How To Make Fresh Homemade Salsa!

Here is our homemade salsa recipe, to be made from scratch with all fresh ingredients. Invite some neighbors over and serve these with tortilla chips as an appetizer!

Equipment Needed:
Cutting board
Sharp knife
Optional: We use a food processor but it is NOT neccessary

Ingredients
8 ripe tomatoes, diced (Roma or straight off the vine suggested)
1/2 red onion, chopped (more if it is a small onion; we usually add more to taste)
2 jalapeños, minced and seeded (keep seeds if you want it hot, can add another pepper if you prefer a stronger flavor)
16 cilantro sprigs, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
Juice of 2 fresh limes
olive or avocado oil to taste (Approximately 2 Tablespoons)
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Here is Your Salsa Playbook:

Note: We prepare our cilantro first so it is resting on the bottom of the food processor, and do our onion last because it can irritate the eyes and slow down the process. The great thing about this salsa is you add the veggies to your liking. But try it our way first; you won’t be disappointed!

Prepare the Cilantro: Hold the entire bunch of cilantro at the thick stems and scrape downward with the edge of your knife. This will peel off the leaves and thin stems. The thin stems are ok!! They are actually quite flavorful. You can discard the thicker stem sections. Fold/roll the cilantro and chop. If using a food processor, put the cilantro in first. If you don’t have one, just roll the cilantro pieces together and dice into small pieces.

Chop Tomatoes: Remove the stem section, then cut the tomatoes into quarters lengthwise and then cut all four in half so each tomatoes makes 8 one inch size chunks. (Dice into Smaller pieces if you aren’t using a food processor.)

Your Jalapeño Decision: How you prepare your jalapeños will determine how spicy your salsa is going to be. Two will add a balanced flavor. Scraping out most of the internal membranes (also called ribs) and seeds will reduce the heat. We always leave some seeds in. If you want a hotter salsa, just keep more (or all) seeds in the recipe. Cut off the stems, chop in half lengthwise and scrape out (or not) the insides. Cut each side a couple more times and add to the food processor, or dice finely with a knife.

Lime Juice: Fresh limes work best, though you can use prepared lime juice from a bottle in a pinch. First press down and roll the limes a bit to get them ready to juice. Then cut in half and squeeze thoroughly into a small bowl or even right into your food processor.

Garlic: If you have a food processor, just peel the garlic and cut in half to remove any stems inside as needed. Can also dice with a knife or use a garlic press. Pro Tip: put a little olive oil on your knife and cutting board and the garlic won’t stick to everything and will be much easier to dice up.

Onion: Since we are only using half an onion, we will cut in half across the width because the unused half will stay together better that way. Remove the outer skin and cut into a few chunks before putting into the food processor. Dice finely if making this without a food processor.

Salt: We prefer coarse, kosher salt, but simple table salt will do the trick. Just sprinkle on top of the veggies before using the food processor.

Food Processor: We use the pulse button in very short bursts to dice and mix the ingredients. It will be ready very quickly. Chop less for a more chunky salsa, and longer for a more liquid texture. if there are a few larger piece floating on top, just use a spatula or spoon to push them down, hit pulse another time or two, and we are almost done!

Add The Oil: Pour Your Salsa in a bowl and gently mix it up a bit. Then drizzle you olive oil (we like Avocado oil for this) and let all those flavors blend and sit together for 15 minutes.

Ready To Serve! After 15 minutes, gently stir in that oil, and be the first to try some! We love to serve it with a quality tortilla chip. Thin, cantina style chips are the best, but use what you have available.