Best Thick Canned Salsa Recipe with Step-by-Step Tutorial
Say goodbye to store bought salsa and hello to the homemade canned salsa recipe of your dreams! Learn how to create a delicious salsa for canning with this easy step-by-step tutorial that’s safe, uses all natural ingredients, and is thicker than typical canned salsas. Perfect for parties, potlucks, and snacking at home – it’s our family’s favorite and I know it will become yours, too!
✩ What readers are saying…
“Having grown up in Southern California and Arizona, we are salsa SNOBS! I can’t tell you how many recipes I’ve gone through canning only to be disappointed. This is the second double batch of your salsa I have canned this season because the family can’t stop eating it! Thank you so much!” -Sommer
Our family LOVES salsa – if we don’t eat it everyday, at least I think it’s safe to say we eat it every other day.
So of course I would want to make homemade canned salsa from the garden tomatoes, peppers, and onions we grow – in fact after jams, it was one of the first types of foods I canned.
It took a number of years, though, to find a safe salsa recipe that was “the one.” Many were just way to runny, or were bland tasting, or too strong with one flavor. But mainly they were usually too watery.
When I finally did find my favorite salsa recipe for canning, there was no going back – every August and September I make enough batches to see us through to the next season.
Store bought canned salsa can’t hold a candle to this amazing salsa!
Finding a Safe Salsa Canning Recipe
The one thing I learned when teaching myself to can salsa was that in order to use a water-bath canner to make salsa shelf stable, it’s important to use a recipe from a trusted source that uses USDA guidelines.
This is because there are so many low-acid ingredients in salsa (peppers, onions, and garlic) that it creates a delicate balance between the acid (tomatoes and usually another ingredient like vinegar or lemon juice) and the low-acid ingredients.
So I started testing recipes from a Kerr canning book, the Ball Blue Book, the Oregonian newspaper, Oregon Extension Agency, and some preserving books from the library that all used safe guidelines. While they all had good flavor (I was using wonderful produce, after all!), they were usually still really watery and/or vinegary.
I think others felt the same way, because a recipe soon appeared on the USDA home preservation website for a Tomato-Tomato Paste Salsa. It called for two 12-oz cans of tomato paste and 2 cups bottled lemon juice instead of vinegar, which produced a thick sauce and minus the overly vinegar taste.
Sadly, my search for the best recipe wasn’t at an end, though. We found that the salsa wasn’t very spicy and when I took the time to look at the ingredients of bottled lemon juice (it must be bottled – fresh lemon juice doesn’t have the consistent acid level for canning) I saw that bottled lemon juice is full of preservatives!
Great. I’ve got all these organically grown vegetables and I’m adding preservatives. Boo.
Finding The Best Salsa Recipe for Canning
I continued looking for the perfect canned salsa recipe and finally found the one that is now our favorite in a book from the library that published tested recipes (I wish I had the title, but I just copied the recipe all those years ago before blogging).
UPDATE: A commenter shared that my base recipe is the same as this recipe on the Bernadin Canning website! You can see what I changed and added, especially standardizing the jalapenos since they can differ so much in size from year to year and variety. ALSO – you can add fresh cilantro if you want, even though I’ve suggested to not in the comments (I never add it and forgot it was originally included…).
It used just one small can of tomato paste and only 3/4 cup of vinegar, so it’s still thick and the vinegar doesn’t overpower the flavor (since the recipe calls for vinegar you can substitute bottled lemon or lime juice – I’d look for organic that doesn’t have all the preservatives in it).
IMPORTANT NOTE: according to preservation educators it is safe to substitute bottled lemon juice OR bottled lime juice for the vinegar in salsa recipes if you wish, but NOT the other way – it is not safe to substitute vinegar for lemon juice in other recipes, since lemon is more acidic than vinegar.
I adapted the recipe by increasing the peppers by 1/2 cup, and then decreasing the onion by a 1/2 cup to keep the recipe in balance. This makes the salsa a bit more spicy, which we like. But if your spice level is lower, use 1/2 cup more onions and 1/2 cup less peppers!
I also added a few more dry seasonings which is okay to change in canning recipes since it doesn’t affect acidity.
You can NOT add any other ingredients to this recipe, including things like mango, pineapple. It has not been tested with these ingredients.
This homemade salsa recipe is really easy, too – the majority of time is spent prepping the ingredients, though a food processor makes it quicker. It cooks for only 30 minutes, which gives you just the right amount of time to get all the canning equipment in order and jars cleaned. Perfect, right?
