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 it today.

🌮 What makes this recipe special?

If you grow your own tomatoes or get fresh garden tomatoes from the store, 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. 

• Tomatoes
• Onion
• Garlic Cloves
• Jalapeno
• Cilantro
• Salt
• Sugar
• Cumin

See the recipe card for quantities.

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 chose to include some of the tomato varieties that are more common among sauces. Roma tomatoes are widely available and often are very economical. While they tend to be a variety used in tomato sauce or chunky fresh salsas, 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 starts to taste dry. So, we add some larger varieties like Big Boy and Celebrity tomatoes. About half of our salsa is of these other varieties. The other downside of Roma Tomatoes is that they are smaller and tend to be a little more work in peeling.

🍲 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 feel more comfortable putting them in an ice bath and are just used to it, feel free. Handling hot tomatoes right after blanching can be a bit uncomfortable, but I find that they cool down relatively quickly.

After blanching, it is a matter of simmering a bunch of ingredients together and then blending it 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 like that or Habenero peppers or whatever hot pepper, use that. Just make sure you know what you are getting into with some hot ones.

• Peppers – Add more peppers or try spicier peppers
• Spices – Change out what is right for you!
• 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. 

📦 Storage

This recipe will keep in the refrigerator for a week or so. If you are making a big batch, think about freezing it. This recipe will freeze very well. Just dethaw it when you are ready to use. 

🎓 History tidbit

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

❓ FAQ

📝 Tips and tricks

• Blanch tomatoes by dipping in boiling water for 30 seconds to one minute. Remove with metal spoon and allow to cool. The skin should be loose and peelable.
• We use about ½ Roma Tomatoes and ½ Big Boy, but the kind of tomato is a bit lenient. Use what you have or what you like!
• Like it spicier? Use more pepper or a hotter pepper. A Habenero is always nice for a hot sauce.
• We freeze this salsa and it turns out great.

🛠 Products used in this recipe

• Hand Blender
• Pot
• Strainer

😋 Did you make this recipe?

That is awesome, and thank you so much for giving this Homemade Salsa recipe a try. If you could leave a rating in the comment area below, it would be greatly appreciated. This lets me know how I am doing and also helps others decide if they want to make this recipe. Most of all, thanks for visiting Ramshackle Pantry.