We’ve been making salsa for 25 years or so and always have a few good ones lying around. I like having things posted here So I can always go back and find them with pics and comments. And if anyone learns something or enjoys one of them, all the better.
Going to start with the gold standard Tex Mex table salsa that every TexMex joint brings to your table when you sit down here in central Texas. This is very “Austin/San Antonio” style. Every restaurant has their own take on this but they all start with the same basic ingredients.
28-oz Canned Tomatoes (San Marzano if you can find them),
Medium white Onion
3-5 jalapeños (taste for spiciness and use what you think will give you the kick you want).
juice of one juicy lime
cilantro (about a half cup or a fist full)
2-3 cloves of garlic (minced or microplaned)
roughly a tablespoon of kosher salt (some use garlic salt instead of fresh garlic and kosher. I go back and forth. They are both good)
About the tomatoes: they all use canned tomatoes for this one so it tastes the same every time you go in. Winter tomatoes suck and produce mealy, watery salsa. You can certainly use fresh but it changes every time you make it. If you are going to have a “signature” salsa like all the restaurants here try to do, then it’s going to have to taste the same every time you go. The only way to do that is by using canned tomatoes. If you are going to make fresh, do it when tomatoes are in season. It’s a real treat for a few months to make fresh salsa with good ingredients. This is a great salsa for fresh tomatoes too. The tomatoes are the star in this one.
The Prep:
I cut the onion in to 1/8ths (just manageable chunks that can easily blend in), cut the jalapeños in half and cut those halves In to 3-4 pieces grab a fist full of washed cilantro (I measured this time, I had a cup ready to go and used about half that. If you don’t like cilantro, leave it out)
After you prep, Place all the veggies in a food processor. Note- I like a Processor over a blender for this one. It’s supposed to have some texture to it and a blender can really pulverize it quickly if you aren't careful. If you do use a blender go low speed and pulse until it gets to the texture you want.
(As you can see in the pics, I used roughly 3/4 of the onion, and half of the cilantro I prepped. I usually hold back a little on these and the lime and add more if needed).
Add a large pinch of salt and give it a spin for 20-30 seconds. Give it a taste and see if it needs anything. This one was really balanced in the veg but needed more salt and the other half of the lime I added and gave it another spin to mix. Perfect.
I will note that is is very common down here to double the amount of lime I put in this one. You almost can’t put too much in for many people’s tastes but I like it really balanced. I like the acid/limey bite but I don’t want it to be the overarching flavor. This is a tomato salsa and should taste like it.
Other options: use fresh tomatoes when in season, use fire roasted canned tomatoes or roast fresh tomatoes, peppers and onions for a darker roasty salsa (that is often served warm down here). Same ingredients, totally different salsa in the end so play around with it. We tend to go more fresh in the summer and more roasty in the winter but it’s good either way any time.
Hope you enjoy, more to come.
Whole ingredients:
Prepped before the food processor:

Below is what I held back just going by experience. I would add anything that it needed after the first taste. I’ve gotten pretty good at knowing what looks right in the processor and I was pretty much on target this time. I did add that half lime and more salt though. Better to add a little more than add too much up front. Really hard to balance when you get too much salt, onion, or lime in there.

After a spin in the processor (30 seconds and test, then 20-30 more if you need it.
This whole thing took 10 min start to finish. Way better than anything you can buy in a jar.
Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
Comments
I made a stupid simple salsa verde yesterday for some Chilaquiles I made for breakfast.
Tomatillos. jalapenos, onion and cilantro.
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/02/basic-salsa-verde-mexican-tomatillo-recipe.html
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Dennis - Austin,TX
From Rick Bayless: This is quite tasty.
INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
Roast the tomatillos, chile(s) and garlic. I go with a cast iron skillet in the BGE raised direct around 350-400*F until blotchy black and softening (they’ll be turning from lime green to olive), about 5 minutes. Flip them over and roast the other side. Cool, then transfer everything to a blender, including all the delicious juice the tomatillos have exuded during roasting. Add the cilantro and 1/4 cup water, then blend to a coarse puree. Scoop into a serving dish. Rinse the onion under cold water, then shake to remove excess moisture. Stir into the salsa and season with salt, usually 1/2 teaspoon.
And the current addictive high heat winner:
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/05/extra-hot-yucatan-style-salsa-recipe.html
Related thread here:
OT: Habanero and Roasted Garlic Salsa
Been looking forward to this thread. Thank you for starting it and I look forward to making my own more often.
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Bloomington, IN - Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoosiers!
