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Skip the store-bought salsa and make your own at home using fresh ingredients with this homemade salsa recipe for canning. This is a handy recipe to have on your pantry shelves.

In my family, we love salsa. Whether it’s to dip tortilla chips, put on eggs, tacos, burritos, potatoes, salad, or pretty much anything else, maybe it comes with the territory when you live in Texas.

But last week, when we were processing tomatoes, we earmarked a basket of them for making salsa to can. I didn’t grow cilantro this year, so we had to get some from the store, but our onions and garlic went gangbusters, and I’m so glad we could use them here.

One of the biggest reasons I like to make my own salsa is that I can control every ingredient and make the best recipe for me and my family. I also don’t have to even think about unnecessary additives, or whether it’s too spicy, or not spicy enough, or whether you can taste the garlic.

If you’re a garlic lover, you can add more! That’s the beauty of canning your own food.

Ingredients for making salsa

With that said, the list of ingredients for making salsa is very simple:

Fresh tomatoes. This goes without saying. The middle of summer, of course, is the best time to make salsa because that’s when you have access to quality, vine-ripened tomatoes. This makes sure your salsa has the best flavor.

Onions. These help make your salsa flavorful. I like to use red onions

Cilantro. You may be one of those who, like me, don’t enjoy the flavor of cilantro. Don’t let that deter you from using it in your salsa! This is a big flavor ingredient. If you’re skeptical, use less, but don’t omit it.

Garlic. As mentioned above, you can add as much garlic as you want. I looooove a garlicky salsa, but my kids aren’t the biggest fans, so in this recipe, I’ve kept it moderate.

Vinegar. Another flavor and a preservative in your salsa.

Jalapeños. This is the standard pepper used in salsa, though we’ll discuss some substitutes below, and another ingredient where you can use as much or as little as you want, depending on how much kick you want your salsa to have.

Salt. Though not pictured in the ingredient photo, salt is an essential ingredient for both flavoring and persevering your salsa.

Black pepper. This is a bit of a personal preference, but I love the flavor of black pepper, so I add some to my salsa.

Tomato sauce. This is a way to thicken the salsa without cooking it down. You can use homemade or commercial canned food.

Making safe substitutions to your salsa

When you’re canning, you have to think about safety (is my food going to go bad?) as much as flavor, so you won’t want to mix and match ingredients willy-nilly.

Fortunately, salsa is a pretty safe food. While the ingredients can go bad and mold, they’re not as prone to growing bacteria like botulism as vegetables are.

So, with salsa, substitutions are pretty straightforward.

Hot peppers. While jalapeño peppers are standard for salsa making, you can substitute another type of hot pepper for a hot salsa or green bell pepper for a milder salsa.

Vinegar. Though I like the flavor of red wine vinegar, you can substitute apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, or even white vinegar. If you don’t want vinegar, you can substitute bottled lemon juice or lime juice. If you’re worried about your salsa tasting vinegary, don’t! While the vinegar does give a tiny bit of flavor, more importantly, it lowers the pH of your recipe for canning.

Salt. While salt is a preservative, it’s not important in this recipe other than for flavor. So, feel free to adjust to your preference.

Onions. If you like more, use more, if less, use less. Use red, white, or yellow as you prefer.

Garlic. As discussed, adjust the amount to your preference.

Cilantro. This is an important flavor in salsa, but if you’re skeptical, feel free to use less or substitute some with parsley. You can also use an equivalent amount of dried parsley.

How to prepare tomatoes

To make salsa, you’ll want to peel, core, and de-seed your tomatoes.

You should know that my method differs slightly from what might be taught in canning books like the Ball Complete Guide to Home Preserving and Canning. This works most efficiently for me and makes the least mess in my kitchen. I’ve done ice water before, and it didn’t make much difference, and I didn’t have enough ice to do much.

So anyway, to peel your tomatoes, start by heating a pot of water to nearly boiling.

Once the water is hot, gently (to avoid splashing) place tomatoes in boiling water, working in batches. Let each batch of tomatoes blanch for about 60 seconds, then remove them with a slotted spoon. Transfer to a large bowl or colander.

Once you’re done blanching your tomatoes, move on to peeling. The first ones should be cool enough to handle by now.

The peelings may have cracked in the water and slip right off. If not, poke the peeling with a knife to get it started, then slip the peelings off.

After peeling your tomatoes, cut them in half from stem to blossom end, remove the core, then use your finger or a spoon to scoop out the seed cavity. Seeds in your salsa aren’t inherently bad, but the watery seed cavity will make your salsa watery.

After your tomatoes are peeled and cored, chop them to salsa-sized. If you like your salsa pretty well blended (say, like what you might be served at a Tex-Mex restaurant), you might want to give it a few pulses in the food processor. If you like it chunky, you might want to chop at least some of them with a knife and cutting board.

