Fresh homemade salsa is a favourite of ours in the summer. We love making salsa from the fresh vegetables we grow in our garden. It tastes so much better than store-bought salsa.
Salsa is great with tortilla chips, tacos or fajitas. The freshness of the tomatoes paired with fresh cilantro and lime add great flavour to any Tex-Mex dish but my favourite way to enjoy this homemade salsa is as a topping for salad.
Fresh Ingredients in Homemade Salsa
We like to harvest tomatoes, jalapenos and cilantro from our garden to make salsa. The fresher the better for making this salsa. When I don’t have enough tomatoes to make this, I head to my local farmer’s market to pick up a basket. Our local farmer’s market is where I buy the white onions and garlic for this recipe as well.
When it comes to the jalapenos in this recipe, they can be substituted with any hot peppers you have on hand. You can use a hotter pepper if you like. You can use banana peppers or Anaheim peppers for a milder taste.
For the lime juice, I use regular-sized limes and juice them myself. But I have been known to cheat by using bottled lime juice. Each lime produces about 2 tablespoons of juice. If using bottled lime juice, I find that it tastes more concentrated so I only use 1½ tablespoons of juice per lime.
Serving Ideas
Although the most popular way to serve salsa is with tortilla chips, there are many other ways to enjoy salsa.
With fresh veggies- our kids love to use celery, carrot sticks, cucumber slices and sliced peppers.
Topping chicken- adding fresh salsa to a grilled chicken breast is a great way to add flavour to a meal
And of course, salsa is perfect for tacos, fajitas, burritos, nachos and just about every Tex-Mex dish.
Storing Leftovers
This recipe is for a small batch of salsa. When I am making salsa at the end of the season, I make a large batch, but this particular recipe for homemade salsa is a smaller batch. This recipe is perfect to add to tacos or to serve with a bowl of tortilla chips. Leftovers can be stored in a mason jar in the fridge for up to a week.
For an alternative version of salsa, check out our Easy Tomatillo Salsa.
Homemade Salsa
Ingredients
- 6 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 lime, juice and zest
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 small white onion, chopped
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together
- Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Serve with tortilla chips or use to top tacos, fajitas or salad
