A delicious quick and Easy Homemade Salsa Recipe that takes just 10 minutes to make. Made with fresh jalapenos, tomatoes and lime juice, you’ll never buy store-bought again!
I’m a sucker for salsa, any kind really, but I really love to make my own as well. This easy homemade salsa recipe takes just 10 minutes and is so amazingly delicious, not to mention, healthy!
I also have a delicious Restaurant-Style Chipotle Salsa in my cookbook, but today’s recipe uses all raw, fresh ingredients. So, they are different, but both delicious. Let’s make some salsa!
These tomatoes drew me in when I saw them. It inspired me to create this salsa recipe. Just a gorgeous rainbow of tomatoes waiting to be turned into an easy homemade salsa recipe.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PICO DE GALLO AND SALSA?
It drives me bonkers when I see pico de gallo recipes called salsa. I see it all the time and while they have similar ingredients, the texture is totally different. Pico de gallo is all raw chopped veggies (sometimes fruit) and chunky and is sometimes used as a filling. Whereas, the very definition of salsa is “sauce” in Spanish and is saucy with much more liquid.
Not to mention, the two taste very different. I have never been to a Mexican restaurant in my life where they serve salsa and chips and it is a bowl of chunky pico de gallo. Salsa also has a stronger acidic and tomato flavor. Chips and salsa are a food group, didn’t you know?
HOW TO MAKE EASY HOMEMADE SALSA
I have a couple of things that are required for me to declare it to be my “perfect” salsa.
It has to use fresh ingredients and have a fairly smooth consistency. I am NOT a fan of huge chunks in my salsa…reason being, I don’t like the texture of tomatoes. However, I LOVE tomato flavor and sauce.
To make this easy homemade salsa, you need a food processor and fresh ingredients like these:
- red onion
- grape tomatoes (I used sweet brown grape and a few of the orange, use what you like)
- ground cumin
- cilantro
- fresh jalapeno
- fresh lime juice
- fresh garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon raw agave or syrup
DON’T SKIP THE CILANTRO
Oh, and it’s gotta have cilantro too. Now, I’m not a huge fan of cilantro in itself, but it just belongs in salsa, especially this quick and easy homemade salsa recipe. It really improves the overall flavor.
This quick and easy homemade salsa recipe is fabulous with just chips, on tacos or my favorite way is just to heat up a tortilla and get it really warm and dip it in the salsa…SO good.
Other Dips for Your Chips:
Easy Homemade Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 packed cup (80g) diced red onion
- 1 1/2 heaping cups (272g or 1 pint) grape or cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup packed cilantro, adjust to taste
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh jalapeno
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (22g) fresh lime juice
- 2 cloves garlic (use the size preferred depending on your love for garlic)
- 1/2 teaspoon raw agave or syrup
- 1 teaspoon chili powder (optional, but I love the extra flavor of heat it gives and color)
Note
- This is the perfect amount of measurements to suit our taste, but feel free to adjust the lime juice or cilantro to your liking. With the tablespoon of fresh chopped jalapeno, it gives a nice kick to it without feeling overpowering. Feel free to adjust.
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and blend until desired consistency. I like mine more saucy, than chunky. Serve either at room temperature or slightly heat up. It is delicious warm! Serve with chips, tacos, omelettes or burritos!
Sounds perfect to me! I could probably live on Mexican food and chips and salsa are my diet weakness for sure. If I had to choose between chocolate and chips I’d be dipping for sure. I love that you use cherry tomatoes. I’m a tomato snob and if they’re not sweet like good vine ripened I won’t even add them to my dish. Also the lime and cilantro sound great. I always use them in my guacamole – probably a great match with your salsa… thanks Girl ♡
I know girl, me too! I looovvvee salsa and grew up here in Texas eating it in Mexican restaurants…it is very different than pico de gallo and I always ask to “hold the pico”…but bring on the salsa!
Oh and I know, traditionally, salsa uses canned tomatoes or Roma tomatoes, but I just couldn’t resist using these…it was just so simple and delish!
I never knew the difference between salsa and pico de gallo, now I do. Thank you. Your salsa sounds delicious.
Really? Maybe, it’s just a Texas thing, lol! Since I was a kid, it was always 2 very different things everywhere we went to eat. Thanks Suzanne!
I literally eat salsa EVERY single day. Every day. It goes on ALL my salads. This look so yummy and fresh. 🙂
Ha, thanks Brittany! I agree…salsa is the best!!
Those tomatoes wouldn’t last long enough in my house for me to make that tomato salsa! LOL!
