Best Copycat Rotel Recipe (Canned Tomatoes & Chilies)
It’s so easy to make your own Rotel-style tomatoes and chilies at home with fresh ingredients! This simple copycat Rotel recipe uses fresh tomatoes and mild chilies for that familiar flavor you love — perfect for water-bath safe canning or freezing. Created with the ingredients list on the back of a can combined with a safe home canning recipe, you’ll have jars of homemade Rotel ready to add to soups, dips, casseroles, and more all year long.
✩ What readers are saying…
“You nailed it! I like it even better than the store bought variety. Thanks for this. I’m going to use this recipe a lot!” -Mike
Some links in this article are affiliate links and if you click on them I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.
We use a lot of tomato products at our house for soups, stews, casseroles, and more, so I’ve preserved our homegrown tomatoes and garden produce for years in an amazing roasted tomato sauce for freezing, canned salsa, canned pizza sauce, and of course, our favorite addictive tomato chutney.
One year when I had a great harvest of chili peppers, I looked for a homemade Rotel-style tomatoes to add to my canning list because there are always a few recipes that call for this tomatoes-and-chilies product so it would be nice to have some on hand.
Want growing tips to get abundant harvests, too? Check out the Ultimate Tomato Guide and the Ultimate Hot Pepper Guide – both also have lots of recipes to use them, too.
However, the search for a good, safe, canned Rotel copycat with tomatoes, chilies, and seasonings just like the store-bought version was surprisingly hard to find. If I did find a recipe online it included things like onions (um, then isn’t it just salsa?), or more disturbingly, sugar – sometimes as much as 1-1/2 cups!
What are the ingredients in Rotel?
A quick look at the ingredient list on a can of Rotel shows no sugar or onions, only:
- Tomatoes
- Chilies
- Salt
- Spices
- Citric acid
- Cilantro – Note: this is the last ingredient making it the smallest amount compared to the others. Since it’s not safe to add fresh ingredients to a tested canning recipe (the one I adapted below), I have used dried coriander (which is cilantro seed) instead to add some of the same flavor profile without the fresh ingredient. If you really want the cilantro (the flavor would be very mild after canning), you can add a chopped tablespoon as long as you remove a tablespoon of chilies to keep the fresh vegetable ratio the same. You can always add cilantro when using to get more flavor.
Safe canning recipe for tomatoes and chilies
Since chilies are a low-acid ingredient and tomatoes are right on the edge of being safe for water-bath canning (with the addition of citric acid or lemon juice), I needed to find a tested recipe that I could feel good about canning and storing.
When I found the Minnesota Method for canning a tomato mixture I knew I could use it to create a safe canned copycat Rotel recipe. It is very clear that the ratio of tomatoes to low-acid ingredients has been tested as is and can’t be increased, but that it is safe for water bath canning.
However, I didn’t want celery or onions – just chilies, so in adapting the recipe I omitted the 1-1/2 cups chopped celery and onions and increased the chilies by only 1/2 cup (because that would’ve been too many chilies for Rotel-style tomatoes), so the total ratio of low-acid ingredients to the 12 cups of tomatoes went down from 2 cups to 1 cup.
All this is to assure you that although I did technically increase the amount of chilies, I decreased the total low-acid ingredients overall, so this is actually a better, safer ratio than the original recipe.
Boiling Water Canning Tutorial
If you’re unsure about canning, please check out the written water-bath canning tutorial I wrote here, or the video below – it’s really easy and I know you can do it! It’s worth investing in the few items you need to safely can at home.
Do I have to can this – can I just freeze it?
Yes you can freeze it. Like other tomato products (salsa, chutney, sauces), this freezes just fine. I haven’t noticed any difference when I’ve used it between frozen and canned. It’s just more convenient to use canned (no defrosting needed) and it’s easier to store.
To Freeze: cool completely after cooking the 10 minutes and transfer to freezer-safe containers (I only use glass mason jars to freeze food now), leaving an inch of headspace for expansion. Label and date. Freeze for up to a year.
Note: A reader asked if you could leave out the citric acid or lemon juice if you didn’t can the Rotel and the short answer is yes. However, citric acid is on of the ingredients in the commercial version, so it may taste different without that citrus flavor.
Recipe Ingredients
The ingredients of the recipe are simple and straightforward, mimicking the Rotel ingredients:
- Tomatoes: You can use any type you have, but paste/roma tomatoes will hold together better and produce a less runny product.
