This garden salsa recipe uses tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers and hot peppers straight from your garden or farmer’s market. I’ll walk you through the steps to can and preserve your garden bounty for the winter months.
My garden is bursting with banana peppers, bell peppers, jalapenos, sweet onions, and tomatoes! It’s time to share with you my favorite homemade salsa for canning!
Homemade canned salsa has got to be one of my favorite ways to experience the flavors of summer smack dab in the middle of winter. Because using produce straight from your garden or farmer’s market means you’re using the freshest produce you can find, the results are a salsa that tastes fresh even when you pop off the lid months after canning season is over.
I cut the original recipe in half to make 7 pint jars of salsa, which is perfect when you are at the beginning of tomato season and don’t have enough ripe tomatoes. If you have more tomatoes than you can humanly handle, feel free to double the recipe and make either 14 pint jars or 7 quart jars.
Watch Video: Homemade Salsa for Canning | Favorite Garden Salsa
Tips for Making Homemade Salsa for Canning
- First of all, the best tomatoes to use for salsa are romas or other paste tomatoes because they have less seeds and will result in a thicker salsa. That being said, I make mine with whatever I have on hand. This time, it was a mixture of romas and slicing tomatoes.
- Placing clean tomatoes into boiling water for a couple of minutes & then into an ice bath will make the skins very easy to remove
- I use my Ninja food processor listed below to chop the veggies, and it speeds up the process immensely! Make sure you chop the tomatoes separately from the onions and peppers because they’re not the same consistency.
- The tomatoes will become more of a sauce than chunks when you put them in the food processor because you boiled them for a couple of minutes. I don’t mind this because the onions and peppers give the salsa some bulk, but you should chop them by hand if you prefer chunks of tomatoes.
Tools You Will Need
- 7 pint mason jars
- Water bath canner
- Canning jar lifter
- Canning funnel
- Food processor (optional)
- Large stockpot
Ingredients You Will Need
- 6 lb tomatoes, peeled and chopped (roma or other paste tomatoes are best)
- 1 1/2 lb sweet peppers (bell, banana, Anaheim, etc.), chopped
- 1 1/2 lb sweet onions, chopped
- 1 pepper – 1 lb hot peppers, chopped (jalapeno, serrano, etc.)
- 1 1/4 cups cider vinegar
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp minced cilantro
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 small can tomato paste
How to Make Homemade Salsa for Canning
1. Prepare Tomatoes
- Dip tomatoes in boiling water for 1-2 minutes
- Immediately put tomatoes into ice water to cool
- Peel tomatoes and remove core if needed
2. Chop Veggies
- Chop tomatoes, onions, and peppers.
- Add tomatoes, onions, and peppers to a large pot
3. Add Rest of Ingredients
- Now, add vinegar, garlic, cilantro & salt
- Mix in tomato paste
4. Cook Salsa
- Bring salsa to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer with no lid for 15-30 minutes. Stir often until salsa is cooked to your preference.
5. Prepare for Canning
- Fill water bath canner with water and heat with the lid on until water is boiling.
- Next, run clean canning jars in the dishwasher to keep them warm until ready to fill.
- Get out enough canning rings and new lids for your jars.
6. Canning
- Remove a couple of jars at a time from the dishwasher.
- Use a ladle and funnel to scoop salsa into the jars.
- Fill jars to 1/4″ from the top of jars.
- Wipe the rims of jars clean with a damp cloth.
- Add lids to tops of jars and screw on the rings.
- Place jars into water bath canner full of boiling water.
- Then, add more water, if needed, to bring the water level at least two inches above the top of the jars.
- Place the lid back on the water bath canner, and bring the water back to a boil.
- Finally, when the water has returned to a boiling, you will boil jars for 15 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft above sea level).
7. Finished!
- Remove jars from the water and place on a dish towel on the countertop.
- Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down.
More Posts You May Like!
Blueberry Low Sugar Jam | Small Batch & Large Batch
How to Install Dripline for Your Garden Boxes
How to Grow Blueberries & Raspberries in Your Garden
If you make this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @littlehouseonlaurel with your delicious creation.
Pin It For Later
Leave a Reply