Haha! I know, they were so tempting!
Never made my own salsa before, I have always been lazy and store bought it… but if the recipe is this easy, quick and delicious it is definitely something that I will be making from scratch next time!
This looks fabulous Brandi, and the pics of your tomatoes are Beautiful! Who knew tomatoes could be so beautiful, lol!??! We just bought a big box of regular tomatoes. I imagine this recipe would work okay with those, do ya think? We were going to make and bottle salsa today, but I’ve been too dang tired. I’m lovin’ this raw recipe though and it’s not as overwhelming as making a GIANT batch and bottling it all. I may try your recipe tomorrow. It looks so so good!
Thank you so much Melanie, you are so sweet! Yes, I’m sure regular tomatoes would be just perfect! Please let me know if you try it and feel free to adjust any seasonings, if necessary 🙂
Perfect for the summer that is coming up, what a lovely salsa 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks Uru!
This looks so simple and fresh – so much better than opening a jar of some brand name salsa. I will have to try this as tomatoes are in a abundance right now. Do you think it would freeze well?
Thanks Cindy! Sure, I don’t see why not!
This was super easy and delicious! I normally use canned tomatoes for salsa, so nice to have a fresh option.
Thanks so much Marlene for making it and I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback
It’s very cool that you’ve used grape tomatoes – I’ve never seen anyone else use them for salsa before! 🙂
I’m not a fresh tomato fan, but I do love salsa, so I’m quite tempted to try this!!!
Thank you Sandy!! I hope you try it! I served it at my daughters birthday party and it was a hit. Fresh and so easy to make!
Hey,
What can I use instead of raw agave? Will sugar do?
You can use maple syrup. Or, yes, you can use sugar, you may need a tad more since liquid sweetener is more concentrated.
This is the best salsa I ever had. It only lasts a day or two in my house, so I just buy enough ingredients to make it all week. Thank you!
So very happy to hear that Cheryl, thank you so much for the feedback!!
I needed salsa for burrito bowls I was making for dinner. Unfortunately I had run out and did not want to wake my sleeping toddler to run to the store. Fortunately I had all the ingredients I needed for this salsa! Yummy! And so much better than store bought!
Wonderful Sarah! So glad you loved the salsa, thank you so much for the feedback!
Could you can this recipe?
Hi Ashley! I have no idea. I don’t know anything about canning, so I’m afraid I’m just no sure of the proper way to do it.
I just finished making my salsa and it is very runny ,I am thinking my tomatoes were too ripe. Anything I can do to thicken it up?
Hi Claudia, yes, that is possible. It’s not supposed to be super thick. However, tomatoes thicken up a ton in the fridge as they chill. So place the salsa in your fridge and check it tomorrow or several hours later today and it should have thickened up much better.
Does it not look like the texture of the salsa in the pic? Also, did you use the grape tomatoes like I have listed? Different tomatoes have different water levels, so that could be it if you used a different tomato than I used.
If you find it runny you can add a tablespoon of tomato paste to it. If your tomatoes are watery in advance you can salt them for a few minutes in a colander before making the salsa.
Wow my child is doing this at school and they are following your recipe it tasted wows a !!!can you can this recipie though???…
So glad it was such a hit! So sorry I just saw this comment. As far as canning, I know nothing about canning, so I’m afraid I can’t give advice on how to do it, so sorry!
I did not expect this to taste THIS good!! I have a easy quick go to salsa now! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Yay, thank you so much Tina for the awesome review!
Wow! We absolutely love this salsa!! It’s sooooo much better than store bought salsa that it has become a staple in our home! Thank you, Brandi, for another delicious recipe!!
That is so wonderful to hear Jenny, thank you so much for the review!
Did you use a tomatillo or green tomato? I see it in the picture but didn’t notice it on the recipe.
Maybe it was a prop ( beautiful by the way). 😀
Hi Nancy, no I just used the red and oranges, no green, it’s only there because it was too pretty to pass up, lol. You can just use red cherry or grape tomatoes, that is totally fine 🙂
Hello! I love your recipes! Do you think raw honey would be okay in this instead of agave nectar? Thank you!:)
Yes, for sure!
This was fabulous!! I made it a bit more chunky so that it was more like a pico de gallo. Made it to go with vegan huevos rancheros tonight and it was a huge hit with the whole family. 4 clean plates=success!! This is the second time I’ve made this in two days—definitely a keeper!
Wonderful Lisa, so glad to hear you love this salsa! Thank you so much for making it!