
Remove the hot, processed jars of gorgeous salsa from the canner and set them on a kitchen towel or something similar to give them a little cushion. Let them sit until completely cool - at least 8 hours. I usually just leave them overnight. Test to make sure you have complete seals and then store in a cool, dry place until ready to use.
Makes 5 pints or 10 half-pints.
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📖 Recipe
Basic Salsa
Ingredients
- 3 pounds tomatoes peeled and chopped
- 3 medium onions finely chopped
- 1 ½ sweet green pepper chopped
- 3-9 jalapeno peppers halved, seeded and chopped
- 9 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ½ cups tomato sauce
- 1 ½ cups white or red wine vinegar
- 3 tsp. granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp. pickling salt
- 1 ½ tsp. ground cumin
- ½ bunch Italian parsley chopped
- ½ 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 ½ inch of rim (head space). Process 20 minutes for half-pint and pint jars.
- Makes 5 pints or 10 half pints.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your health care provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
More Salsa Canning Recipes ...
- Smoky Roasted Salsa from Foodie Crush
- Easy Salsa Verde for Canning from I Breathe, I'm Hungry
- Canned Tomato Salsa from Simply Recipes
Pat Elmes says
I planted the small tomatoes. Can I leave the Skin on and use the food processor to chop everything?
Lana Stuart says
Do you mean cherry tomatoes? I haven't used a processor for this recipe, but you could give it a try. Just be sure not to chop too finely or you'll wind up with tomato sauce. A word of warning about about cherry tomatoes -- they have lots of seeds.
Greg Pair says
I have a salsa recipe that I make in small amounts that is usually consumed in a few days, but I would like to try canning it. However, due to my lack of experience in canning, I'm not sure how to accomplish it. My recipe has no pickling salt or vinegar, but it does have regular table salt and lime juice. If I can this recipe, how can I ensure that the proper Ph is maintained?
Lana Stuart says
Canning is very exact science. It requires a specific pH level in the food in order for it to be shelf-stable and free from botulism. To be honest, you'd need to have a food lab test the recipe to determine whether it is appropriate for canning. All the canning recipes I post are from USDA approved sources.
Sheryl McGowan says
I tried this recipe today for the first time. I had a small amount left over that wouldn't fill a full jar so I tried it with some tortilla chips. It was delicious. It has a very nice flavor but the vinegar is very prominent. Does this mellow after being in cans for awhile?
Sheryl
Lana Stuart says
The taste doesn't change significantly during storage. Interesting, though, I've never noticed a predominant vinegar taste with this salsa.
Bernie says
Hi! I have a question about the water bath photo. I always make sure the water is over the jars by at least 2 inches. Your photo looks like the top half of the jars are above the water and not completely submerged. Can you explain this to me? If that's the method I should use for canning anything with tomatoes it would explain why I sometimes get water inside my sauce jars. Thanks!
Lana Stuart says
Hi Bernie - yes, I can see how that photo would be confusing. The jars are sitting in the rack which is hooked over the sides of the canner. They haven't been lowered into the water yet. The standard is that the tops of the jars should covered by at least 1" of water and they would be when lowered into the canner.
Kacie says
For the amount of tomatoes...
Is this 3 lbs before they are peeled and chopped, or is 3 lbs the quantity needed after they are peeled and chopped? Past experience peeling tomatoes for canning tells me you can lose a lot of "product" during that process.
Lana Stuart says
It's 3 pounds before peeling. I lose very, very little in the peeling and chopping.