Best Homemade Salsa – Restaurant Style

This Homemade Salsa Recipe brings my favorite Mexican restaurant salsa into your dining room, game day party, or wherever you need a tasty dip. This simple salsa recipe from fresh tomatoes is easy to make and one you should try today.

🌮 What makes this recipe special?

If you grow your own tomatoes or get fresh tomatoes from the store or farmers market, this salsa recipe is a great use for them. It is very tasty, versatile, and a great snack. Or, if you have a taco night, consider using this salsa as your sauce.

If you like this, you should also check out our Simple and Fast Homemade Queso Dip recipe, choriqueso recipe, or these scrummy Honduran Enchiladas.

🍅 Ingredients

This recipe has many of the usual suspects. Still, we process them in a way that makes this recipe so good, particularly if you like restaurant-style salsa. 

Kind of Tomato to Use In Salsa

During the summer, it is a no-brainer for us. We pick whatever we have in the garden that is ready to use. We do make salsa throughout the winter, however, when tomatoes cannot be found in the garden… at least in the tundra of North Dakota. So, we go to the store and pick them out.

Big vs. Small and Tomato Varieties

We use tomato varieties that are commonly used for sauces. Roma tomatoes are widely available and often very economical. Roma tomatoes are often used in tomato sauce or chunky fresh salsa, and they also add some thickness. We call for 4 ½ pounds of tomatoes; about half are Roma.

The downside of using all Roma tomatoes is that the salsa can become too thick or dry. So, we add some larger varieties like Big Boy and Celebrity tomatoes. The other half comes from larger tomato varieties. Another downside of Roma tomatoes is that they are smaller and take a little more work to peel.

🍲 Homemade Salsa Instructions

Probably the biggest pain of this recipe is blanching tomatoes. It isn’t hard, but it takes a little time and is messy. The purpose of blanching tomatoes for this homemade salsa recipe is to remove the skin. 

Putting tomatoes in boiling water for a brief period helps loosen the skin and makes it easy to peel. For many recipes, it is desirable to put the tomatoes directly into an ice bath to stop the cooking. Still, we are not going to do that for this recipe.

We will end up chopping them and putting them back in a pot to cook. If you’re used to using an ice bath, feel free. Otherwise, let the tomatoes cool until they are comfortable and safe to handle before peeling them.

After blanching, it is a matter of simmering a bunch of ingredients together and then blending the salsa with a hand blender. Cool it down and you are ready to dip.

🤷 Substitutions and variations

If you don’t like an ingredient in our recipe, don’t add it. If you like more of something, add some more of that ingredient. There is so much leeway for your own personal tastes in this recipe.

For example, we use jalapeno in this recipe, but I have been known to dabble in Carolina Reaper peppers. If you prefer habaneros or another hot pepper, feel free to use those instead. Just make sure you know what you are getting into with some hot ones.

• Peppers – Add more peppers or try spicier peppers
• Spices – Adjust the spices to suit your taste.
• Cilantro – Don’t like it? Don’t use it.

This is a forgiving recipe; if you keep to salsa flavors, you should be good to go. 

Quick 10-Minute No-Cook Version

Not everybody has 45 minutes to make this super fresh, tasty salsa, so here is a super quick substitute for you. Instead of using fresh tomatoes, use four (14.5-ounce) cans of tomatoes. Drain the tomatoes, but keep some of the liquid. Fire-roasted canned tomatoes work well, too.

Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender. Give it several pulses until it reaches your desired consistency. Then, it is ready! If it is too thick, add a bit of the reserved tomato juice until it is the consistency you want. For this version, I give it 5 minutes of prep time and then 5 minutes for blending.

This version is great for busy days, but we still love using homegrown tomatoes when the garden is popping.

📦 Storage

This recipe will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Refrigerate it within 2 hours of cooking. If you are making a big batch, think about freezing it. This recipe freezes very well. Just thaw it when you are ready to use. 

🎓 More About Tacos

Salsa is synonymous with tacos, and I wrote a whole article about the history of the taco. Check it out!