Homemade Chunky Salsa Recipe for Canning (2024)

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This homemade chunky salsa recipe for canning is so easy to make! Keep reading for tips on how to use a hot water bath to can your homemade salsa!

Making and canning Salsa is pretty much a yearly event here. After all, who doesn’t love homemade salsa?We often have a pre-dinner snack of fresh tomato salsa and tortilla chips or nachos, usually with a cold mug of home brewed beer.

Want more articles about preserving food? Check out all of ourPreserving Foodposts here.

This is the Best Homemade Chunky Salsa Recipe for Canning!

You can also add a couple of teaspoons of this hot salsa to egg dishes, as it adds wonderful flavors.Or ramp up thetasteof tacos or grilled fish with a good dollop of salsa; you can even add it tosaucesfor meats.

Here is the ultimate homemade salsa recipe for you to try. It’s one of our favorite canning recipes!

Make a small batch to eat fresh or make a large enough batch of this canned salsa recipe to can some up to enjoy come Winter. The canning instructions are included below!

Watch this short video that shows you the process of making homemade salsa!

Best Salsa Recipe Ingredients

• chopped tomatoes – form the base of this delicious homemade salsa recipe. Roma tomatoes are the best, but you can use any kind. We don’t bother to remove the skins from the tomatoes, but it’s up to you whether you want to or not.
• chopped onions – another commonly found ingredient in salsa.
• chopped bell pepper – I used green to give this salsa a pop of extra color, but any kind of bell pepper will work just fine!
• jalapeno peppers – provides some real heat and spiciness to the salsa, but these can be omitted if you prefer something milder. If you want more heat, you might try chilies or serrano peppers.
• minced garlic – buy minced garlic or finely dice cloves garlic.
• tomato paste – aids in bringing out the delicious tomato flavors.
• white vinegar – gives the salsa a nice bite and acidity.
• chopped fresh cilantro – a classic herb found in salsa, cilantro helps to marry all of the other flavors and bring them out more strongly.
• ground cumin – adds a bit of heat and warm flavor!

How to Make Homemade Chunky Salsa

1. Coarsely chop all the veggies (I actually dice them quite small.)
2. Remove the seeds from peppers (Hah! that’s no fun – we throw some seeds in the pot too for an extra kick.)
3. Combine all ingredients in a large stainless steel saucepan and put on the stove on medium or medium high heat.
4. Bring to a boil and boil gently, stirring occasionally. Let it simmer until it has the desired consistency.
5. Let it cool and it is ready to eat!

How to Can Salsa

1. Ladle into clean sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace and wipe rims of each jar, using a clean paper towel.
2. Put on the seal and ring. Boil in a boiling water bath 20 minutes for pints. We can for 25 minutes, because we are above 1000 ft elevation. Check your elevation; it makes a difference. Remember to use a canning rack if you are setting jars on top of each other!
3. Remove from the canner and let jars sit for 24 hours. Don’t move them and keep the jars out of drafts. You can just put a towel over the jars if you need to keep them from a draft.

This homemade salsa recipe makes 5 pint jars of salsa. Then, this winter, enjoy this salsa, I think you’ll like it! You may find yourself planning to make even more jars next year.

Questions about Making and Canning Chunky Salsa

Do you have to boil salsa before canning?

There are different opinions on this. I always do bring my salsa to a boil, then let it simmer before canning.

What tomatoes make the best salsa?

Roma tomatoes are the best for salsa, as they are naturally a more meaty tomato. However, I use whatever kind I can grow or find at the grocery store.

How do I make thick salsa?

Using Roma tomatoes works the best, but if you let your salsa simmer (without a lid) some of the liquid will evaporate.

Another option would be to use a slotted spoon when filling your jars, so some liquid stays behind in the large pot you used for cooking the salsa.

More Tips for Canning

If you are new to canning, you need to know which foods can be safely canned in a water bath canner and which foods need to be canned using a pressure canner.

Salsa can be safely canned in a water bath – I usuallyput mine up in half pint jars. Perfect size for us and if we have company to visit, I just crack the lid on another jar and transfer to a serving bowl. Always nice to squeeze a little fresh lime juice on top of the salsa.

Water Bath Canning

And water bath canning is an GREAT way to start canning if you are a beginner. It’s easy, inexpensive and a good way to start building up your pantry.

Here’s the water bath canner set up that we use here and we get a LOT of use from it. Some years I put up hundreds of jars of vegetables and soups. Graham loves canning stews and fish, so he often adds hundreds more jars to our cold room.

These need to be pressure canned, which is a bit different than water bath canning. I’ve included some links to other canning articles here on the website – you’ll find them at the bottom of this post.

Canning is a very worthwhile skill to learn – you can save so much money! Plus, you are serving your family healthy food.

Get yourself a copy of the Ball Blue canning book – it has all the information you need. And there’s some great recipes as well!

There is a difference between canning fruits, vegetables and meats – you need a good reference book, one that you can count on.

I am extremely careful when it comes to canning. Some would call me anal about canning, and that’s just fine with me.

When I see all my canned jars on the shelf, I want to KNOW for sure that every one of them is safe to open and feed my family.

More Info on Canning

• Using a Pressure Canner – here’s what you need to know.
• Pressure Canning Beans – grow your own and then can them up!
• Pressure Canning Salmon – and other fish.

More Recipes

Our entire Country Living in a Cariboo Valley Recipe Collection can be found here, and here are some more recipes!

• Once you’ve got the hang of canning, try this Pickled Pearl Onions, which you can also can for yourself!
• This No Cook Strawberry Jam is another great homemade delicacy that can be jarred and kept around.
• Love garlic? This Roasted Garlic with Oil Drizzle is the recipe for you!

Chunky Salsa Recipe for Canning

Homemade Salsa Recipe

If you enjoy this recipe for homemade salsa, please be sure to rate it 5 stars below! And print this off or save it to your Recipes folder!

Home Made Salsa Recipe

Yield: 10 cups

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

The Ultimate Home made Salsa recipe - you will love it! And you will be glad this makes enough Salsa to can a few jars to enjoy later.

Ingredients

• 7 cups chopped tomatoes (about 6 lbs)
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 8 jalapeno peppers
• 3 gloves minced garlic
• 1 can tomato paste (5.5 oz or 156 ml size)
• 3/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

Instructions

1. Coarsely chop all the veggies (I actually dice them quite small.)
2. Remove the seeds from peppers (or leave them in, if you like)
3. Combine all ingredients in a large stainless steel saucepan and put on the stove on medium heat.
4. Bring to a boil and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until it has the desired consistency.
5. Let it cool before eating.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 30Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 22Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 6mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 1g

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