Salsa ingredient & equipment notes
Here are notes on a few of the main ingredients:
- Tomatoes – If you will be leaving the skins (see notes below) you’ll want garden grown or organic tomatoes. Roma style paste tomatoes create a thick texture, but slicing and heirloom tomatoes add a lot of flavor, so I use some of each. You can use all paste tomatoes, but using all slicing tomatoes will produce a thinner salsa (though it’s totally safe to do if you only have slicing tomatoes!).
- Peppers – Keeping to the amounts listed, you can use literally any pepper you’d like, hot, mild, or even sweet bell peppers. The combo I like best is to use mainly mild Anaheim or Poblano peppers with a few spicy jalapenos. Find any combo you like, but do not go over the total pepper amounts listed in the recipe card.
- Vinegar (or bottled lemon juice) – I prefer vinegar to preservative-laden bottled lemon juice, but you can use an equal amount of juice if you can’t do vinegar. Make sure the vinegar is listed at 5% acidity – I’ve seen some at 4% and that’s too low for canning recipes.
Here are the tools and equipment you’ll need to safely can salsa:
- Cutting board (over the sink type makes it easier), sharp knife, and nitrile gloves (for cutting peppers).
- Food processor – optional but highly recommended.
- Large stockpot – at least a 6-quart for a single recipe, 10-12 quart for a double recipe.
- 8 cup glass measure – 4 cup would work, too.
- Pint canning jars and lids – quart size will not work – see below.
- Water Bath Canner – I strongly suggest a flat heavy bottom stainless steel canner with a clear lid, not only does the clear lid make it easier to monitor the boil, the flat bottom can be used on glass top stoves.
Salsa Canning Recipe: Step-by-Step
1) Start with 4-6 pounds of washed tomatoes
I use about half slicing tomatoes and half paste tomatoes- the slicers have great flavor and the paste tomatoes add thickness, so I like to include both. You can do any ratio or all of one or the other.
2) Chop Tomatoes
You can peel, core, and chop the tomatoes by hand OR use the food processor method to cut your prep time drastically!
After many years of blanching to peel and hand chopping, I now just core and quarter the tomatoes and use the food processor to chop them- peel and all!
No one can tell there are peels in the finished salsa and it takes SO much less time. This is awesome – do it and you won’t be sorry.
Either way you chop, you want to measure out 7 cups. There are both large and small tomato chunks in the processed option, but it’s not a big deal.
The One Drawback to Processing
When hand-chopping tomatoes, you can drain any water that accumulates while cutting them, which helps make a thicker salsa. However, this doesn’t work with the quicker processing method, so the resulting salsa is a bit thinner, but the savings in time totally makes up for it, in my opinion.
Do I have to peel tomatoes for canned salsa?
Update on safety of using skins in canned products: After a number of readers mentioned that they wondered if it was safe to keep the tomato skins on, I reached out to the Oregon State Extension Office about it. The professor I emailed with spent quite a bit of time researching this, saying, “this one has been killing me – very difficult to track down any reliable information.”
It basically boils down to this:
“Due to the consistent history of using peeled tomatoes in canning recipes, processing conditions using skin-on tomatoes have never been evaluated. It is possible that the skins have minimal to no impact on the thermal transfer, but this has not been verified.” Joy W., Associate Professor, Oregon State University Extension
She cited the studies that have been done on tomatoes, finding some bacteria in the cores but that the remainder of the tomato was low in bacteria, as well as the recommendation to always add citric acid or lemon juice since the 1970s.
There’s nothing else, and the NCHFP mainly states removing the peels are for texture reasons.
So here’s my take that I wrote back to her:
“With modern appliances like food processors, we can chop the tomatoes and skins for products like chutney and salsa and have no issues with taste and texture. The tomatoes are still cored, so the root and stem ends that might have bacteria in them (according to the study you mentioned) are removed. Also, my tomatoes are grown and harvested by me using no pesticides.
Since we eat the skins of my peppers grown right next to the tomatoes and can them with the skins in jellies and chutneys, why not the tomatoes?
Because of this, I’ll keep processing the tomatoes for chutney and salsa with the peels because it saves so much time, but I will mention the caution to my readers with your recommendation and let them make their own decision.”
So – you choose!
Option: one commenter said he has been canning tomatoes for 40 years with skins – he simply gives them a bath in a bowl of white vinegar and water before coring. So if this makes you feel better, go for it!
3) Transfer tomatoes to a stock pot
Once you have 7 cups, place the prepped tomatoes into a large 6-8 quart stock pot (use a 12 quart for a double recipe).
4) Prepare Peppers
You’ll want to break out gloves for this next step – trust me, you will want gloves for this part. The one time I didn’t use them I couldn’t sleep that night because of the burning sensation in my hands that no amount of washing could remove!
