I always come back to this Tomato Jalapeno Salsa. Even after dozens of other salsa expeditions to far away flavors, I always come back. A warm salsa blended together moments ago simply cannot be beat.
Don't let the innocent looking ingredient list fool you. It's one of the simplest Mexican recipes in existence, but it also happens to be one of the most satisfying. Roasting the tomatoes is the hidden step that will have you boycotting your grocer's salsa aisle.
For anyone new to home-cooked Mexican, or anyone sick of their local taco joint, I always recommend starting with this salsa. It's the perfect example of the sum being far greater than the parts.
Tomato Jalapeno Salsa Recipe
Here is your ingredient list for 2 cups worth of delicious Salsa Roja:
Not pictured is the absolutely crucial step that I've already hinted at. You MUST roast the tomatoes if you want the salsa to taste authentic. This sweetens them up, lowers the acidity, and makes the salsa warm (yes!).
I usually put them in the oven at 400F for 20 minutes or so. I recommend you start by trying that method too. (Other ways to roast tomatoes.)
Start by rinsing the tomatoes and cutting out the stems. Leaving the stems is fine too but I'm in the habit of cutting them out.
Put them in the oven at 400F. After 20 minutes or so they’ll look like this:
You can leave the skins on; it won’t affect the flavor too much either way. But if the skins char considerably then I tend to pull them off.
Into the blender they go, along with ½ onion, 1 clove garlic, and if it's your first time making this salsa, add only one quarter of the jalapeno for now. (Do I use white or yellow onion?)
Start by pulse blending. We don’t want to blend it ‘til it’s thin and frothy. It’ll taste better if it’s left chunky.
And now the most important part: taste it! Be honest about the heat level. Not enough? Just right?
Most people will say not enough. If so, add in another ¼ of the jalapeno, give it a pulse blend and try it again. Heat level good? (More info on heat and capsaicin here.)
Keep going until it tastes right to you. Everyone's taste buds are different and most salsa recipes overlook this. It's worth it to add the heat incrementally the first time you make it.
Eventually you'll get good at knowing your preferred heat/spice level and can streamline this process in the future. For example, I usually start by adding ½ of the jalapeno, tasting, and then adding more if necessary
OK, you’ve got the heat level you like, the sauce is pureed roughly, and now you can add some salt to taste. The majority of the time I make this salsa I don’t add salt because the flavor is already rich enough for me. If you have tomatoes that were struggling, a pinch of salt may enhance them.
And that’s it! This is the world’s easiest salsa to make but it also happens to create one of the most unique flavors across all cuisines.
Not shown in the above photo is your friends and family's reaction to tasting a warm salsa after eating cold-salsa-from-the-jar their entire lives. Be warned.
Roasting the tomatoes and adding the heat incrementally are two techniques that will become a permanent part of your Mexican weaponry. Even after trudging through salsa recipes with 15 ingredients there's a good chance you'll always come back to the flavor of this one.
Buen Provecho.
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Tomato Jalapeno Salsa
Ingredients
- 3 tomatoes
- 1/2 small onion
- 1 jalapeno
- 1 garlic clove
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Rinse and de-stem the tomatoes. Roast the tomatoes in the oven at 400F for 20-30 minutes.
- Add the roasted tomatoes to a blender along with 1/2 onion, 1 garlic clove, and only 1/4 of the jalapeno. Pulse blend until combined.
- Taste for heat level. Add another 1/4 of the jalapeno if you want additional heat. Keep adding additional quarters of the jalapeno until you find a heat level that works for your taste buds.
- Salt to taste. Serve immediately.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
We use this Tomato Jalapeno Salsa to make an epic batch of Chicken Tacos. Or you can see more jalapeno recipes here.
If you have access to a molcajete (mortar and pestle) it's worth trying it with this recipe. Here are details on using a molcajete.
And our latest article shows how to make the same Salsa four different ways.
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Pamela Harper
Made this today with tomatoes and jalapeños from our Oklahoma garden. Was very good. Mildly sweet and I only used one quarter of the jalapeño. Our peppers are hot so that was just right. Question: if I wanted to can this what would be better, to add vinegar or lemon juice and how much per pint?
Patrick
Hi Pamela, so glad you tried out this recipe! I will let others chime in about canning tips as I have to admit that I don't do much canning myself and haven't tried it with this recipe yet. Cheers.
Kd
I put the onion in the blender first. The juices from the tomatoes trickled down and helped blend it. Saying this because I think this was my mistake -- the onion got juiced (got frothy) and was less chunky than the tomatoes. The salsa was inedible for me. The taste of onion was immense, and the tomatoes were rendered flavorless; forget the addition of jalapenos, no amount of heat was going to save this salsa.
So I suppose be mindful of what you add to the blender first? Tomatoes, jalapeno, then onion. And maybe even start out with a quarter of an onion instead of half. Not blaming the recipe so much as myself, though emphasizing the order of what goes into the blender is nice.
Patrick
Thanks for your note Kd. If it ever seems like the tomato flavor is MIA it's always worth giving the Salsa a quick simmer on the stove to see if that helps the tomatoes wake up further. Cheers.
Kd
Thank you for that note, sir!
Mike
I don’t understand how anyone would have problems with this recipe. It’s easy as pie. I’ve made this recipe many times and never an issue.
Seba D Skiles
I had a ton of tomatoes from my garden I needed to use and very little in the pantry so I made it big pot of refried beans and for the first time in my life make salsa. The roasted tomatoes were amazing. I did not have fresh jalapeno so I used some out of a jar with a little bit of liquid. Took me a few tries to get it right a tiny bit of salt and it is super yummy!! I did not have a blender so I smashed and chopped as best as I could and it is nice and chunky. I will definitely be making this again!!
Patrick
Thanks Seba! Yup those roasted tomatoes are the key 🙂 Cheers.
Lisa
this is delicious! I scored big bags of romas and jalapenos at the grocery & in looking for ways to use them found this. I made some three days in a row and ate it all EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. lolol, thank you for sharing the recipe. I want to try roasting the jalapeno too, as a commenter noted above; and I tossed in a couple good shakes of cilantro too.
Patrick
Thanks Lisa! What a treat to get feedback on this combo as it is the Salsa that got me hooked on Mexican cooking 🙂 Yeah definitely experiment with roasting the jalapeno (and the onion too). I like the combo of roasted tomatoes and raw onion, but I get emails from peeps who roast EVERYTHING and prefer it that way. Cheers.
Mike K
Thank you for sharing your recipe. I have had this same Recipe several different ways. I really like it best with the Tomatoes, Garlic, and Jalapeños or Serranos all Roasted and the Onion left Raw, and after the Blender a 10-15 minute Simmer in a Tablespoon of Olive Oil.
Patrick
Hey thanks much for mentioning your adjustments Mike. Cheers.
Edward Halverson
How long will the salsa last in the fridge, if it's in a canning jar?
Patrick
Hey Edward! It will last for a few days, but I have to admit I tend to make it in smaller batches because it will lose some of its zing in the fridge and will always taste best right out of the blender. Cheers.