- Mild chili peppers – Anaheim and poblano are the two I use – Hatch peppers would also work.
- Salt & black pepper: You can use either canning salt or pure sea salt.
- Spices: oregano, coriander (the ground seed of cilantro for flavor)
- Citric Acid: You’ll need this is you’re canning the Rotel (see note above in freezing section about leaving it out of freezer Rotel).
Supplies Needed
- Large stock pot – I use a 12-quart heavy-bottomed stock pot. An 8-quart would work as well.
- Water-Bath canner – this stainless steel version with a clear lid was a game-changer for me, plus it has a flat bottom compatible with glass top stoves.
- Canning jars – the recipe calls for pint (16-ounce) jars. You can use them or half-pint (8-ounce) jars OR if you’d like to replicate the 10-ounce Rotel cans for recipes, you can use 10-ounce canning jars like these.
- Canning Funnel – I recommend a stainless steel funnel when working with hot liquids.
- Stainless Ladle & Jar Lifter – both needed for filling the jars and moving the jars in and out from the hot water.
See more of the essential (and nice-to-have) canning supplies I recommend here.
Tips & Variations For Copycat Rotel Tomatoes
- Dry Spices: I think the flavor of the finished recipe is really good as is written, but the dry spices are totally adaptable and safe to change or increase, so adjust to your tastes. I chose oregano and coriander (the dried seeds of cilantro in the US – if in the UK, you’d want the dried form of coriander) because both are used in Tex-Mex cooking. You can play with other dry spices (since they aren’t revealed on the Rotel ingredient list) if you’d like.
- Using some hot peppers. Use all mild peppers like Anaheim or poblano to make your Rotel most like the store-bought product. We like things spicy, so I added 1 jalapeño in my 1 cup of chilies. It wasn’t very spicy, actually, so now I add 2-3, depending on the size. Remember, you can’t go OVER the total amount of chilies, but you can play around with the type of chilies you use.
- Quartering tomatoes: I found that even though quartered tomatoes seemed too big for a Rotel-type product, they cooked down so much in the 10 minutes that when I tried it with chopped tomatoes, it came out more like a chunky sauce, so I’m recommending simply quartering the tomatoes. However, if you have really firm and large paste tomatoes (like I’ve gotten some years from stores), then you’ll probably want to cut the quartered sections in half.
- Citric acid vs. lemon juice: I’ve been using only citric acid in tomatoes for the last few years as most bottled lemon juice is full of preservatives and the Rotel ingredient list uses citric acid as well. However, you can use lemon juice if that is what you have (the option is included in the recipe below).
Let’s Make the Copycat Rotel Recipe
Step 1: Prep ingredients. Gather and prepare all your ingredients, adding them to a large stockpot as you go. (TIP: here’s my super-easy tomato peeling method)
Step 2: Cook. Over medium-high heat, bring the contents of the pot to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. If freezing, cool and pour into containers – continue with steps below if canning.
Step 3: Prep jars. Gather your canning supplies (warm, clean jars, lids, rings, jar lifter, citric acid and 1/4 teaspoon, ladle, funnel). TIP: place everything on a tray next to your stove for easy clean-up! One jar at a time, add citric acid and then an even amount of tomato mixture and juice, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
Step 4: Finish filling jars. Wipe the rims with a damp cloth or paper towel and attach the lid and ring. Place the jar in the raised canning rack above the simmering water in the canner. Repeat with each jar and then lower the rack with all the jars into the water.
Step 5: Can jars. Bring to a boil and THEN start timing for 40-50 minutes. Monitor the water – keep it at a low boil, not super-high roiling – and make sure there is always 1-inch water over the jars. Turn off burner and let jars sit for 5 minutes.
Step 6: Cool jars. Remove jars with a jar lifter from the canner to a towel-lined surface to cool. TIP: I use a cutting board or tray so that I can move the jars without disturbing them if I have to.
What to Make with a Can of Rotel
- Chili – add it to this wonderful chili instead of plain tomatoes.
- Dips like the classic cheese-Rotel dip
- Chicken Chili like this easy, flavorful slow cooker chicken chili.
- Taco soup/enchilada soup
- Mexican/Spanish rice
- Cook pinto or black beans with a can for a ton of flavor.
- Slow cook chicken breasts with a can and shred for tacos, bowls, and more.