- Once you’re gloved up, cut in half and seed enough Anaheim or Pobalano chilies to equal 1-1/2 cups chopped, using a food processor or chopping by hand.
Note on the photos: I was doubling the recipe when taking these photos, so there is more in each one than a single batch would call for – so yes, you can double the recipe!
TIP: Just use the food processor you used the tomatoes for. You can simply cut the peppers in large chunks and put them in a food processor. I like the way the processor chops them mostly fine, but also leaves a few larger pieces so that there are some peppers in every spoonful.
- Once chopped and measured, put the mild peppers in the stockpot with the tomatoes.
- Then chop jalapeño peppers to equal 1/2 cup, seeding if desired (leaving the seeds will result in a spicer salsa). Add them to the stockpot.
TIP: if you want a milder salsa, you can skip the jalapeños and use all milder peppers. If you’d like it spicier, decrease the mild peppers and increase the jalapeños. You can play around with the types of peppers you like best, just not the amount – a total of 2 cups of peppers for one batch is the limit for safety.
5) Prepare Onions
Peel and quarter onions, chopping enough to equal 1-1/2 cups, either by hand or in the same food processor you’ve been using, and add to the stock pot.
6) Mince Garlic
Again, finely chop the garlic by hand or throw them in the processor, too.
TIP: I usually add these in with the peppers or onions as they chop better with other ingredients, even though the photo doesn’t show it.
NOTE: there are 6 cloves instead of the 3 the recipe calls for – remember I’m doubling the recipe, in order to get 10 to 11 pints out of each canning session.
7) Cook Salsa
Once the garlic is in the pot, add the remaining ingredients listed in the recipe card.
Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and boil gently for 30 minutes. Stir often, making sure it doesn’t burn on the bottom
TIP: cheap, thin-bottomed stock pots tend to burn, but thicker-bottomed pots don’t – it’s worth it to pay a few dollars more. #lessonlearned
Go here to see the canning essentials tools I use and recommend.
8) Prep For Water Bath Canning
While the salsa is cooking, you can prepare your water-bath canner, jars, and lids.
Here’s step-by-step canning guide where I take you through the whole process if you’ve never canned before.
And here is a video tutorial you can watch as well:
Wait, do I have to can it? Can I freeze salsa?
Nope, you don’t have to can salsa – you can freeze salsa! Just let the finished salsa cool enough to put into freezer safe containers and be sure to leave a good 2-inches headspace to allow for expansion.
TIP: A bonus to freezing salsa is that you can put as many peppers or other fresh ingredients you want in the salsa, including more fresh cilantro. You don’t have to worry about low-acid food ratios if you’re not canning to make them shelf stable.
After 30 minutes, the salsa will have cooked down, looking nice and salsa-y, with flavors all melded into yummy goodness.
You can taste it at this point to see how spicy it is (every year my peppers are different, depending on our summer weather) and add cayenne pepper if you’d like to increase the spiciness.
You can also add salt, pepper, or dried herbs (again, dry ingredients are fine to add – you just can’t add anything else fresh).
9) Water Bath Canning Salsa
Fill pint jars with salsa leaving a 1/2-inch headspace, attach lids and place in a boiling water bath canner.
Bring to a boil and process pint jars for 20 minutes.
Turn off heat and let jars sit for 5 minutes. Remove jars from canner to a towel-lined surface.
Cool completely, check the seals, label and store in a dark, cool pantry for a year to a year and a half.
That’s it – you’ve made and canned your own salsa!!
Having homemade canned salsa from garden fresh ingredients in the depths of winter is always worth it. Not only do you save money, it can’t compare with the typical flavorless bottled stuff!
Reader Raves
“This salsa recipe is the ONLY one I now preserve. Our family absolutely adores it.” -Mary
“My dad did us a building project favor, and instead of money he asked to be repaid in this particular salsa. His exact words were ‘Ambrosia…food of the Gods.'” -Amanda
“Made this today from my frozen garden tomatoes and some frozen chillies from my mums garden…and frozen garlic from my garden! It’s DELICIOUS! My main chilli fan 14yo son wants to eat it now! He’s disappointed all the lids sealed! I will be making this my every year salsa recipe!” -Linda
“We love this salsa! Canning salsa is our main garden goal. We tried a few different recipes our first year of canning, and have since used yours for three or four years now.” -Megan
“Perfect salsa! And half the work!” -Debby
I hope you love this canned salsa recipe! If you make it, be sure to leave a rating so I know how you liked it!
