Get ready to enjoy amazing restaurant style salsa whenever you feel like it, with this incredibly easy recipe that really anyone can make. No more need to wait for a visit at your favorite Mexican restaurant, make delicious vegan salsa in only 5 minutes at home.
This mild, gluten free and keto friendly salsa is perfect on tacos, burritos, burrito bowls, salads, nachos and as a dip with tortilla chips and guacamole.
Get all the best tips and tricks to make this incredibly flavorful Mexican condiment and surprise your family with the best homemade salsa they have ever eaten.
❤️ WHY YOU'LL LOVE THIS SALSA RECIPE
✔️ It can be served as a dip or topping for most Mexican dishes. Try it with our 7 Layer Dip or Tacos.
✔️ This scrumptious homemade salsa is ready in only 5 minutes.
✔️ Restaurant style salsa is low in calories but high in flavor.
✔️ You can determine how spicy or mild you want your salsa to be.
INGREDIENTS
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for mild homemade salsa, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
You may have all of these easy vegetarian salsa ingredients in your refrigerator or pantry and not need to make a trip to the grocery store. See recipe card below for ingredient amounts.
- Canned Tomatoes: Use quality tomatoes such as Muir Glen. Avoid canned tomatoes that already have herbs or seasonings added.
- White Onion: You can substitute red onions or use the white parts of green onions (scallions) instead of white onion.
- Jalapeño peppers: Jalapenos have varying degrees of hotness. We recommend tasting a small bit of your pepper to see how hot it is. This way you can make sure your salsa isn't getting too spicy. If you like it extra spicy, you can add some of the jalapeño seeds as well or use a hotter pepper, like habanero or serrano peppers, for example.
- Garlic: Use fresh or refrigerated minced garlic.
- Ground Cumin
- Sea Salt
- Granulated Sugar: A little bit of added sugar balanced out the acidity of the limes and tomatoes.
- Fresh Cilantro
- Lime juice: Use fresh lime juice for best flavor.
INSTRUCTIONS
This section shows how to make restaurant style salsa in the food processor, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique. For full instructions, nutritional information, to print the recipe or to have the recipe scaled to double or triple, see the recipe card below.
COMBINE INGREDIENTS: Place whole tomatoes and their juices, onion, jalapeño, garlic, cumin, sea salt, sugar, cilantro and lime juice into a food processor or blender.
🔴 TIP: Use a citrus juicer, to get the most juice out of a lime.If you don’t have one, here are some tips for getting the most juice. Roll the lime between your palm and the counter to squish a little before cutting it to juice it. Cut your lime into 8 wedges, then squeeze to get juice.
BLEND AND REFRIGERATE: Pulse until ingredients are chopped fine and combined. Do not overmix! Then refrigerate for an hour to combine flavors.
🔴 TIP: Let the flavors blend. Resting time in the fridge will give the flavors a chance to blend together well.
SERVE: Serve as a dip with chips and guacamole or as a topping for tacos, burritos, or nachos.
RECOMMENDED TOOLS
Food Processor – This recipe requires a food processor or blender to achieve the desired consistency of the salsa.
HOW TO MAKE SALSA AHEAD
Restaurant style salsa is a great dip to make ahead. Actually, a lot of people recommend making it up to 24 hours in advance to give the flavors a chance to develop. You can store ready made salsa in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
TIPS FOR THE BEST HOMEMADE SALSA
Follow these tips to make the best mild salsa.
✔️ Use good canned tomatoes. We love Muir Glen brand. Avoid any that already have seasonings or herbs added, like basil for example.
✔️ Use fresh onions and peppers, not frozen or canned.
✔️ Pulse the ingredients in the food processor. Be careful not to overmix. You don't want to end up with a smoothie.
STORAGE TIPS
Refrigerate: Store leftover salsa in an airtight container in the fridge for up 5 days. Give it a good stir before serving again.
Freeze: Homemade salsa can be frozen, BUT freezing changes the consistency of tomatoes. We recommend draining the salsa in a fine mesh strainer before freezing to remove any excess liquid. Expect thawed salsa to have a slightly more watery consistency. The taste of defrosted salsa is still as yummy as it was before freezing.
Defrosting: Thaw salsa in the fridge overnight or for a couple of hours on the counter.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH SALSA
Serve restaurant style salsa with all your favorite Mexican food. We love it in Easy 7 Layer Dip or with Loaded Ground Beef Nachos, Crockpot Chipotle Chicken Tacos, Fried Fish Tacos, Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls, Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas, and Instant Pot carnitas.
MORE SALSA RECIPES
If you love love Restaurant style Salsa you'll enjoy our Mango Habanero Salsa, Pico de Gallo, or Stef's salsa verde.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
For perfect results every time, here are answers to the most common questions about cooking keto friendly salsa.
There are endless possibilities on how to use fresh salsa. We love serving it with beef tacos, fish tacos, burritos, nachos, taquitos, fajitas, or as a dip alongside guacamole and tortilla chips.
While cilantro is the herb of choice in most Mexican dishes, there are some alternatives for people who are not so fond of its flavor. Have you tried chopped basil, parsley, oregano or mint? You can also leave out the herb altogether.
While salsa is usually prepared in a food processor or blender using canned tomatoes, pico de gallo consists of hand chopped fresh tomatoes. Salsa is also more saucy than chunky pico de gallo. However, they are both used in mostly the same way.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 28 oz can whole tomatoes - including juices
- 1 small white onion - chopped
- 2-3 jalapeño peppers - seeded and chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic - chopped
- 1½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves - loosely packed
- 3 tablespoon lime juice - (or to taste)
Instructions
Place whole tomatoes and their juices, onion, jalapeño, garlic, cumin, sea salt, sugar, cilantro and lime juice into a food processor or blender.
Pulse until ingredients are chopped fine and combined.- Refrigerate for an hour to combine flavors.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure you don’t buy whole tomatoes with spices added to them. Some canned tomatoes have basil added.
- For spicier salsa, substitute serrano chili peppers or even habanero chili peppers for the jalapeños.
- Omit the sugar, if desired.
- Serve with chips and guacamole.
- Serve on carnitas tacos, chipotle chicken tacos, fish tacos, burrito bowls or in 7 layer dip
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