I sure hope you enjoy this Rotel recipe and that it makes your cheese dips, soups, and stews that much better!
Reader Raves
“Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. My hubby and I can’t get enough of it! I made 15 half pints (froze 3) and I can imagine they will be gone in no time! This was the first time canning anything and you made the process easy! I thank you!” -Deb
“I’ve been canning these for 5 years or so – delicious!” -Kris
“Made this today. I looked for a true Rotel recipe without the onions, etc. Your recipe hit the right spot. It is a fairly easy recipe. It’s lovely in the jar and tastes so good. Thanks for posting it.” -Karen
I hope you love this recipe for Rotel canned tomatoes and chilies – if you make it, be sure to leave a recipe rating so I know how you liked it!
Want to save this?
Enter your email below and you’ll get it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get easy new recipes, gardening tips & more every week!
Best Copycat Rotel Recipe (Canned Tomatoes & Chilies)
Equipment
- large stock pot
- water bath canner
- canning jars and lids
Ingredients
- 12 cups cored, peeled, and quartered tomatoes, about 12 pounds (or 32 medium-round tomatoes)
- 1 cup finely chopped chili peppers- anaheim, poblano, or other mild pepper *
- 1 tablespoon canning salt or pure sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander (powdered dried cilantro seed)
- Citric Acid to add to jars if canning: 1/4 teaspoon for each pint 1/2 teaspoon for quarts OR 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice for pints (2 tablespoons for quarts)
Instructions
- Wash, core, peel and quarter tomatoes. Add to a large stockpot.
- Wash, stem, and seed chilies (leave the seeds to increases spiciness if you’d like). Finely chop by hand or cut into large pieces and finely chop in a food processor.
- Add chilies, salt, pepper, oregano, and coriander to tomatoes in stockpot, bring to a low boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- While tomato mixture is simmering, prepare canner, jars and lids (see note for a tutorial for water-bath canning).
- To clean, hot, pint canning jars, add 1/4 teaspoon citric acid or 1 tablespoon lemon juice (if using quart jars, add 1/2 teaspoon citric acid or 2 tablespoons lemon juice).
- Ladle the tomato-chili mixture into each jar, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove bubbles with a spatula, wipe rims, and attach lids.
- Add jars to canner, cover, bring to a boil and process 40 minutes for pints (50 minutes for quarts), adjusting heat as needed to maintain a soft boil. When timer goes off, remove lid, turn off heat and allow jars to sit in canner 5 minutes.
- Remove jars from canner to a towel-lined counter and let cool 12 to 24 hours. Remove rings for storage and check lids to be sure they’ve sealed (gently pull up with your fingers). Refrigerate any that didn’t seal.
Notes
- At step 3, remove from heat and let cool a bit before transferring to freezer-safe containers (if using plastic, cool completely before transferring).
- Label and date containers and freeze for up to a year.
- Note: if freezing, you could leave out the citric acid if you want, but since it is an ingredient in the commercial Rotel, it may affect the flavor.
Nutrition
More Easy Canning Recipes To Try
This recipe has been updated – it was originally published in September of 2012, updated in 2019 and 2025.
Disclosure: affiliate links in this article will earn commission based on sales, but it doesn’t change your price. Click here to read our full disclaimer and advertising disclosure.
We like the RoTel Diced Tomatoes With Habaneros. Could I replace the entire cup with jalapeno peppers for something closer?
The lable shows jalapeno in the ingredients with less than two percent of habanero.
As long as the amount of fresh peppers doesn’t change, you can use any kind of peppers you’d like or the combo (the important part of canning safety is to stick to the recipe that’s been tested with low acid-higher acid ratios).
I processed and bottled many chutneys and many different kinds of different jars with different kinds of peppers in vinegar with spices and sometimes vinegar or sometimes just the spices added to the variety of hot peppers I made jarred and labeled never had issues with the peppers as they aged becoming stronger and gases building up in the sauces I made for my sons restaurant that customers insisted they wanted – I left plenty of air space but after three weeks they started exploding I assume it was because these were very hot peppers and must of made gasses as they got riper any ideas how I can fix this – I know it can be done because others sell hotter
I’m not sure what type of recipes you used, Rebecca – did you make this Rotel recipe as written?
It sounds like there was some fermenting going on.
Can I use canned tomatoes for this recipe?