I find a happy medium to be a little hand chopper. The blade doesn’t spin fast enough to completely puree the tomatoes, but it’s not as tedious as chopping with a knife. You end up with a nice sauce and a lot of nice-sized chunks.

I also use this to chop the rest of my veggies when making salsa.

Canning Salsa Recipe

After preparing your tomatoes, prepare the rest of your ingredients.

Deseed the peppers
Quarter the onions
Peel the garlic
Separate the tough stems from your cilantro
Give them a few whirls in the food processor, and if you like them less chunky, a few more, then stir them into the tomatoes
Lastly, stir in the salt, vinegar, tomato sauce and black pepper.

Equipment needed for canning

Tomatoes, while usually served as a vegetable, are a fruit. While this may seem like semantics, it’s a key detail regarding canning. The higher acid content in fruits – including tomatoes – makes them good candidates for water bath canning.

So, for canning this salsa, instead of a pressure canner, you’ll use a water bath canner. This can be any kettle that is tall enough to cover your jars by two inches and has a lid, as well as some sort of rack to go inside and hold the jars off of the direct heat.

So if you already have a large pot, such as a large tamale pot, you may only need to purchase a rack to go in it.

I have an enamel water bath canner, and a stainless steel one. I use both, and they both work the same, but I do like the clean glass lid on the one, which makes it easy to see when it’s started boiling.

You’re also going to need canning jars. There are multiple brands of canning jars available in all sizes. In my opinion, none are significantly better than the others, so I have and use a variety. You can often find them at thrift stores, grocery stores, farm and ranch stores, or Amazon.

Along with those jars, you need canning lids. Most new jars come with lids, but lids are typically single-use. So, after the first use of the jar, I switch to Denali canning lids. I like these lids because I can buy them in bulk, and they have a money-back guarantee. I haven’t had one not sealed yet!

Other than that, I like to have a canning funnel to make filling the jars easier.

How to can homemade salsa

Now, we come to the good part. You’ll notice that we have not cooked the salsa at this point at all. I like to raw pack my salsa. It just saves time. It’s easier. You can heat it, cook it through, and hot pack your salsa. Or if you didn’t deseed your tomatoes, you may find your salsa is watery, and you need to cook it down a bit. If that’s your preference, go for it! But here’s my cold pack method:

Ladle the freshly made salsa into jars. You can use your preference in size. I usually like to use half pints. Though we can go through more than that in one sitting if we’re snacking on chips and salsa, it also ensures we won’t have a bunch of leftovers going back in the refrigerator if someone opens a can to put on their scrambled eggs and doesn’t use it all.
Wipe the rims of the jars, making sure they’re free from debris, and screw down lids and rings.
Place in a water bath canner prepared with cool water and heat over medium-high heat.
Cover the kettle and bring to a rolling boil.
Boil (process) half-pint jars for 15 minutes, pint jars for 20 minutes, or quart jars for 25 minutes.
When the processing time is done, remove the kettle from heat and let it stand until water and jars have reached a safe temperature for handling.
After 24 hours, you may test for seal and store in a cool place out of direct light.

What tomatoes are best for canning salsa?

If you know me, you know that I’m a big advocate of using what you have. That’s not to say there isn’t a good, better, and best option, but it’s important not to let the best get in the way of the good. Even if all you have are cherry tomatoes, you can still make salsa. It will be different, but it will be good!

With that said, paste tomatoes like Roma tomatoes or Amish paste are meatier with small seed cavities, so it takes fewer tomatoes to make the volume you need.

While I’m using Roma in these photos and videos, I think beefsteak has better flavor, and Brandywine is my absolute favorite for everything, including salsa. You just can’t beat the flavor. Their seed cavities may be larger and waterier, but they’re worth it if you have them.

And as indicated, any variety you’re growing or have access to will make great salsa.

Aside from variety, the main qualification for a salsa tomato is that it is firm and ripe. Underripe tomatoes not only have an inferior flavor but don’t peel well. On the flip side, overripe, soft tomatoes are difficult to handle, and you begin to love their texture, which can be a bummer when you want to make chunky salsa. They can still be used for making sauce or soup, so don’t throw them out!

Why does my canned salsa separate?

This is a frequent question when it comes to canning any tomato product, and the simple answer is that home canners don’t have the equipment commercial canners have to avoid pectin breakdown.

When you expose raw tomatoes to oxygen, the pectin breaks down, separating the water from the solids. So, during the canning process, the lighter solids float to the top, and the heavier liquids sink to the bottom.

It’s really hard to avoid exposing the raw tomato to air when you’re peeling, coring, and dicing. Even if you cooked them before doing all that, you would need to break them open to have some cooking liquid.

So what’s the solution? Stir it up before serving!

Other canning recipes for you:

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