This recipe is simple to make your own Restaurant Style Salsa. This recipe uses canned tomatoes and it tastes fresh and just as good as any restaurant salsa–so you can make this all year around! You can adjust the amount of kick you want, by the amount of jalapeno…or, you can leave out the jalapeno altogether.
Whenever I try a new-to-me Mexican restaurant, the first thing I’m ready for is a basket of chips and salsa. If the salsa is too hot, then I’m out! I can’t take really spicy food. The beauty of this recipe is that this is 1) simple to make with pantry basics 2) you can control the amount of spice/heat that you prefer 3) this is incredibly delicious!
This salsa is something I always make for Super Bowl weekend, along with my Chili Con Carne. This recipe uses canned tomatoes and it tastes fresh and just as good as any restaurant salsa.
To make this, all you need to do is rough chop onion, jalapeno, cilantro and garlic:
If you’ve never worked with jalapenos, just remember a few things– the membrane holds all the heat.
Remove the seeds, too, and wash your hands! If you accidentally rub your eyes, you will be very sorry! If you hate cilantro (Chinese Parsley), leave it out. Thankfully, we love cilantro and grow it in our
own backyard.
A food processor makes this come together lightning fast! Once you add the tomatoes, give the food processor a few pulses and you’re done!
Be sure to give this a taste, with a tortilla chip. Add more salt, as needed.
TASTING NOTES: One cannot tell that canned tomatoes were used, believe me! This salsa tastes fresh. We prefer using 1/2 of a jalapeno, and that delivers a less punch of heat. If you hate cilantro, leave it out. As far as our household, bring on the cilantro! We love it. The lime juice adds a bright finish to the salsa. This recipe makes a full quart, so it’s stored in our refrigerator.
Salsa, Chips and a Frozen Margarita is a perfect way to sit outside, in our own backyard, to enjoy Mexican style salsa at home. Drink responsibly!
This recipe has been edited with new instructions and ingredient amounts. It has also been updated with newer photos.
Restaurant Style Salsa
Equipment
- 1 Food processor
Ingredients
For the "vegetables:
- 1/4 cups chopped onion I used red (see notes)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 whole jalapeno quartered and sliced thin (use 1/2 for a milder version)
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 lime juiced
For the "sauce":
- 1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes drain them, and keep the liquid set aside
- 1 10 ounce can Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)** or 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 small can mild green chilies as a substitute
- 1 can mild green chili
Instructions
Rough chop the vegetables:
- Rough chop the vegetables and toss them into a food processor, which includes: Onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse just a few times.
- Add the tomatoes and mild green chilies (or the Rotel tomatoes, if using). Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.NOTE: Draining the tomatoes makes the salsa less watery. Add small amounts of the tomato liquid into the salsa, if you prefer a thinner consistency.
- Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.
- The salsa will develop more flavor, if chilled for a few hours. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
This does sound really easy Debbie with canned tomatoes.
That does look good. Canned tomatoes are the way to go this time of year since you can't get good fresh ones in NY in January. I'm no football fan either (although I'm married to a Jets fan and have to spend football season giving him consolation) but I do love the game party food.
I totally prefer pinto to kidney beans in my chili too.
What's your secret to growing cilantro? I tried once and it went to seed before I could even use it once.
Give me a bag of tortilla chips and a bowl of this and I"d be one happy girl!
The last time I bought salsa I vowed to make my own next time. It is so quick and easy to make and I like that I can control the heat. My problem is that I could devour a whole bag of chips along with it. Looking forward to your chili recipe, Debby.
And homemade salsa tastes so much fresher than store bought. I could go through a bag of chips with some of this!
Love the idea of switching out the kidney beans (I agree, yuk) with pintos, never thought of that. Thanks for the info on Jalapenos, never used them since spicy and I don't agree. 🙁 Will try the Rotel.
Yes, 49ers! Well, I'm not much of a football fan but it's exciting!
Your salsa looks nice! I need to find some dips for superbowl so I'll keep this recipe in mind!