Homemade Salsa Recipe
This homemade salsa recipe blends rich flavors of tomatoes, tomatillos, and chile peppers to add a hint of spice to your favorite Tex-Mex dishes. It’s our go-to family recipe to enhance the flavor of everything from tacos to tamales. Enjoy it as a dip with tortilla chips, too.
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What are the main ingredients in salsa?
Salsa is typically a tomato-based sauce with a combination of chile peppers and spices. As an alternative to fresh tomatoes, tomatillos or avocados are sometimes used to make a green sauce.
In the Mexican-American culture, salsa is the ultimate condiment for practically any dish. My family uses salsa to add spice to our rice and beans. We smother our eggs and chorizo tacos with it and add dabs on top of tostadas, chicharrones, or tamales. Even chicken soup gets a little spoonful of “salsita” if the mood strikes us.
There are countless variations of salsa recipes out there, including smoky chipotle salsa, citrus salsa, habanero salsa, salsa verde (green salsa), and ranchero sauce (salsa ranchera).
I’m biased, but I think this is the best salsa recipe for everyday use.
You can find the full recipe at the bottom of this post. Read on for helpful tips and tricks.
Why I Love This Recipe
What is the key to good salsa?
A fresh salsa recipe like pico de gallo can be made with raw ingredients, but the trick to making restaurant-style salsa is to boil or roast your ingredients. This softens the flavors of the tomatoes, tomatillos, and green chiles to allow the juices to blend well.
Notably, my homemade salsa recipe does not include onion or garlic. Many entrees like our chicken fajitas and green chicken enchiladas already contain onion and garlic, so this salsa complements rather than competes with most Tex-Mex dishes.
Salsa Consistency
You can easily control the texture and chunkiness of salsa by blending the ingredients more or less. I prefer a smoother salsa and rely on the entree or dressings like pico de gallo to provide more texture.
How to Serve Salsa
We can’t have homemade quesadillas without this salsa recipe and guacamole on the side. You can also serve this salsa on top of nachos or simply in a bowl to enjoy with chips as a quick snack.
Salsa doesn’t require many garnishes, but you can add fresh cilantro sprigs or lime wedges on the side if desired. We often enjoy avocado slices or guacamole with our salsa as well.
Time-Saving Tips
- If you’re short on fresh ingredients, you can substitute canned tomatoes or canned green chiles.
- You can cook, blend, and freeze tomatoes to make this salsa later if you don’t have fresh tomatillos or peppers available. I’ll often do this if I have overripe tomatoes.
Storage Tips
Store any leftover salsa in the fridge for 5-7 days in an airtight container like a mason jar. You can add a squeeze of fresh lime juice to help preserve it better.
You can also freeze this salsa for up to 6 months. Remove the salsa from the freezer to thaw the day before or defrost it in the microwave on low-to-medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
Check out my other dips and sauces for more ways to add heat to your favorite Tex-Mex meals.
Easy Homemade Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 2 roma tomatoes
- 1 medium tomato (vine-ripe or beefsteak tomato)
- 3 serrano peppers
- 2 tomatillos (outer husks removed)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil, and add all ingredients except salt. Boil on medium heat until tender (about 15 minutes). The tomatillos and peppers should turn from bright green to a deeper shade of green.
- Remove the skins from the tomatoes, and core the centers. Remove the stems from the peppers as well. The skins of the tomatillos are typically thin enough to leave alone.
- Drain the water, and blend the ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. Pulse lightly for a chunkier salsa or on high for a well-blended, smooth salsa.
- Add salt and pulse lightly to blend. You can add more salt or black pepper to taste, if desired.
We loved this salsa and enjoyed it with chips and guacamole. I hadn’t used tomatillos in a red salsa before. Loved it. So simple and delicious!
So glad you enjoyed it! Yes, the tomatillos add a touch of sweetness to balance the spice. Thanks for the nice review.