A salsa recipe with flavour you can’t buy in a jar. No need to wait for your next visit to your favourite Mexican restaurant. Just make it at home!
Fat free, full of flavour, and utterly addictive, this is a restaurant style salsa that’s the perfect consistency for scooping up with corn chips. Or go super healthy and serve it with crudités!
Salsa recipe – restaurant style
You’ve seen the jars sold alongside corn chips at the grocery store. You’ve devoured inordinate amounts of it at your favourite Mexican restaurant.
And now it’s time to make it at home.
It’s healthier, it’s cheaper and it tastes SO GOOD! Flavour, flavour, flavour – homemade salsa has flavour you simply cannot buy in a jar!
What goes in salsa
Here are the ingredients in my salsa recipe. The key things that add great flavour to salsa are cumin, cilantro/coriander, garlic, onion and jalapeño. I also like to add canned green chiles which adds terrific smokiness and small touch of heat (not much).
Canned green chiles are a popular Tex-Mex ingredient in America that’s not (yet) available here in Australia. I bring back dozens every time I visit the US, that’s how much I love it! It’s easy to sub the flavour using chargrilled peppers – though they are red, not green, they add the same smokiness that the green chiles add.
Top Tip: Use good quality canned tomato
Given that tomato is the key ingredient in this recipe, your salsa will only be as good as the tomato you use.
Using crushed canned tomato in this recipe isn’t just about convenience. It’s also because we can’t always get really great quality fresh tomatoes, but we can always find great quality canned tomatoes.
If you’re keen to make a recipe using fresh tomatoes, try this one from Jo Cooks. I made it over Christmas and it is terrific!
Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, it’s as simple as plonk and blitz. Make it as chunky or smooth as you like. I like mine more smooth because I find you get better flavour when the onion etc are blitzed up quite finely.
Also, the chunkier the salsa, the more it separates when sitting around. So it holds up better the smoother it is.
How and what to serve with salsa
The obvious way to serve is as a dip for corn chips or anything suitable for dunking, but there’s a whole bunch of other really great ways to use salsa! Here’s a few ideas:
Topping / dipping for tacos, burritos, fajitas, nachos, quesadillas – basically everything and anything Mexican
Spoon over crispy pan fried fish, juicy baked chicken breast, plain or marinated pan fried pork chops
Dollop on this Mexican Chicken Salad
For the healthiest dip platter ever, serve salsa with crudités (that’s a fancy word for veggie sticks), like this one – a photo from my Hummus recipe.
I make this salsa recipe a lot because I’m a self confessed Snack Monster and this is my way of having something nibbly without the guilt. It’s one of those foods I call “incidentally healthy”. Meaning – it’s not a stripped back “diet” version of the way it’s supposed to be.
Snack Monsters unite! Think of all the guilt free snacking possibilities! (Just ignore all the photos of the corn chips all over this post. Think – carrot sticks. 😂) – Nagi x
Salsa recipe
Watch how to make it
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Restaurant Style Salsa
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup chopped onion (white, brown or yellow)
- 1 tbsp jalapeño pepper , seeds removed, roughly chopped (fresh best, canned ok)
- 400g / 14 oz canned crushed tomato , best quality
- 4 oz / 120g canned diced green chiles (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup (packed) cilantro/coriander , roughly chopped
- 1/2 tbsp+ lime juice
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Instructions
- Place onion and jalapeno in the food processor first, then add remaining ingredients (start with 1/2 tbsp lime juice).
- Blitz to desired consistency – I like mine pretty smooth because you get better flavour out of the onion etc.
- Taste test with corn chip for salt and lime. Adjust if necessary.
- Refrigerate 1 hour before serving with corn chips, or other dippers (see in post for suggestions).
Recipe Notes:
Originally published May 2014, completely updated in January 2019 including a few minor flavour improvements to recipe.
Life of Dozer
The daily post-beach routine: refusing to get out of the car, knowing a good hose down awaits…
I have looked everywhere for a jarred salsa like this, but to no avail. My son hates chunky salsa. When I saw your recipe I had to try it. I have made at least 4 batches of this and it never lasts longer than a couple of days. My son loves it and has even had me teach him how to make it. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
That’s so fantastic to hear Donna! Thank you for letting me know! N xx
Hi Nagi,
I have made so many of your mexican recipes – everything is just so yummy!
I am in a pickle though, I have a few guests who aren’t fans of coriander – do you think your salsa recipe would work well without the coriander?
Thanks so much!
Hi Sarah! It will work but it won’t be proper Mexican 🙂 I would add some shallots/scallions instead N x
Thanks so much Nagi! I made it tonight with your suggestion and it tastes great 🙂
Curious on why you don’t opt for fresh tomatoes vs. canned, especially in a salsa.
Hi Kristin! I just find canned gives a better thicker “tomatoey” flavour for this pureed salsa 🙂 I use fresh for Pico de Gallo i.e. the chopped tomato salsa. 🙂
This looks perfect, Nagi! Do you think it would freeze well? I’d love to use the bounty from the garden and have some fresh-tasting salsa in the winter!
Hi Sherry! To be honest, I prefer not to freeze this because I find it loses a lot of flavour 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you do though! PS Garden bounty? So jealous!!
Yum! Great recipe post 🙂
Thanks Chelsey!
Absoloutely loving this! Just moved into a new flat so this is going to make meal time more exciting!
This is such a staple in my repertoire, I make it so often!
By the way, love all your recipes. You have inspired me to cook again. If I am using fresh tomatoes, how much do i use?
Hi Yolly! Use the same weight per the recipe 🙂 And please use really ripe ones!!
I LOVE this salsa! The only thing I did differently was use fresh tomatoes since I had some leftovers from my garden. Yummy! I had some salsa on my eggs this morning for breakfast – delicious! 🙂
I’m so glad you loved this!! Isn’t it delicious? It’s so fresh! Intensely jealous you grow your own 🙂
Corriander and cumin? Thanks so much Nagi. Had nachos with salsa at a local pub tonight after our boating class and I wouldn’t figure out what that great taste was. Save this one in my RecipeTin app stash. Perfection!
Thanks Kathy! Glad you approve 🙂 Am sure you can whizz some up on your boat!!