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Homemade Salsa

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Last updated on April 23rd, 2019 at 03:14 pm

Homemade Salsa with fresh ingredients and full of flavor, just like the one you’re served at your favorite restaurant! This restaurant style salsa is made with roasted tomatoes and onions which enhances all the flavors. Delicious and simple!

Homemade Salsa in a bowl surrounds by tortilla chips

You know that salsa you get at Mexican restaurants the minute you walk in with lots of chips? Well, that’s my favorite part and I’ve never been able to get flavor that out of a jar! But this recipe is simple enough that you can make yourself at home with a handful of fresh ingredients.

I really believe that salsa is best when only a few key ingredients are involved. While there are so many recipes for this dip, literally millions and some with dozens of ingredients, I still believe in my mantra: simple is always best. This recipe is the perfect accompaniment for quesadillas, fajitas, taquitos, or served beside some homemade guac. You name it!

roasted tomatoes and onions on a baking sheet for salsa

How to Make Salsa

The first step for this recipe is to halve the tomatoes, quarter the onions, and throw them all on a sheet pan with the garlic. Toss the pan in a nice and hot oven, and let everything roast. I believe that roasting your tomatoes and onions gives the salsa so much complexity of flavor. I prefer to roast my own tomatoes rather than buy canned roasted tomatoes. It literally only takes minutes! I like to roast the tomatoes just until they start to slightly char.

Now the hard part is done! Phew. All that’s left to do is dump the rest of your ingredients into a food processor or blender, and pulse until you have the perfect consistency.

Homemade Salsa in a bowl surrounded with tortilla chips

What Ingredients Are in This Salsa Recipe?

For my salsa recipe I like to stick with the key ingredients. In my books those would be tomatoes, garlic, onions, cilantro, chiles or jalapeños and a little bit of lime juice. The beautiful thing about salsa is that you can really get creative with it and make any changes you want to create your perfect version.

I did choose canned diced chilies in this recipe only because I wanted a milder salsa with a hint of smokiness, but if you want a spicier salsa, leave out the diced chiles and roast a couple of jalapeños along with the tomatoes. Or you can even use both. Totally up to you! Want to give it a nice kick? Use a habanero, scotch bonnet, or ghost pepper to really crank up the heat.

I added a bit of lime juice, which is totally optional if you don’t like a tangy salsa. Last but not least, don’t forget to season well with plenty of salt and pepper.

Looking for More Great Dip Recipes? Try These:

Homemade Salsa

Homemade Salsa with fresh ingredients and full of flavor, just like the one you're served at your favorite restaurant! This restaurant style salsa is made with roasted tomatoes and onions which enhances all the flavors. Delicious and simple!
4.88 from 8 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: 30 minute meals, homemade salsa, salsa
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 33kcal
Author: Joanna Cismaru

Ingredients

  • 8 medium tomatoes halved, (I used Roma tomatoes)
  • 2 medium onions quartered
  • 6 cloves garlic peeled
  • 4.5 oz mild diced green chiles (1 can)
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
  • 2 tbsp lime juice freshly squeezed
  • 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
  • 1/2 tsp pepper or to tste
US Customary - Metric
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Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees. 
  • Place the tomatoes, onions and garlic on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes or just until the onions and tomatoes start to get a little char on them. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the tomatoes cool for about 5 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes, onions, garlic, green chiles, cilantro, lime juice and salt and pepper to a food processor and pulse a few times until you get the desired consistency.
  • Pour in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (or an airtight container) and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours before serving. 

Watch How To Make It

Notes

To add more spiciness to the salsa, add 1 or 2 jalapeños (or other favorite hot peppers) to the baking sheet and roast along with the tomatoes. 
To get a tangier salsa, add more freshly squeezed lime juice.
This salsa will last for 5-7 days in the fridge, or 3-4 months in the freezer.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

Nutrition

Calories: 33kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Sodium: 282mg | Potassium: 194mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 9.2% | Vitamin C: 22.4% | Calcium: 2.6% | Iron: 2.9%
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Comments

  3. Vera G says

    February 1, 2019 at 7:37 pm

    Thank you! Looks DELISH! Love home made tomatoes and now is the time to make it hem and enjoy before season is over.

    Reply

  5. Gail says

    August 15, 2018 at 3:04 pm

    I made this recipe just as described, I drizzled olive oil on the veggies before roasting, and seeded the Tomatoes before roasting. I added two jalapeños fresh picked and one fresh picked green chili. I pulled the skins off the tomatoes when they cooled slightly… The flavor is amazing, perhaps a bit too much heat, I will chill overnight and perhaps only add one jalapeño next time.

    Reply

  7. Clayton says

    July 19, 2018 at 1:34 pm

    I made this and it turned out nicely. However, mine didn’t look like the picture 😂 I also substituted fresh jalapenos for the canned green chilies 🔥🔥🔥 and added a little extra cilantro. This was very easy to make and the clean up was a breeze.

    Reply

  8. Misha says

    June 23, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    I wasn’t crazy about the salsa the day I made it, but after chilling in the fridge overnight, it turned out amazing! As an experiment, I tasted the store bought salsa in my fridge to compare and it tasted like bland tomato sauce compared to this homemade one! Can I ever go back? Haha

    Reply

  9. Bill says

    June 20, 2018 at 12:14 pm

    Tried this recipe today with a few tweaks
    Added a roasted habanero
    Added some fresh chopped cilantro
    Rubbed a bit of evoo on veg before roasting
    No leftovers, nuff said

    Reply

  10. Bonnie Lasseigne says

    June 12, 2018 at 3:17 pm

    First time trying any salsa. Love this one!!! Overflowing with tomatoes out the garden. Thanks

    Reply

  12. Follows Directions says

    October 1, 2017 at 8:31 pm

    Made this today with my remaining garden tomatoes, roasting the tomatoes, garlic, and onions as directed. Within just a few seconds of pulsing in the food processor, the mixture turned to complete soup. I mean, there was just no salvaging a salsa type of consistency out of it. The spices are nice and I’m going to use it to make a cream of tomato soup tomorrow, but wanted to warn others who may be really needing a salsa end product. And maybe you have some tips for ensuring this doesn’t happen?

    Reply

  13. Sandy says

    July 29, 2017 at 11:25 am

    I need to start making my own salsa because we buy the jarred stuff use it for our meal and by the time we use it again it’s no longer good. At least when I make it I can control the quantity and fresh always trumps jarred. Love the brightness!

    Reply

  15. Ushmana Rai says

    July 19, 2017 at 2:22 am

    Hi Joanna,

    My mouth is watering by just looking at these pictures! I will definitely going to try it this weekend. Thank you very much for the awesome recipe! Your YouTube video is so fun to watch. You deserve more subscribers and more views! Keep the awesome vides coming!

    By the way, being a foodie, I though of creating my own food blog and started writing stuff about home, kitchen and food. I’m fairly new to blogging. I would be very happy and it would encourage me to write more if you could visit one of my blog post and drop a small comment. 🙂

    Thank you very much, and I’ve also subscribed to your RSS.

    Cheers!
    Ushmana

    Reply

  19. Suzi says

    July 10, 2017 at 2:46 pm

    Hi,

    This is pretty close to the recipe I always use to make salsa but it never occurred to me to roast the tomatoes, onions and peppers! I normally just chop up some fresh Roma tomatoes (too much liquid and lack of flavor in canned tomatoes) but I will definitely be roasting everything next time.

    Great idea…thanks for sharing!!!

    Reply

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