Restaurant Style Salsa

Ever go out to eat just for that irresistible salsa? You won’t believe how straightforward it is to make restaurant style salsa at home. You’ll find that this from-scratch salsa quickly becomes a staple in your fridge.

At a glance

What stands out: This recipe comes together in a matter of minutes and is great on chips and so much more!

How long it takes: 10 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: sharp knife, blender or food processor
Servings: makes 3 cups

So there’s this Mexican restaurant nearby. It’s pretty memorable. Here’s how you know it’s memorable: Every time we go, we wait thirty-five to forty minutes for a table. With children. And then we consume a week’s worth of calories in a single meal, topped off by a killer margarita (on the rocks, sugar rim).

And their salsa. Oh, our, their salsa. We could literally drink the stuff. But we don’t, obviously. Because, chips. So there’s another week’s worth of calories. But hey, you gotta live a little and this place is certainly worth it.

About This Salsa Recipe

Straightforward to mix. We decided it was pretty necessary to at least come close to this salsa in our own kitchen. And you won’t believe how straightforward it is to make from-scratch salsa. SO straightforward. If you’re wondering how Mexican restaurants make their salsa, you’ve come to the right place!

Food processor does most of the work. The base of the salsa is canned tomatoes. You add a bunch of fresh ingredients like garlic, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño peppers, and process it all in a food processor or blender. That’s it. You don’t even have to spend a lot of time chopping things up in tiny pieces.

What You’ll Need

• Canned Tomatoes: You’ll need a large can (28 ounces) of peeled whole tomatoes. Look for low or no sodium tomatoes if you can find them. If you prefer to use fresh tomatoes, try pico de gallo, a fresh tomato salsa.
• Jalapeño Pepper: These small green peppers vary widely in size and heat. Taste a tiny bit to determine how hot your pepper is. If it’s a spicy pepper, you may want to use less, depending on what you like. Remove the ribs and seeds to decrease the spiciness, leave them in to make it a little hotter.
• Onion: Really, any type of onion is fine. You’ll need half of a small onion.
• Garlic: The recipe calls for 2 cloves. Use more or less according to how much you like garlic. If we know we're serving this to people who don’t love garlic, we'll just use a sprinkle of garlic powder (½ teaspoon).
• Fresh Cilantro: You can use both the leaves and the smaller stems. Cilantro stems are fine to eat and since they get all chopped up, no one is going to say, Hey, there’s a stem in here!
• Fresh Lime Juice: The lime juice adds flavor and a touch of acidity. Use freshly squeezed lime juice.
• Sugar or Agave Nectar: It may sound strange but with all those tomatoes, a bit of sweetness is needed to balance all the acidity. It’s not much, just a half teaspoon, but it makes a difference in flavor.
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

How it comes together

Roughly chop onion, garlic and jalapeño. It doesn’t have to be reliable since you’re adding them to the blender.

Add to a blender or food processor with the rest of the ingredients and pulse until ingredients are combined and salsa is the desired consistency. Don’t overprocess it until it’s completely smooth (unless you prefer it that way!). There should be small evenly sized chunks.

Pour into a container and cover. This salsa will taste even better after it sits for about 30 minutes in the fridge!

That’s pretty much all there is to it. It’s SO EASY. We're confident you can handle it. We don’t know if it’s authentic but we're going to authentically stuff our face with it.

Don’t forget the guacamole! And did you ever try making your own baked tortilla chips? They’re good (warm chips right out of the oven!) and you only need 3 ingredients: corn tortillas, a sprinkling of salt, and and light spray of olive oil! You can also make air fryer tortilla chips, they’re straightforward!

Enjoy! Margarita optional. Sorta. A spicy Paloma is fantastic with chips and salsa, too.

How it comes together

If this salsa isn’t hot enough for you, there are a few ways you can increase the burn.

• Use 2 jalapeño peppers. Include the ribs and seeds (they contain much of the heat).
• Add a half teaspoon (or more) of red pepper flakes.
• Add a pinch of cayenne pepper.
• Throw in a can of chopped green chiles.
• For a spicier salsa recipe, try our chipotle salsa with fire roasted tomatoes and a couple of canned chipotle chiles.

How it comes together

We get it, not everyone is a fan of garlic. That’s the beauty of making your own from-scratch salsa, you can leave out the ingredients you don’t care for. Just omit the garlic cloves or substitute ½ teaspoon of garlic powder for a much milder garlic flavor.

How it comes together

Does cilantro taste like soap to you? It seems like folks either love it or hate it. While restaurant salsa usually contains fresh cilantro, since you’re the cook today, just leave it out if you don’t care for it. Substitute fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley for the cilantro, or if you’re against things green and leafy in your salsa, substitute a ½ teaspoon ground cumin.

Personally, we double the cilantro. We love it!

How it comes together

Prefer salsa with fresh tomatoes? Maybe you have a garden full of vine ripened tomatoes or just got back from the farmers’ market. Instead of this recipe, try pico de gallo, which is a chunky fresh tomato salsa.

Before you start

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate: Store in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week.

Freeze: Salsa can be frozen for up to 2 months in a freezer safe container. Allow a little room for expansion. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and give it a good stir before serving.

Leftover Love

Use leftover salsa to make Instant Pot shredded chicken with this salsa and taco seasoning. So tasty for tacos or burritos.

• Yield: 12 servings
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Total: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 can (28 ounces) peeled whole tomatoes, undrained
• 1 jalapeño pepper, roughly chopped (remove seeds and ribs, if desired, to decrease spiciness)
• ½ small onion, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped (see note)
• 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves and stems
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon sugar or agave nectar
• ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender. Pulse/blend until combined, scraping down sides as needed. Watch carefully for right consistency. The salsa should be slightly chunky with no large pieces remaining.
2. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container.

Notes

If you don’t love garlic, omit the garlic cloves. For more subtle garlic flavor, substitute ½ teaspoon garlic powder.

Makes about 3 cups.

Nutrition information does not include chips.

Salsa can be refrigerated for up to one week in a covered container.