Easy Homemade Salsa Recipe
Posted Sep 22, 2019, Updated Sep 30, 2024
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This is the best Homemade Salsa Recipe! This easy salsa is made with canned tomatoes in 5 minutes and doesn’t require any chopping/prep work because it’s made in the blender!
If you’re like me, and can devour an entire bowl of chips and salsa at your favorite Mexican restaurant before the meal is even served, then you’re going to love this homemade salsa recipe (also try this black bean & corn salsa and guacamole)!
It has the taste and texture of restaurant style salsa, and it’s made in only 5 minutes in the blender, which means that there’s no chopping or prep work required!
Plus, you can adjust the heat to be as spicy or mild as you’d like.
Another great thing about this easy salsa recipe is that it calls for canned tomatoes, which means you can make it year round! No need to wait for the summer to use garden-fresh tomatoes, (although you can use those as well, as we’ll chat about that later).
Homemade Salsa: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Canned diced tomatoes. Any variety works well in this salsa recipe. I usually opt for regular diced or fire roasted diced tomatoes. If you want to use some fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes, you need about 3 cups of fresh tomatoes, and make sure to remove the seeds to avoid a watery salsa.
- Onion (or onion powder). I have made this blender salsa recipe with both raw onion and onion powder.
- Fresh Cilantro. There’s really no substitution fresh cilantro.
- Garlic powder. 1 Tablespoon minced garlic is a good substitute for 1 teaspono garlic powder.
- Ground Cumin. Ground cumin is an essential spice for homemade salsa! Another pantry staple I recommend always having on hand.
- Granulated Sugar. Sugar is optional but just a small amount really brings out the flavor of the tomatoes. You can substitute brown sugar, coconut sugar, or hone.
- Lime juice. bottled or fresh both work well.
Add Heat/Spice
If you like a spicier salsa here are some additions to kick up the heat:
- Cayenne or chili pepper
- hot peppers to taste: jalapeño, habanero, etc.
- 1-2 Tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce
- hot green chilies
How to Make Blender Salsa
Like I said before, this homemade salsa recipe is so easy to make. I only have a few tips about the method and possible ways to spice it up! But it’s a very straightforward, easy salsa recipe! See below for a quick video, or in the recipe card for my full tutorial with cute little helpers!
Start by adding 1 can of diced tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients into the container of a blender – as always, I recommend using a Vitamix! In this recipe the Vitamix does all the hard work for you…chopping, mincing, etc.
Be sure to save one can of diced tomatoes for later! If using fresh, start by adding 1 ½ cups of tomatoes, blending, then adding the rest.
Blend for 5-10 seconds until the onions are diced (if using onion powder, you don’t have to worry about that).
Then, add the second can of diced tomatoes and pulse to combine.
The amount of blending here depends on your personal preferences. If you like a chunky salsa, just pulse once. If you want a smoother homemade salsa, pulse a few times!
Chill
Transfer the blender salsa to a serving dish or airtight container (if you’re going to store it for later) and place it in the refrigerator. I recommend chilling this homemade salsa for at least 30 minutes, however we have dug right in with no complaints (see the video)! Chilling allows the flavors to blend together, so in my opinion, the longer the better!
Serve
Serve this easy salsa recipe with your favorite chips. We always enjoy this salsa on our weekly taco nights with some of our favorite Mexican recipes:
- Ground beef tacos and ground chicken tacos.
- These sweet potato tacos are my absolute favorite.
- This is the best nachos recipe ever – with two layers of cheese!
- Taco night isn’t complete without homemade salsa AND homemade guacamole!
- Make these homemade refried black beans to put inside your tacos with this easy salsa!
- Chicken enchiladas and ground beef enchiladas absolutely must be served with homemade salsa!
- These crockpot chicken tacos are easy and delicious!
Store
Store any leftover salsa in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I do not recommend freezing this recipe.
Blender Salsa Recipe FAQS
Canned: I personally prefer using canned tomatoes to make this homemade salsa recipe! I recommend choosing a variety with “no-salt added!” Fire roasted tomatoes are also a favorite of mine, because of the flavor! Plus, the convenience of canned tomatoes and their year-round availability make them my preferred choice!
Fresh: If you have a garden full of super ripe fresh tomatoes then they would taste great in this easy salsa recipe! You’ll need about 3 cups of fresh tomatoes to make this homemade salsa recipe. To use fresh, remove the seeds to avoid a watery salsa!
This blender salsa can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator! I do not recommend freezing this salsa recipe!
This easy salsa recipe will last for 5-7 days in the refrigerator!
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Easy Homemade Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
- 28 ounces diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup onion
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lime juice
Instructions
- Put onion, cilantro, garlic powder, cumin, sea salt, sugar and lime juice into the container of a Vitamix blender.
- Pulse to combine until the onion are diced well.
- Add 1 can of diced tomatoes and blend for 5-10 seconds.
- Add second can, pulse to lightly blend (if desired), or leave them chunky.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes (optional but recommended for flavors to blend together).
- Pour into a serving dish and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Canned diced tomatoes. Any variety works well in this salsa recipe. I usually opt for regular diced or fire roasted diced tomatoes. If you want to use some fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes, you need about 3 cups of fresh tomatoes, and make sure to remove the seeds to avoid a watery salsa.
- Onion (or onion powder). I have made this blender salsa recipe with both raw onion and onion powder.
- Fresh Cilantro. There’s really no substitution fresh cilantro.
- Garlic powder. 1 Tablespoon minced garlic is a good substitute for 1 teaspono garlic powder.
- Ground Cumin. Ground cumin is an essential spice for homemade salsa! Another pantry staple I recommend always having on hand.
- Granulated Sugar. Sugar is optional but just a small amount really brings out the flavor of the tomatoes. You can substitute brown sugar, coconut sugar, or hone.
- Lime juice. bottled or fresh both work well.
- Cayenne or chili pepper
- hot peppers to taste: jalapeño, habanero, etc.
- 1-2 Tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce
- hot green chilies
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I don’t have a Vitamix Blender.
You can use a food processor or regular blender for this recipe!
Thank you for this recipe. We recently moved to a small town and no one carries the salsa we prefer. This sounds perfect for us. We eat Mexican food at least twice a week and will certainly use this recipe. Thanks so much!
Thank you for posting this recipe!! I’ve must’ve made it three times within the past month AND shared it work my work mates. I use it for lots of food choices…just a dip for chips, in my scrambled eggs, on pinto beans, dip for quesadillas, etc. All I know is my store bought salsa taste soooo inferior to this recipe that I keep throwing them away, then quickly making a new batch or your salsa. NOTE: To your recipe, I add 2-3 serrano peppers and 2 Tbs of white vinegar.
Thanks so much for this recipe! It was lovely! I made it for a family that can’t have raw onion, and our own family loved the leftovers as well. I’m so glad to have this in my repertoire. Thanks!
Best salsa our family has ever had! Easy to make—we won’t be buying our salsa anymore! So good! Thank you!
I made the refried beans and the salsa. Both were super quick and so delicious!
Thank you so much Deborah! I’m so glad you loved them both!
I made this for my snack. I LOVED it. I added a little extra cilantro because I do like the taste. I forgot to take a picture. This will be my summer go to snack with homemade tortilla chips!
Perfect snack Cherese!!! Thank you for your comment!