Quick and Easy Salsa

Skip the store-bought jar and make this homemade salsa instead. Our salsa recipe takes less than 15 minutes to make, is adaptable to your desired spice level, and lasts a week in the fridge.

Watch The Video

Making Our 15 Minute Salsa

I love how simple this salsa is to make. Simply throw tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppers, and cilantro into a blender or food processor. Pulse everything until chopped, and then season with salt, pepper and lime. Easy!

The ingredient list to make this blended salsa is very similar to what’s needed to make pico de gallo. The only difference is that this salsa is blended together, while pico de gallo is chopped by hand. Both are amazing!

Our Tips for the Best Homemade Salsa

It doesn’t get much simpler than this recipe, but there are a few extra tips we wanted to share so you can make it your own!

Use the Pulse function of your blender or food processor. For a texture that rivals restaurant-style or jarred salsa, use the pulse function when blending. This way, you can dial in the perfect texture. We keep it a little chunky.

Adjust the spice level by adding or removing the pepper seeds and membrane. It’s the white membrane and seeds inside chili peppers that are spicy.

• For a mild salsa, remove all seeds and membrane and only use one pepper.
• For a medium salsa, remove most of the seeds and membrane and use two peppers.
• For a hot salsa, leave seeds and membrane intact and use one or more peppers.

Let it sit for 30 minutes or more. The great news about this recipe is that as the salsa sits, it gets better and better. Time allows all the flavors and ingredients to mingle.

De-flame your onions. I’m pretty sensitive to raw onions so I always de-flame them before adding. You can see us do this in the video, but basically, we place chopped onions into a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. Then we drain and rinse them. This simple step takes the edge off of the raw onion.

Serve with homemade tortilla chips. Making your own tortilla chips is easy and they taste so good! Here’s our recipe for tortilla chips to help you.

Recipe Variations

• For some smokiness, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of chopped canned chipotles in adobo. We use chipotles in adobo sauce when making our black bean soup.
• Add a handful of white cabbage to the blender or food processor before pulsing. Cabbage adds a lovely crunch.
• Use fire roasted canned tomatoes or roast your tomatoes. We use roasted tomatoes and peppers in this roasted tomato salsa.
• Add more peppers with canned green chilies, roasted poblano or Anaheim peppers, or add some ancho chili powder (see our chili powder recipe here).
• Stir into homemade queso dip.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tomatoes should I use? Can I use fresh?

The tomatoes you use to make homemade salsa is up to you. If you have access to fresh, ripe tomatoes, use them! We don’t peel the fresh tomatoes, but you can if you’d prefer. If the tomatoes you have access to aren’t the most flavorful, like say the one’s we find in the middle of winter, use canned. I like to use fire roasted canned tomatoes.

How long does the salsa last?

Homemade salsa will last, stored in the refrigerator, for a week (maybe more). Our recipe makes about 3 cups, so we usually have some leftover for adding to salads, tacos and other dishes throughout the week.

More Recipes to Try

• Smoky Black Bean and Corn Salad — Perfect as a side salad or with chips as a salsa.
• Roasted Tomato Salsa — We char tomatoes, garlic, and peppers, and then then add them to onion, cilantro, and lime for a flavorful and addictive homemade salsa.
• Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce — I love this simple sauce made with dried chilies, onion and garlic.
• Homemade Tortilla Chips — Fried or baked.