Our Homemade Salsa - House Style and Pineapple
Hot and spicy or sweet and mild, salsa is a great item to have on the shelf in your pantry. We use ours as a mix in with mac-n-cheese, for dips, omelets, on burgers, wraps and with so many other foods. Every year when we inventory our pantry we make sure we have enough salsa to get us through until our tomato harvest the next year. Whether you grow your own tomatoes, buy them at a farmer's market or at the grocery store, making homemade salsa let you customize it to your tastes and control the ingredients you're using. This recipe is a great base to get you started and you can build the heat or make it sweet with just a few quick additions.
Equipment
- 1 paring knife
- 1 food processor optional
- 1 large pot (not aluminum)
- 1 large spoon
- 1 medium bowl
- * storage containers
- * Water Bath Canner, Jars & Canning Supplies If canning, wash, sterilize and preheat jars
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 10 cups cored, diced tomatoes removing seeds is optional
- 2 cups diced peppers you can mix sweet and hot depending on preference
- 1½ cups diced onions
- 1 cup cider vinegar can use white vinegar if preferred
Dry Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp dried cilantro (½ cup fresh)
- 1 tbsp dried parsley (½ cup fresh)
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1½ tsp cumin
Instructions
Prepping Tomatoes, Peppers and Onion
- Wash, core and dice tomatoes. You can remove the seeds or not as you prefer. You can use a food processor to dice your tomatoes or you can cut them by hand. Measure your 10 cups after they have been processed.
- Wash, core and dice 2 cups of peppers. If you prefer a mild salsa you can use sweet peppers such as bell peppers (green, red, orange or yellow) or cubanelle peppers. If you want to spice it up you can substitute some of the sweet peppers with hotter peppers like jalapeno or serrano peppers or for those who like it very hot you can add some super chilis or your favorite hot pepper. We recommend start low and adding some of the hotter peppers slowly to taste.
- Skin and chop 1½ cups of onion
Prepping Dry Ingredients
- Combine in bowl sugar, cilantro, parsley, oregano, salt and cumin
- Mix well and put aside
In Large Pot:
- Combine tomatoes, peppers, onions and vinegar; stir together
- Bring this mix to a boil and let boil, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
- Stir in dry ingredients until well incorporated
- Bring back to a boil and boil for an additional 5 minutes
- Reduce heat and simmer an addition 5-10 minutes or until onions and peppers are tender
Canning
- Prepare home canning jars and lids according to manufacturer's instructions for sterilized jars. Pour hot salsa into clean hot pint canning jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rim and cap each jar as it is filled. Process jars for 40 minutes* in boiling water bath canner. Turn off heat, carefully remove canner lid, and let jars stand for 5 minutes in canner. Remove jars. Let jars sit undisturbed to cool at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Test jars for airtight seals according to manufacturer's directions. If jars do not completely seal, refrigerate and consume within 1 week. Use shelf-stable product within 1 year.*Processing time listed is for altitudes less than 1000 feet. At altitudes of 1000 feet or more, increase processing time 1 minute for each 1000 feet of altitude.
Video
Notes
If you want to make a Sweet or a Sweet & Spicy Salsa, you can add 2-4 cups of your favorite fruit such as peaches, mango or pineapple to your tomatoes, peppers and onions when you are cooking them. (Be sure to peel, core and slice before adding!) You can also try a mix of fruit like cubes of granny smith apples and unsweetened pineapple. It's a great twist on a go to condiment and tastes awesome on chicken or pork or with salty chips as a dip!
If you have a favorite add-in for your salsa be sure to comment on this recipe and let us know!