Salsa Recipe for Canning Fresh Salsa

salsa recipe for canning with fresh tomatoes

Canning salsa is a great way to use up the summer bounty of tomatoes.

Preserving the taste of summer is the next best thing to eating fresh, and canning garden tomato salsa and enjoying it during the winter months is a true delight!

That’s why we wanted to share this homemade salsa recipe for canning with fresh tomatoes for you to enjoy!

Tomato Salsa Recipe for Canning

What tomatoes & peppers you should use?

Paste/Roma tomatoes work great for canning as there’s less seed & juice (I like San Marzano, Amish Paste, Black Icicle).

You can also play around with all sorts of heirloom tomatoes just remember some have higher water content and might need to be boiled down further. They will also contain more seeds to remove (although I’m sometimes lazy and leave them). 

Salsa recipes tend to use jalapeno as the hot peppers but you can experiment with varieties and taste combinations.

One year our jalapeno peppers didn’t yield a crop but our hot banana peppers did so we used those instead and it tasted great.

Two Salsa Recipes for Canning Fresh Tomatoes

Food in Jars: Preserving In Small Batches Year-Round

The first recipe is from a book called ‘Food in Jars’.

A few have mentioned that this first recipe is a little vinegary, and I do agree although I don’t mind the taste. Because of this, I’ve added a second salsa recipe for canning with fresh tomatoes to this post that includes less vinegar

Print Recipe
Basic Tomato Salsa
Servings
Ingredients
  • 6 cups chopped tomatoes (approximately 3 pounds tomatoes)
  • 2 cups chopped yellow onion (approximately 2 medium onions)
  • 1 cup chopped sweet red peppers (1 large peppers)
  • 1 3/4 cups cider vinegar (5% acidity)
  • 2 Tbsp lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp sea salt
  • 1/4 cup Sugar
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 minced jalapenos (you can experiment with other hot peppers too! Be sure to wear gloves)
  • 1 cup cilantro chopped
Servings
Ingredients
  • 6 cups chopped tomatoes (approximately 3 pounds tomatoes)
  • 2 cups chopped yellow onion (approximately 2 medium onions)
  • 1 cup chopped sweet red peppers (1 large peppers)
  • 1 3/4 cups cider vinegar (5% acidity)
  • 2 Tbsp lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp sea salt
  • 1/4 cup Sugar
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 minced jalapenos (you can experiment with other hot peppers too! Be sure to wear gloves)
  • 1 cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
  1. Before you start canning make sure you know your canning safety basics. Learn lots from Simply Canning about home canning safety.
  2. Prepare a boiling water bath and 4 regular-mouth pint/500ml jars. Place lids in a small saucepan, cover them with water and simmer over very low heat. Prepare jars and lids according to manufacturers instructions. Need a water bath canner? We bought this set* and it’s perfect for beginners! (*Amazon affiliate link).
  3. Combine all ingredients except the cilantro in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. When that time has elapsed, stir in the chopped cilantro.
  4. Ladle hot salsa into prepared jars, leaving a 1/2 inch of headspace. Prepare the lids according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Wipe the rims, apply lids and rings and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

Recipe for canning garden fresh tomato salsa
Tomato Salsa Recipe for Canning

Print Recipe
Fresh vegetable salsa from Bernardin
Servings
Ingredients
  • 7 cups chopped tomatoes (about 6lbs)
  • 2 cups coarsely chopped onions
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped green peppers
  • 8 jalapeno peppers seeds removed & finely chopped (wear gloves!)
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 3/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
Servings
Ingredients
  • 7 cups chopped tomatoes (about 6lbs)
  • 2 cups coarsely chopped onions
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped green peppers
  • 8 jalapeno peppers seeds removed & finely chopped (wear gloves!)
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 3/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
Instructions
  1. Blanch, peel and coarsely chop tomatoes. Measure 7 cups (1750 ml). Wearing rubber gloves remove seeds and finely chop jalapenos.
  2. Combine tomatoes, onions, green pepper, jalapeno peppers, garlic, tomato paste, vinegar, cilantro and cumin in a large stainless steel saucepan.
  3. Bring to a boil; boil gently stirring occasionally until salsa reaches desired consistency, about 30 mins.
  4. Ladle hot salsa into prepared jars, leaving a 1/2 inch of headspace.
  5. Prepare the lids according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
  6. Wipe the rims, apply lids and rings process in a water bath canner for 20 mins with 500 ml/pints at altitudes up to 1000 ft

Recipe for canning garden fresh tomato salsa

11 thoughts on “Salsa Recipe for Canning Fresh Salsa”

    • No, when canning in a water bath canner you need these for preserving. You might be able to find a recipe for pressure canning which omits these. 🙂

      Reply
  1. This recipe was easy to follow and looks great but right out of the pot it is a bit vinegary, will this go away after being canned?

    Reply
    • Hi Alison,

      I’m sorry that yours tasted vinegary, I didn’t find that to be the case. What type of vinegar are you using?
      In general vinegar taste can definitely be diminished with a longer cooking time. Please let me know how yours tasted after canning and re-opening 🙂

      Reply
    • I made it last year. I ended up throwing it all out. I had several people taste it and everyone agreed that the taste of apple cider vinegar was overwhelming. I followed the recipe as written and used Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar.

      I need to find a recipe without it.

      Reply
      • Hi Rhonda

        I added a second recipe to this post that doesn’t have as much vinegar. The first one is from a home canning book and some people are fine with the vinegar taste, it’s a preference thing. Sorry you had to throw out the batch, that’s never a good thing.

        Reply
  2. Unfortunately, mine was quite vinegary as well. I’m hoping it tastes better afterwards, because this recipe was quite a bit of work. 🙁

    Reply
    • We just made our second batch & I agree, a little vinegary but we like it. This recipe is supposed to mimic ‘fresh salsa’ versus that more heavy tomato tasting ones from the store. It’s tricky canning tomatoes in a water bath canner as it needs the acidity for safety; I’m looking into other recipes too that use citric acid to it’s safe to water bath can.

      Reply
  3. Can lemon juice be used instead of vinegar? I’ve read the pH is higher and can be safely substituted. What are your thoughts?

    Reply
  4. Thank you for sharing! Got great results last week with my 24-pint batch of garden salsa. I quintupled the “Basic Tomato Salsa” recipe, lowering the vinegar content and making other modifications as described below. A sample of the salsa, cooled overnight and pureed for uniformity, tested below 3.0 on my pH meter, well within the “safe” acidity range for microbe growth. The pint jars were processed at a boil for 20 minutes to suit our 4000-ft. altitude. Here are the other changes I made (keeping in mind the 5x): Added 2 cups of chives, small amounts of thyme and basil, and 5 peaches; doubled the hot pepper content (jalapeño and habanero); cut the vinegar and sugar content in half and lowered the onion content from 10 to 6. I’ve been giving out jars of this salsa as gifts, and so far everyone has offered enthusiastic compliments. I told one friend that the salsa would last pretty well in his fridge, but he assured me it wouldn’t have a chance to. Kudos!

    Reply

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