Homemade Canned Tomato Salsa

Capture the flavors of peak tomato season with this delicious Homemade Canned Tomato Salsa! Made with ripe tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, and a blend of flavorful spices, this homemade salsa is perfect for preserving your garden harvest. Using a water bath canning method, you can enjoy fresh, vibrant salsa long after summer has ended. Whether you serve it with tortilla chips, spoon it over tacos, or use it in your favorite Mexican-inspired recipes, this pantry staple is always a welcome addition to your kitchen.

Nothing like a homemade product as opposed to store-bought. We started adding in our favorite parts of other recipes and coming up with something we can now call our own. Also, try some of our other tomato recipes like Homemade Tomato Juice, Tomato Jam, or Canned Pomodoro Sauce. 

Why I Love This Recipe

• Love to can summer’s bounty
• Delicious with so many meals
• You can make it exactly how you like it
• Great for gifting
• Excellent to always have on hand

So today I am sharing with you our recipe. This is how we like it and the heat we like but that can all be adjusted to your preferences too. 

Just be careful, we have done some mighty powerful stuff over the years that we have regretted.

Canned Salsa Ingredients

Ingredients

Peeled Roma tomatoes – Have a look at the link as we show you how easy it is to peel a tomato.

Onions, red pepper, green pepper – These all need to be small chopped, as shown in the picture.

Red hot pepper, jalapeno peppers and Thai chili peppers – Chopped and seeded. You can make this as hot as you like and one way is by leaving in some of the seeds. This combination of peppers we have found gives off a little heat and great flavor.

Minced garlic – This gives so much flavor and is needed for a great salsa.

Sugar, pickling salt, ground cumin – Perfect combination of sweet, salty and flavorful. You must use pickling salt or Kosher salt when canning.

Cider vinegar – This adds again more flavor than regular vinegar and the tang that is needed.

Canning Salsa

We go to the farmers market a few times at this time of year getting the best produce we can find for our canning.

Plus, we grow some of our own tomatoes on the balcony and use them too. All the ingredients though are farm fresh making the best salsa you will ever have!!

I like a salsa that is between mild and medium so that the other ingredients of dishes can still stand out.

You can always add heat to your dish that you are serving. For example jalapenos on nachos to gain that extra heat you may desire.

We also now have a new post for How to Remove a Tomato Skin to help you with that task. 

How to Make the Best Salsa

In a large pot add the tomatoes, onions, peppers, hot peppers, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin and vinegar. Stir often and bring up to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and boil gently for about an hour, continuing to stir occasionally. Sauce should be reduce by half and somewhat thickened. Adjust taste with salt if needed.

Add lids to hot water for 5 min. Pour into sterilized jars and remove air pockets, and fill to 1/2″. Wipe rims and seal with lids and apply rims to fingertip tight.

Process jars in a water bath. Cover the jars with at least 1-inch of water. Bring to a rolling boil and process for 20 minutes (25 minutes for altitudes 1000 to 3000 ft, 30 minutes for 3,001 to 6,000 ft, 35 minutes for 6,001 to 8,000 and 40 min. for 8,001 to 10,000 ft ). Then turn off heat and let the jars sit in the hot water for 5 minutes.

Remove the jars to a tea towelled lined counter and let cool. You should hear a popping noise when they seal. If any don’t seal, place in the fridge and use within a week.

Canned salsa should be used within the year.

There are a variety of ways you can spice up your salsa. There are loads of hot peppers on the market, dried or fresh but some really hold a punch of heat.

We have used habanero peppers with success but for this salsa today we used red hot peppers, that are similar in appearance to jalapenos and also jalapenos but leaving some seeds in.

Also purchased from the market were Red Thai peppers. We have used these before for pickles to give them extra heat.

Simple Easy Homemade Canned Tomatoes

Also for Simple Easy Homemade Canned Tomatoes we have the best recipe and make them almost every year.

I love using my own tomatoes throughout the winter; they add so much more to my dishes!

I use my fresh basil and oregano that I have grown in the summer and add it to my tomatoes for some extra flavor. They are always a hit!!

OTHER CANNING RECIPES

All of these recipes are our own canning creations that have been tested and tasted many times.

Rhubarb Chutney

Easy Pickled Beets

Easy Pickled Carrots

Tomato Jam Recipe

Pickled Green Beans

Garden Fresh Zucchini Salsa

Blueberry Rhubarb Jam

Red and Green Pepper Jelly

Jalapeno Jam

PRINTABLE FOR WATER BATH CANNING

Pin it HERE!!

Pin it HERE!!

Homemade Canned Tomato Salsa

Tara Noland

Making your own canned salsa lets you control the ingredients, spice level, and freshness. Unlike many store-bought varieties, homemade salsa is packed with ripe tomatoes, crisp vegetables, and bold seasonings without unnecessary preservatives. It's a great way to reduce food waste by using an abundant tomato harvest while creating a flavorful pantry staple.

4.41 from 152 votes

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

Course Canning and Pickling

Cuisine American

Servings 7 (16 oz.) jars

Calories 18 kcal

Video

Ingredients

 

• 14 cups peeled Roma tomatoes
• 3 cups onions chopped
• 1 red pepper chopped
• 1 green pepper chopped
• 2 red hot pepper chopped and seeded
• 4 jalapeno peppers chopped and two with seeds and two without
• 2 Thai chili peppers chopped, one with seeds and one without
• 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
• 4 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. pickling salt
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 3/4 cups cider vinegar

Instructions

 

• In a large pot add the tomatoes, onions, peppers, hot peppers, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin and vinegar. Stir often and bring up to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and boil gently for about an hour, continuing to stir occasionally. Sauce should be reduce by half and somewhat thickened. Adjust taste with salt if needed.
• Add lids to hot water for 5 min. Pour into sterilized jars and remove air pockets, and fill to 1/2". Wipe rims and seal with lids and apply rims to fingertip tight. Process jars in a water bath. Cover the jars with at least 1-inch of water. Bring to a rolling boil and process for 20 minutes (25 minutes for altitudes 1000 to 3000 ft, 30 minutes for 3,001 to 6,000 ft, 35 minutes for 6,001 to 8,000 and 40 min. for 8,001 to 10,000 ft ). Then turn off heat and let the jars sit in the hot water for 5 minutes.
• Remove the jars to a tea towelled lined counter and let cool. You should hear a popping noise when they seal. If any don’t seal, place in the fridge and use within a week.
• Canned salsa should be used within the year.

Equipment

16 pack 16 oz Mason Jars with Airtight Lids and Bands, Glass | Regular Mouth

Victorio VKP1130 Stainless Steel Multi-Use Canner with Temperature Indicator w/ Stainless Steel Canning Rack

Bellemain 6 Piece Canning Tool Set – Vinyl Coated Stainless Steel

Notes

As a rough guide, I have found that 10 pounds of Roma tomatoes gives me about 12 cups, depending upon the size of the tomatoes.

If you would like your salsa a bit thicker add 2 Tbsp of tomato paste towards the end of cooking. If you want it spicier add a tsp of red pepper flakes.

See the post for more information, photos and tips. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 18kcalCarbohydrates: 4gSodium: 16mgSugar: 2g

Nutrition calculation is an estimation only. If you need nutritional calculations for medical reasons, please use a source that you trust.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!