This canned homemade salsa recipe is amazing. Made with garden fresh tomatoes, onions and a variety of peppers, the combination gives this salsa an unbeatable flavor. Perfect with chips or in addition to your favorite recipe, this homemade salsa is going to be your new favorite.

Canned Homemade Salsa Recipe

Let me first just start out by saying, I love salsa. I love chips and salsa, I love smothering salsa on everything, and I just really love a good salsa. Years ago, when my husband and I were first married, my mother-in-law asked if I wanted to come can salsa with her and my sister-in-laws. I had never canned anything in my life, but it sounded fun, so I happily joined them. It was a fun process, and a bit labor intensive, BUT, my life was forever changed, because this salsa is the best dang salsa I have ever had in my life. Now, 15 years later, I am still making this salsa every single fall to last us through the year.

This canned homemade salsa not only is so delicious, but it is customizable as well. You can make it as mild or as hot as you want. It is also shelf stable for up to 2 years. So, if you’re a salsa lover like me, you can have it anytime you want.

The Cowboys’ Rating: 10/10

Every time I make a new recipe, I have my family rate the recipe out of 10. By the time, these recipes make the blog, they’ve been tried and tested by some of my hardest tiny critics!

What Ingredients Are in Canned Homemade Salsa?

Fresh Garden Tomatoes – I have used a variety of different fresh tomatoes, and they are all good for this recipe. Any type will do, just make sure that you have a half of a bushel of fresh tomatoes.
Onions – You can’t make salsa without onions. I use white or yellow onions for this recipe.
Peppers – We love salsa that’s full of flavor. To achieve the flavor we want, we use a variety of different peppers. Each pepper has a different flavor that adds something unique to the salsa. Here are the varieties we use.
- Red and Green Bell Peppers – Not only do bell peppers add a variety of flavor, but it also adds color as well.
- Salsa Peppers – Every year this varies a little bit with what we grow in our garden and also what is available. In the recipe, it refers to salsa peppers which could be: poblano peppers, banana peppers, serrano peppers, or Coronado peppers. These peppers are sweet and mild peppers that each have a different, yet savory flavor to add to the salsa. We just choose a few and add it to the salsa.
- Colored Hot Peppers – Just as mentioned before, this varies with what is available. Because we don’t like hot salsa, we choose for peppers that have less heat than others. Here are a few we have used: Hidalgo chili pepper, Pequin peppers, cayenne peppers and so forth.
- Jalapeño Peppers – We like to use jalapeno peppers in our recipe because they have great flavor.
- Anaheim Peppers – Anaheim peppers are mild peppers that have a sweet yet slightly smoky flavor.
- Habanero Pepper – These little babies are hot! We only use one in our salsa recipe.
Salt – Salt has an important role here. Not only does salt adds so much flavor, but it also decreases the water activity and leads to a thicker salsa.
Garlic – I love the flavor of garlic. And a good salsa recipe has the perfect amount of garlic in it to really compliment the other flavors of the salsa.
Sugar – There are two reasons we add sugar to our salsa recipe. To cut down the acidity in the salsa, and to also enhances flavor while also adding a hint of sweetness.
Tomato Paste – Tomato paste is important for thickening your salsa. If you don’t add in tomato paste, your sauce will be very watery and not have the right consistency.
Apple Cider Vinegar – Apple cider vinegar helps to balance the acidity in the salsa and enhances the flavors in the other ingredients. It also is a natural preservative which extends the shelf life of the salsa.
Canning Jars – I like to use pint jars for salsa. It is the perfect amount for our little family. This recipe usually makes 28-30 pints of salsa.
Canning Lids – My favorite canning lids are from Ball. You can find them here.

Tools You’ll Need

When we get together to make salsa, we actually make it in my garage or outside. I set up a huge table and cover it with a disposable tablecloth, then we do all of the cutting and prep work on this table. When we are ready to start blanching the tomatoes and cooking the salsa, I will set up my Camp Chef Stove and cook on my Camp Chef Stove. I like to do this outside because it can be quite a mess and also if you cook this inside, your entire house will smell like salsa for weeks! I mean salsa has a great smell to it, but I also don’t want my house smelling like it for weeks.

How to Make Canned Homemade Salsa

Start by filling the large water bath canner with water. Bring water to a boil over high heat.
While water is heating, peel the onions and cut into large chunks and place in a food processor. Pulse until the onions are very small. Pour chopped onions into a large stock pot.
Cut all peppers and remove seeds, then also place in a food processor and pulse until small. Transfer them to the large stock pot with onions.
Peel the garlic cloves and add them to the food processor. Pulse until garlic cloves are pureed. Add to stock pot with peppers and onions.
Add in apple cider vinegar, salt and sugar to the large stock pot.
When the water begins to boil, it’s time to blanche the tomatoes. Submerge a few tomatoes in the boiling water (about 5-6 at a time). When the skin of the tomato splits, immediately remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and place them in the cold water. Repeat this process until all the tomatoes have been blanched and start to split.
Once the tomatoes are blanched, take a knife and cut the skins and the center core from the tomatoes.
Place the peeled tomatoes in a food processor and puree or pulse until there are no longer any large chunks of tomatoes.
Pour the pureed tomatoes into the large stock pot with peppers and onions. Mix until well blended.
Bring the salsa to a boil, then turn heat to medium. Cook for 1 hour, stirring frequently to avoid burning on the bottom.
After 1 hour, add the tomato paste to the salsa mixture.
Continue cooking for 1-2 hours until salsa has reached desired consistency. The salsa will continue to thicken the longer it’s cooked.
Wash and prepare quart jars.
When salsa has a nice, thick consistency, remove from heat and fill jars immediately.
Using canning tools, fill each jar with salsa leaving 1/4″ from the top.
Once the jars have been filled, wipe the top of the jar with a paper towel to remove any salsa that may have gotten on the rim of the jar. Place the lids on and hand-tighten the rings.
Let the jars cool for 30 minutes, then place in them in the water bath canner.
Once the jars have been placed in the water bath canner, fill the canner with water until the jars are completely covered with at least 1″ of water. (I like to place my finger on the top of the lid and if the water comes to my first knuckle, then it’s enough water.)
Cover and bring the water to a boil and boil for 25 minutes.
When the time is up, using jar tongs (canning tools) to lift each jar out of the boiling water and set aside. Do not touch or move the jars after they have been removed from the water bath for 24 hours.
Once the jars have cooled completely, check to see if the jars have sealed properly by lightly pressing down in the center. If the lid clicks or pops up and down – it did not seal.
If it did not seal properly, store the salsa in the fridge.
Store jars of salsa in a cool, dry place.
Shelf stable for up to 2 years.

How to Store Canned Homemade Salsa

Once this salsa has been made, it is good for up to 2 years! This salsa just gets better with time. As the flavors sit and blend together, the flavor is just so good. You will notice that after about a year, the salsa will get darker in appearance. This is ok and totally normal!

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