This is like the hot red salsa you get at chipotle. This will light you up! You can halve the peppers or up the tomatillos if you don’t like really spicy stuff.
ingredients:
1lb of husked tomatillos
1 oz dried arbol chili pods
2 cloves garlic
tsp ground cumin
stem the arbol chilis and dump out as many seeds as you can. Toast them Very quickly in a medium hot skillet until they become “fragrant” (it’s more like tear gas lol). Don’t let them get too dark as they get bitter when they over toast. Bring a sauce pan of water to a boil and place the arbol chilis in. Remove from heat and allow to steep for 20-30’min until they are soft.
The salsa (this is a stick photo as somehow I don’t have a good pic of mine. It looks
exactly like this though:
But I'm somewhat pained by the homeopathic doses of garlic...
@lousubcap there's a Bayless roasted tomatillo salsa recipe out there somewhere, that calls for some OJ in the mix. I recall it being a nice touch.
Ancho/Guajillo Salsa
Ingredients
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/09/carne-asada-food-lab-recipe-kenji.html
Extra-Hot Yucatán-Style Roasted-Habanero Salsa (Chile Tamulado) Recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Thread garlic cloves on a metal skewer and roast directly over a gas flame until well charred on all surfaces, about 5 minutes. Alternatively, roast in a dry skillet over medium-high heat, tossing, until charred on most surfaces, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl until cool enough to handle, then peel blackened skins and discard. - Roast habaneros in a dry skillet over medium-high heat, tossing, until charred on most surfaces, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, pick out stems and discard. (See note; you may want to use gloves for this task.)
- Combine peeled garlic, habaneros, and grapefruit, orange, and lime juice in a blender or molcajete. Blend or pound until a smooth but still pulpy consistency is reached. Be very careful when opening blender or pounding in molcajete to avoid getting liquid or vapors near your eyes and nose. (It will burn your eyes and make you cough/sneeze.
- Transfer salsa to a bowl, let rest for 15 minutes, then season to taste with salt. Salsa can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/05/extra-hot-yucatan-style-salsa-recipe.htmlmore but I want to make them and document the process. I’ll be doing 1-2 a week just to get them on here.
my quick comments:
FTFY
(Sorry I beat you to that @20stone)
XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle
San Antonio, TX
Good salsa is not a thing here in the Great White North. Costco used to sell a great (but not spicy) fresh salsa but I haven’t seen it in ages.
Fresh tomatoes are around the corner, a local greenhouse just offered their first crop for sale but canned tomatoes work too. I’ll try one of those recipes tomorrow (not sure which one yet), thanks everyone for sharing.
Here is my go to . . BGE roasted veg = very good.
Prepare a grill to medium-high heat. Brush the tomatillos, tomatoes, garlic, jalapeno and onions with some oil and grill over direct heat until char marks appear. Remove from the grill and let cool. To control the spice in your salsa, stem and remove the seeds and ribs from the jalapeno for a milder flavor. Combine the tomatillos, tomatoes, garlic, jalapeno and onions in a food processor and pulse until mostly pureed, but slightly chunky. Add the cilantro and sugar and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Continue to pulse until pureed. Taste and add more salt and black pepper if desired. Set half of the salsa aside in a serving dish. Add the chipotles to the food processor and pulse with the remaining salsa until combined
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is”
I may get poked with sharp sticks for posting this, but this is my winter go-to:
1. Pour a quarter-jar of Pace Mild into a blender (New York City?!?!?)
2. Drop in one or two chipotle chiles from a can, plus some adobo.
3. Blend on high speed for 15 seconds or so.
4. Pour the rest of the jar into the blender, hit "Stir" for just a few seconds.
5. I return this to the Pace jar using a plastic funnel that I've cut the stem off.
One trick I learned from Cooks Illustrated: grate the onion on a box grater, to get it real fine (I do this during tomato season).
And a question: I've always used yellow onions in my salsa, are white onions a better choice? Will have to try that this summer.
"People think that I must be a very strange person. This is not correct; I have the heart of a small boy. It is in a glass jar on my desk"
- Stephen King
Ogden, Utard
The Grocery Cart
What IS salsa??
"Roasted Tomatillo Habanero Salsa:
2lbs tomatillos
Juice of 1-1.5 lime (to your liking)
Tsp cumin
1.5 habanero peppers
Big pinch 50/50 salt and pepper
Husk Tomatillos and remove stems from tomatillos and peppers.
blend on low 30-60 seconds until there are no chunks.
i make 8 to 10 quarts a year and usually run out, it really is used just on hotdogs with mustard and chopped onion. this recipe tastes like the piccililli that was made by the howards plant near me years ago, all you could smell in the area was that piccillilli during the fall. last batch i used ghost peppers