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House salsa is on the table in every Mexican restaurant out west, and it’s a quick and easy salsa that works wonderfully for canning.
After growing up just outside LA, I’m all too familiar with the simple house salsa that greets you as you find your table at just about any Mexican restaurant. A few crispy homemade tortilla chips, and this simple salsa gets you started while you look over the menu.
What I love about it is its simplicity, and that makes it perfect for canning in large batches.
House salsas usually don’t bother peeling the tomatoes, and everything is just coarsely chopped and tossed together. This recipe uses that same technique, and the peels in the jar actually give it a nice bit after canning and keep everything from falling apart.
So here you go, a delicious salsa canning recipe without peeling the tomatoes!
Ingredients for Simple House Salsa
This tested canning recipe for house salsa is adapted from The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. To make a canner batch of 4 pints, you’ll need the following:
- 10 cups plum tomatoes, seeded, cored, and coarsely chopped
- 2 cups peppers, chopped and seeded
- 1 ½ cups chopped onions
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped and loosely packed
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce (or 3 chipotles in adobo, seeded and minced)
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
Generally, salsa recipes call for peeling the tomatoes, but Ball Canning specifically tested this recipe to allow you to keep the peels on if you so choose. I like to dice the tomatoes into small 1/4 inch dice, which gives a nice even consistency in the salsa, but coarsely chopped works, too.
The recipe in the book gives a chipotle salsa variation, which is absolutely delicious, too. You can substitute 3 finely chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in place of the hot sauce for a smoky chipotle salsa.
To make this recipe with canned tomatoes, substitute 6 ⅓ cups (1.575 L) of thoroughly drained canned diced tomatoes. That’s four 28-ounce cans of whole tomatoes or one extra-large 100 oz can. Be sure to chop and thoroughly drain the tomatoes before using.
How to Make Simple House Salsa
Besides a list of ingredients, there’s honestly not too much to this recipe.
All you have to do is chop all the ingredients and then place them in a large stock pot or Dutch oven. Mix thoroughly and bring it to a boil on the stove.
Cook the mixture at a low boil for about 5 minutes to ensure that everything’s heated through, and then ladle into prepared canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Canning Simple House Salsa
Canning this salsa is optional, and it can be safely stored as a refrigerator or freezer salsa. It’ll keep for a few weeks in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer. If freezing, be sure to use freezer-safe jars or containers.
That said, I always prefer to can my homemade salsas. I’m always short on freezer space, and I love the convenience of being able to pull them off the pantry shelf any time of year. If properly canned in a water bath canner, homemade salsa maintains peak quality for 12-18 months and is safe to eat so long as the jars remain sealed. Refrigerate after opening, of course.
This recipe follows the standard canning instructions for most homemade salsas. Fill jars, leaving ½-inch headspace, de-bubble, adjust headspace, wipe rims, and apply two-part canning lids to fingertip tight.
Load the jars into a preheated water bath canner and bring the canner up to a full rolling boil. Once the canner is boiling hard, process the jars for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude if above 1,000 feet in elevation.
Pint and half-pint canning jars may be used, but don’t use jars larger than a pint.
Altitude Adjustments
Water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes, so jars need to be processed a bit longer as you go up in elevation. Here are the altitude adjustments for canning:
- For 0 to 1,000 Feet in Elevation – Process pint and half-pint jars for 15 minutes.
- For 1,001 to 6,000 Feet in Elevation – Process pint and half-pint jars for 20 minutes.
- Above 6,001 Feet in Elevation – Process pint and half-pint jars for 25 minutes.
Is this a Safe Salsa Canning Recipe?
This safe, tested salsa canning recipe follows guidelines set out by the National Center for Food Preservation. You don’t have to can this recipe; it works fine as a refrigerator or freezer salsa as well. But, if you are canning this recipe, please follow the recipe to ensure safety.
The amount of acid in a salsa canning recipe cannot be lowered, so do not decrease the amount of vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, or citric acid. Similarly, do not change the amount of acidic ingredients (tomatoes, fruits, etc.).
Low-acid ingredients can be decreased or omitted. That means you can use fewer peppers or onions or skip them altogether, but don’t increase the amount.
In canning recipes, all peppers are considered equal, so you can substitute one type of pepper for another, provided you don’t increase the total amount. Similarly, one type of onion may be substituted for another; just don’t increase the total amount.
You can adjust the dry spices or salt to suit your tastes. Salt is not used for preservation in salsa canning recipes, just for flavor. Increase, decrease, or omit it as you see fit. The same goes for dry spices like cumin and oregano.
House Salsa
Equipment
Ingredients
- 10 cups plum tomatoes, seeded, cored, and coarsely chopped
- 2 cups peppers, chopped and seeded
- 1 ½ cup chopped onions
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped and loosely packed
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp hot sauce, or 3 chipotles in adobo, seeded and minced
- 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a stock pot or Dutch oven.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Ladle the salsa into prepared jars, leaving ½ inch headspace.
- Process the jars in a water bath canner for 15 minutes for pints and half pints, adjusting for altitude.
Notes
Altitude Adjustments
Water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes, so jars need to be processed a bit longer as you go up in elevation. Here are the altitude adjustments for canning:- For 0 to 1,000 Feet in Elevation - Process pint and half-pint jars for 15 minutes.
- For 1,001 to 6,000 Feet in Elevation - Process pint and half-pint jars for 20 minutes.
- Above 6,001 Feet in Elevation - Process pint and half-pint jars for 25 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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