I don’t think canned tomatoes would hold up to reprocessing – I think you’d get more of a sauce at the end.
The various comments regarding quartered v chopped tomatoes and how well the product resists ‘mushiness’ after whichever method of preserving is chosen fails to recognize that tomatoes are like apples in the fact that hybrids and varieties cook differently. A Northern Spy apple wouldn’t be recommended for apple sauce and a Macintosh would since the Spy has a tough time cooking down without physically mashing it. I’ve been canning since 11 y/o in the kitchen with my grandmother and I’m now 71…’our’ experiences taught me that if you want to test your tomato for it’s ability to resist mushing out….cut a few types in half, gently squeeze the seed gel out, then place the halves on a sheet pan over parchment and roast in a high oven until the skin blisters. Pull and let cool and check the flesh for how it holds up. A hint is to not use really ripe tomatoes of any variety. For diced tomatoes I use a mix of Early Girl and an heirloom Roma called Ten Fingers of Naples. You also need to take into account your zone since that can determine what can be grown there.
Some guidance here: https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/a-guide-to-tomatoes-and-the-best-use-for-each-type/
Thanks for this information, Daryl!
I’ve been canning these for 5 years or so – delicious!
Happy to know this, Kris – thanks for commenting!!
Do you have a weight for the tomatoes? I find that knowing how many pounds to start with has more consistent results when tomato sizes are so varied. I can’t wait to try this one. Thank you!
It would probably be between 12-14 pounds for the 8 cups. Hope you enjoy it!
Maybe I’m the only one that has had an issue with this… I notice you use Anaheim peppers, as I do, but you do not roast & peel them first. Have you noticed any skins in your final product? Occasionally, I have noticed skins in our favorite store-bought green salsa. By this I mean the texture- separated, tough, and thin. The first year I harvested Anaheims, I froze some with skins on and when I used them later, the skins separated in the recipe and were terrible to fish out as we ate (Tortilla Soup).
So far, I’ve been roasting, seeding and skinning all of our Anaheim peppers before using in salsa. However, I would love to save us those extra steps if the skins don’t do that!
What is your experience?
I haven’t had issues with this, Julie, and no one I’ve served it to has mentioned anything either. It could be that we’re not sensitive to it or that I use a food processor and chop them really fine. Did you use a food processor for the frozen ones you experienced this with?
Do tomatos need to be peeled? Seems time wasting. An rotel doesn’t peel them i don’t believe.
It’s up to you, though since these are just quartered, the peel pieces will be large and tend to get tough through processing.
If you use the jelly sized jars (I think they are 8oz…?) what would then time be in the hot water bath? Everything I water bath only stays in there for 10-15 minutes.
Half pints (8oz) and pints would still be the same for tomato products.
For recipes like this where it’s mainly tomatoes, the times are always longer (plain quartered tomatoes are 85 minutes!). Salsas, ketchup, etc. with more vinegar/lemon juice only need the shorter times.
Check out the National Center for Home Preservation site for more details!
Thank you! One more question, if you use the 8oz jars, would it just me 1/8tsp of citric acid or still 1/4tsp?
Yes, you can halve the citric acid for the smaller jars.
cool that the site allows adjustment of the recipe, but if you’re going to use it, I’d just recommend using it for ALL the numbers. 😉
For example, if you cut the recipe in half, the site says “Servings: 3-7” and tells you to cut 6 cups of peeled and quartered tomatoes, ABOUT 32 MEDICUM ROUND TOMATOES. That number should be 16, or course.
the devil is in the details, as always.
great recipe though, and will be using it this fall for sure.
thanks!
I hadn’t tried the recipe form adjustments for canned foods – oops, I didn’t realize it didn’t give the correct amounts in other serving sizes! I’ll have to add addendums so people know to use it in the original format.
Hi! I have pretty large tomatoes and am wondering if you recommend those be cut smaller than quarters. I’m brand new to canning and tomatoes even but have a ton this year!
Good for you for going for it, Brittany! If they are really large I would probably cut into smaller pieces – I’d probably cut the tomato in half, then cut those in half and then half everything again with larger tomatoes.
Hi, can this recipe be processed in a regular canning pot instead of water bath canning method. If so, would it be 10 minutes at 10 lbs pressure or something else?
You mean a pressure canner? I have no idea the amounts of time and pressure, since I don’t can this that way. I’d try to find a similar recipe (seasoned quartered tomatoes or something) and use the time and pressure from that.
