Fresh Garden Salsa Recipe (2024)

If you have an abundance of tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and cilantro growing in your salsa garden, the best thing you can make with them is this Fresh Garden Salsa Recipe. It comes together in minutes and tastes amazing.

I love making my own Garden Salsa because I can choose just the right balance of ingredients and it only takes a few minutes. It makes an amazing snack, appetizer and condiment (one of my favorites for sure).

Next time you’re craving a fresh dip, try making your own homemade salsa. You’ll be surprised by how much better it tastes than jarred salsa from your local grocery store!

Ingredients

• 4cups of fresh Romatomatoes
• 1 ½cups of choppedonion
• ¼cup offresh cilantro
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 1de-seeded fresh jalapeno
• 1tablespoon offresh-squeezed lime juice
• 1teaspoon oftaco seasoning
• ½teaspoon ofsea salt

By the Numbers: How to Make Fresh Garden Salsa

Follow these simple steps to make this fresh salsa recipe in your kitchen that’s so much better than store bought salsa.

Step 1: Prepare Ingredients.

Begin by preparing and measuring out your ingredients. I recommend wearing disposable gloves when handling hot peppers.

Step 2: Add Ingredients to Blender.

Add all of your prepared ingredients to the pitcher of your blender.

Step 3: Gently Pulse Salsa Ingredients.

Place the lid securely on your blender, then pulse until the ingredients are just barely combined. If you blend too much, you won’t have any texture to your garden salsa.

Step 4: Allow Flavors to Meld.

Transfer your garden salsa to a quart sized mason jar (or two pint-sized jars) and refrigerate for at least an hour so the flavors can meld. It’s really delicious if you refrigerate overnight and serve the next day, but it can also be served right away at room temperature.

Step 5: Serve Your Garden Fresh Salsa.

Serve your homemade garden salsa in a bowl for dipping or as a delicious taco topping. During the warmer months, I even like to use it as a salad dressing.

Tips for Making the Best Garden Salsa

Answers to all of your questions about making the best homemade garden salsa in minutes.

1. Why Roma Tomatoes?

It’s best to use Roma tomatoes when making fresh garden salsa as they have a lower water content than regular tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes. However, if you have a type of tomato other than Roma, you can still use them to make your own salsa.

Plum tomatoes make the next best choice, but you can really use any type of garden tomatoes like regular tomatoes or even cherry tomatoes. Whatever you have on hand will taste great as long as it’s fresh and ripe.

2. How spicy is this garden salsa?

While I consider this to be a medium heat salsa, deciding on the ideal spiciness of salsa is a personal preference. If you want extra spicy salsa, add more jalapeno pepper. Serrano peppers are also an awesome addition to homemade salsa recipes.

If you prefer mild salsa, you can omit the chili peppers completely, de-seed them to reduce the heat of the pepper or substitute bell pepper in their place. I like to use green pepper, but ones that have turned red on the vine are delicious too.

One of the best things about making fresh salsa in a blender is that you can taste and adjust the heat and add more if it’s needed. So it’s better to start with less hot pepper and add more until you’re happy with the heat level.

3. Does it matter what type of onion?

No, you can use any type of onion to make salsa. I most often use yellow onions because we have them on hand. If you want a stronger onion flavor, try red onion. I’ve also made salsa with green onions, which is amazingly flavorful.

4. How to make smooth salsa?

If you prefer a super smooth sauce that doesn’t have any chunks, all you have to do is blend your ingredients for longer in your blender or food processor. If it gets bubbly, don’t worry, they’ll settle down after a while in the fridge then you can enjoy it with homemade tortilla chips.

5. How to make Mexican Restaurant Style Salsa?

The salsa served at Mexican restaurants is a nice deep red color that’s slightly sweet. Since this salsa uses fresh tomatoes from the garden, it has a much lighter color.

My Mexican Salsa recipe uses canned tomatoes and a pinch of sugar to replicate that flavor, color and texture.

6. What is the chunky salsa with fresh tomatoes called?

If you want a more chunky salsa, I bet you’re searching for Pico de Gallo, which is also called salsa fresca sometimes. I’ll be sharing my Pico De Gallo recipe soon. Until then, check out this Pico recipe.

7. Ways to serve garden salsa?

This easy salsa recipe makes one of the most delicious dips for your favorite chips. My favorite thing about this garden salsa is that is also tastes great with most Mexican food dishes.

• Instant Pot Carne Asada Tacos
• Instant Pot Barbacoa Tacos
• Homemade Black Bean Tamales
• Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowls
• Instant Pot Refried Beans
• Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce
• Chicken Tacos or Taco Salad
• Chicken Fajitas or Steak Fajitas

8. How to store garden salsa?

Garden salsa should be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container like a mason jar. It should last for about 5-7 days if properly stored. It will spoil faster if you dip anything into the salsa or leave it out of the refrigerator for very long.

9. Can you freeze salsa?

Yes, salsa can be frozen in a freezer-safe container. Once you defrost salsa that has been frozen, the texture will change, especially when you use fresh tomatoes. If you decide to try it, here are some tips for freezing salsa.

10. Can you can salsa?

Most often, salsa is considered to be a low acid food, which means you typically can’t hot water bath can it. According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, the pH of salsa must be below 4.6 in order for it to be considered safe to water-bath can. Sine the pH of this salsa recipe has not been tested, it should not be canned.

Instead, if you want to make your own canned salsa, it’s recommended that you pressure can all low acid foods like salsa. If you’re new to pressure canning, read my post on getting started with canning food.

11. Other Mexican Condiments?

If you’re looking for more condiments and toppings to serve with your Mexican food, here are some great ideas:

• Easy Sour Cream Recipe
• Authentic Guacamole
• Fermented Spicy Carrots

12. Grow Your Own Tomatoes for Salsa.

If you love making easy recipes like this this fresh tomato salsa recipe, it’s even better with homegrown tomatoes. The flavor of store bought is no match for home grown.

If you try your hand at it, be sure to check out my tips for Staking Tomato Plants and my post on How to Can Whole Tomatoes.

And if you have kids, be sure to get my free Kids Garden Journal Printable to get them excited to help with tomato season.

13. Where to Buy Fresh Produce Online.

I do most of my grocery shopping online. It’s so convenient and there are so many ways to order these days. Lately, I’ve been getting most of our produce from Misfits Market. They have yummy organic Roma Tomatoes and everything else you need to make this recipe.

If Misfits Market isn’t available in your area yet, check out my list of where to buy produce online.

More Amazing Homemade Condiments