Best and Easy Homemade Salsa Recipe

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This is the best homemade salsa recipe you will ever make. Made from scratch with fresh ingredients in just a few minutes.

So much tastier than grocery store bought salsa you find in the refrigerated aisle, fresh homemade salsa is a lot easier to make than you think and super quick to whip up! Just make sure you always have tortilla chips in the pantry for a quick healthy snack.

This is a recipe for the most universal type of salsa roja most commonly used in the U.S.

It will taste great in tacos, burritos, as a topping on beef or chicken, or just a snack to go with a bag of chips.

Abuelita’s Authentic Homemade Salsa Recipe

Even though I was born and raised in Mexico until I was eleven years old, I didn’t learn how to make salsa until I was married here in the U.S. years later.

My grandma (abuelita) would come visit and stay with me for a week at a time and I always used the time to have her teach me different Mexican recipes I loved growing up. Enchiladas rojas, Chilaquiles, shrimp ceviche, tostadas and her recipe of roasted chicken basted in a delicious sauce concocted with a mix of fresh spices and orange juice. Yum! I’m getting hungry just thinking of it!

She used to own and run a small restaurant in Mexico where she always cooked up the most delicious food. Her restaurant had quite the loyal group of customers who were sad to loose her home cooked meal style restaurant a few years later when she decided to move on to other things.

She taught me how to make a few different styles of salsa’s but this recipe is by far the easiest one to make. So I hope you enjoy it as much as my husband and I do!

Fresh Homemade Fresh Salsa Ingredients:

-Roma tomatoes

-Your choice of hot peppers. I prefer serrano or jalapeño peppers. If you like really spicy salsa add two or three more peppers than what the recipe card calls for. Also, for this recipe I used a mix of serrano and jalapeño peppers because I didn’t have enough of just one kind.

-fresh cilantro bunch

-whole white onion

-cloves of garlic

-lime juice or lemon juice

-sea salt to taste

You can make just about any type of salsa with these same or similar ingredients.

Pico de gallo / salsa fresca, mild or hot salsa roja, salsa verde (just switch out the roma tomatoes for tomatillos).

How To Make Homemade Salsa Instructions

1. You will want to start by washing the tomatoes and peppers. And make sure to cut off the ends of the peppers before you roast them. Once washed, set them on the grill on low heat and rotate them every few minutes. Roasting them is what gives the salsa that authentic Mexican cuisine taste you love. If you don’t have a grill, just put them on a cookie sheet and set them to broil on high. Make sure to turn them every few minutes so they get evenly roasted. This is the quickest and easiest way to roast them, but you can also do it on the stove top using a cast iron skillet.
2. While the tomatoes and peppers are roasting, add garlic, onion and cilantro to blender or food processor.
3. Once the tomatoes and peppers are done roasting add them to the blender with about a tablespoon of sea salt and blend for a couple of minutes.
4. Pour the salsa into a glass container and taste to make sure it doesn’t need more salt.
5. squeeze a little lime or lemon juice and stir well. Put in the fridge for one to two hours to cool it down a bit.

If you’re not in a hurry to cool down the salsa leave it out on the counter for a few hours until ready to eat that same day. Salsa tastes the best at room temperature.

A Word On The Ingredients

Use fresh Ingredients.

For the best salsa, you want to make sure you use fresh ingredients instead of canned to really get all the fresh flavors and authentic taste.

Canned tomatoes just don’t compare to the way fresh tomatoes taste. The same goes for fresh green chilies over canned.

White onion tastes better in homemade salsa recipes than yellow or red onions but yellow will do in a pinch.

Always use fresh cilantro and garlic cloves. For the most authentic taste try not to use a garlic paste or garlic powder.

If you like to grow your veggies in summer time this is a great way to use up all the bounty from the harvest in the fall.

Salsa freezes so well in a freezer-safe container. And of course if you like to do home canning with mason jars, that will extend the shelf life of salsa for a long time when stored in a dark place.

Salsa Help!

Whats the best way to store salsa?

Store it in a glass airtight container in the fridge. Try to avoid using a plastic container because it will most likely stain it and the “plasticky” taste will leach into the salsa. I just think it keeps its best flavor when stored in a glass jar like a mason jar or recycled pasta jar.

How Long Does Homemade Salsa Last?

When stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container, homemade salsa will last up to one week. After that I would inspect it on a daily basis for any signs of going bad. If you don’t think you will finish it before seven days, just put it in the freezer. For best results freeze in a recycled glass pasta jar or in heavy-duty freezer bags. When thawed it will still taste great and the consistency will stay the same.

Although making your own salsa at home won’t offer the long shelf life of what you can get from the grocery store, the taste just doesn’t compare. Plus, I bet you anything your homemade salsa will be devoured the same day you make it so no need to worry about an expiration date anyway!

How Do You Know If Homemade Salsa is Bad?

There’s a few different ways of checking if salsa has gone bad. If you notice any of these things it might be better to toss it to avoid any kind of foodborne illness or health risks.

• If you notice significant discoloration like a darker maroon color.
• rotten smell or off odor.
• If you notice a while or glassy film on the surface of the salsa.
• And of course if you notice any signs of mold. White or green blueish spots growing on the surface.

Can You Get Sick From Eating Bad Salsa?

If you think you ate bad salsa, you might start experiencing food poisoning symptoms within a couple of days.

Dangerous bacteria on food that has gone bad can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea, bloating, vomiting, and other flu like symptoms.

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