This Homemade Salsa Recipe is ready in 5 minutes and is the best restaurant-style salsa! This easy salsa is made with canned tomatoes and doesn’t require any chopping/prep work because it’s made in the blender! A perfect appetizer to serve to last-minute guests!
This post is sponsored by my friends at Vitamix! As always, all opinions, photos, videos and recipes are my own!
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.
It has the taste and texture of restaurant-style salsa, and it’s made in only 5 minutes in the Vitamix 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. I prefer making it kid-friendly (because I have 5 kids), so I make a very mild salsa, but we’ll chat about ways to spice it up!
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)!
How do you make homemade 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!
Homemade Salsa: Ingredients & Substitutions
First, let’s chat about the ingredients.
- Canned diced tomatoes. Any variety works well in this salsa recipe. I usually opt for regular diced or fire roasted diced tomatoes.
- Onion (or onion powder). I have made this blender salsa recipe with both raw onion and onion powder. I prefer it with onion powder because I’m not an onion lover (gasp) but I do love the flavor. However both ways are delicious!
- Fresh Cilantro. There’s really no substitution fresh cilantro. I buy a bunch every time I go grocery shopping because it’s cheap and we eat tacos weekly, so we always use it!
- Garlic powder (or minced garlic). Both garlic powder but minced garlic make a delicious homemade salsa!
- Ground Cumin. Ground cumin is an essential spice for homemade salsa! Another pantry staple I recommend always having on hand.
- Sea salt. I recommend cooking/baking with pure sea salt. Feel free to adjust the salt to your tastes!
- Granulated Sugar. Sugar is optional but just a small amount really brings out the flavor of the tomatoes in this homemade salsa recipe. You can substitute brown sugar, coconut sugar, or honey for the sugar!
- Lime juice. This is another ingredient I always keep on hand in the fridge. I recommend using fresh lime juice, either bottled or freshly squeezed!
How to make salsa spicier:
If you like a spicer salsa here are some additions to kick up the heat:
- Add some hot peppers to taste: jalapeño, habanero, etc.
- 1-2 TBS of your favorite hot sauce
- Add some hot green chilies
What tomatoes are good for salsa? (Canned Vs. Fresh Tomatoes)
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!
Blend!
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. Yet another reason it’s my BFF in the kitchen!
If you are looking to buy a Vitamix, check out my in-depth Vitamix buying guide and learn why I chose to blend with Vitamix 10 years ago and never looked back!
Be sure to save one can of diced tomatoes for later! If using fresh, start by adding 1 1/2 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).
Add the second can of diced tomatoes and pulse to combine. The amount of blending here will really depend 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 dishes!
- These sweet potato tacos are my absolute favorite.
- 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!
How do you store homemade salsa?
This blender salsa can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator! I do not recommend freezing this salsa recipe!
How long does homemade salsa last?
This easy salsa recipe will last for 5-7 days in the refrigerator!
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Easy Homemade Salsa Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 14 oz cans cans diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup onion or 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp garlic powder or minced garlic
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 TBS 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
Nutrition
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Deborah Wallent
I made the refried beans and the salsa. Both were super quick and so delicious!
Laura
Thank you so much Deborah! I’m so glad you loved them both!
Cherese Pate
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!
Laura
Perfect snack Cherese!!! Thank you for your comment!