It’s not recommended to use a pressure canner for chunks fo tomato because the process cooks them and they basically disintigrate. So to maintain the chunks of the tomatoes and the consistency, use a water bath canner.
Thanks for that, Nik!
Actually, pressure canning tomatoes yields a higher quality and more nutritious product. I have never noticed my pressure canned tomatoes to be disintegrated.
“Processing tomatoes in a pressure canner may produce a more nutritious and higher-quality product because the tomatoes are heated to a higher temperature but are processed for a shorter period of time. The longer a food product is exposed to heat, the greater the loss of nutrients and overall product quality.”
https://www.healthycanning.com/canning-tomatoes/
You said this could be frozen also. I usually freeze my tomatoes to use throughout the year, we love fresh tomatoes!! Would I follow the recipe, let cool and then put into freezer bags? And would I still need the lemon juice for freezing? One last question, if I do need the juice, could I use lime instead?
Oh, I see I should have more info on the recipe for freezing! When I froze it, it was part of a batch that I canned, so it had the lemon juice in it, but if you weren’t canning you could omit the lemon juice (or try lime for flavor, though that’s not in the Rotel ingredient list). Yes, let cool and add to freezer containers – I used glass jars, though I guess bags would work if you had a holder for them.
Hi Jami. Thank you for the recipe. I’ve never had Rotel tomatoes, but see them called for in so many recipes. I understand that Americans don’t like to use weight measurements, but if the tomatoes are quartered, not diced, the difference when using small tomatoes vs large tomatoes will be significant. I would feel safer if I had the tomatoes at least by weight.
Hi Peggy! I based this off a tested recipe and that recipe uses cup measurements, so it’s not something I can change. It also quarters the tomatoes for the cup measurements, as I do. However, I did look at the original recipe again (I’ve linked to it) and it states that 12 cups is “about 32 medium round tomatoes” if that helps (I’ll add that to my recipe now). Since my recipe reduced so much of the low-acid ingredients (onions and celery) from the original, the ratio of high acid tomatoes to low acid peppers is pretty high. I’m not recommending dicing tomatoes, I just mentioned it as something I tried in my testing.
Hope that helps clarify!
I forgot to add citric acid or lemon
Will we have to eat soon.
You can keep them in the refrigerator, Gloria. They should last for months that way.
Happy canning season – Planning to make this in the next few days as the pepper crop is prolific this year. Plan to use hungarian wax peppers and some jalapeno. May make it spicier. Thank you for your research.
Good idea, Nancy, I sometimes add a jalapeno because we like things spicy, too.
Made this today. I looked for a true Rotel recipe without the onions, etc. Your recipe hit the right spot. It is a fairly easy recipe. It’s lovely in the jar and tastes so good. Thanks for posting it.
So glad to hear this, Karen! I agree, it’s a fine line between this and salsa and the onions are definitely a turning point toward salsa. 🙂 Keeping to the Rotel can ingredients was key for me, too.
I plan to make this recipe in a couple of days. Can I use both regular tomatoes AND romas? Or is it better to stick with regular tomatoes. I have quite a few of both, but just wonder if it’s okay to combine them. Thank you! I LOVE your tomato chutney – it is now a staple in our house!
Yes, you can use both kinds of tomatoes, Rebecca – and I’m so glad you like the chutney!
How do you “core” the tomatoes in your canned Tomatoes & Chilies recipe (Rotel copycat)
Depending on the size, I take a small sharp knife and run it around the core from the top, cutting it out. If the tomato is larger, I cut in in half or quarters and then slice the core out. Hope that helps, Becky!
You nailed it! I like it even better than the store bought variety. Thanks for this. I’m going to use this recipe a lot!
Bye the way, I measured the ph of the liquid after the simmer and it was below 4.6. That would suggest that with my tomatoes don’t require the citric acid, correct?
I’m so glad you think so, Mike! That really makes my day.
As far as the citric acid, you’re on your own with your decision – I can’t really go on record as telling you not to use it, even with a ph tester, since that’s the USDA recommendation. I hope you understand. 🙂
Do you have to eat right away if you don’t put in citric acid ?
I have forgotten to add it, too, Gloria, and I just stored that batch in the refrigerator and used it within 2-3 months. It’s just not recommended to be shelf stable without the acid.