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Best Thick Canned Salsa Recipe
Equipment
- Food Processor optional
- large stock pot 6-12 quarts
- boiling water canner,
- 5-6 pint canning jars
Ingredients
- 7 cups chopped cored, peeled tomatoes (if using a food processor, no need to peel), about 4-6 pounds depending on how big cores are and how much needs to be cut out and if processing
- 1½ cups chopped onion
- 1½ cups mild chopped green chili peppers *anaheim, poblano, or even red/yellow sweet for a milder salsa
- 1/2 cup jalapeños ** finely chopped (and seeded if you’d like – leaving the seeds makes it spicer)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 3/4 cup white or apple cider vinegar***
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 to 2 teaspoons pepper
- 1 to 2 teaspoons dry oregano
- 1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne powder to taste
NEW Option:
- 1/2 cup lightly packed cilantro this is a safe addition according to this site with the base recipe I used
Instructions
- In a large stainless steel stockpot, combine all the ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.
- Reduce heat and boil gently until thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir often to prevent burning.
- Prepare canner, jars, and lids.
- Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe rim and attach lids.
- Place jars in canner, covering by at least 1-inch and bring to a boil. Process for 20 minutes, turn off burner, remove lid and let jars sit for 5 minutes before removing them to cool on a towel-lined surface for 12 to 24 hours. Check seals before labeling and storing.
Notes
Nutrition
Your Questions Answered
This is a question I get a lot but unfortunately, it is not recommended to can salsa in any jar larger than a pint (16 ounces) because there are no tested recipes that use quart jars.
That said, you can find recipes on Google that show canning in quarts, but they aren’t official, tested recipes found in publications like Ball Blue Book of Canning and the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
In the end, it’s up to you, but I can’t recommend it – and definitely not for this recipe, as the processing times have only been tested for pint jars.
Yes, in order to be able to safely can in a boiling water canner or pressure canner, you must heat the salsa to boiling before canning.
Both are used in salsa recipes – it depends on the flavor you’d like and if you don’t mind the preservatives that are found in bottled lemon juice.
Lemon juice has slightly less effect on flavor than vinegar and is more acidic. Vinegar is a bright, classic flavor with less acidity.
Since lemon juice is more acidic, you can safely substitute an equal amount of bottled lemon juice for vinegar in a recipe that calls for vinegar (like I mention ou can do in this recipe), but you cannot substitute vinegar for lemon juice in a recipe that’s been tested with lemon juice because vinegar would reduce the acidity, making the salsa unsafe after canning.
Yes, when the recipe calls for vinegar, you can substitute an equal amount of bottled lime juice, just like using bottled lemon juice.
The acidity of fresh lemons and limes vary too much for safely canning salsa. Bottled juices are standardized according to FDA regulations providing the consistency needed for home food preservation. “The final acidity of a food product is critical to deter the growth of microorganisms that can cause spoilage or foodborne illness.” source
This is another question I get quite a bit, so I did some researched and found that according to Oregon State Extension it is not okay since there are no reliable research based recipes that use citric acid. They do not recommend it as it would be too risky.
An alternative that the extension agent mentioned if you can’t do either lemon or vinegar is to can garden tomatoes plain with citric acid and then use the canned tomatoes to make salsa and eat fresh.
More Easy Tomato Canning Recipes
- Safe-to-can Roasted Tomato Sauce
- Perfect Homemade Canned Pizza Sauce
- Homemade “Rotel” Canned Tomatoes and Chilies
- Roasted Chipotle Salsa (Can or Freeze)
This recipe has been updated – it was originally published in September of 2009 and updated in 2017 and 2024.
Hi Jami,
I was so happy to find such an “easy” recipe. I’m only curious about the tomato peels. According to Ball, tomatoes should be peeled before use but I have heard of people not peeling when they use a food processor. Why is that?
Hi there! So glad you found this recipe and hope you get a chance to try it. I did write up a whole note on this topic found under this headline: Do I have to peel tomatoes for canned salsa? (you can jump to the section at the table of contents).
I made the recipe today with the last of my tomato crop. Made exactly per recipe with a mix of Roma and Early Girls. Used Anaheim, Poblano, Red bell, and jalapeños. Wow perfect mix. I roasted everything onions and all. Then measured tomatoes and onions and peppers chopped after roasting then put in the food processor. Using algebra I adjusted all ingredients accordingly for 10 cups of tomatoes. It figured out to be 3 cups peppers and of that used 1/2 cup jalapeños which were hot ones from my garden. Most had turned red. Oh my it is perfect. Not too hot but could taste the heat. Used organic lemon juice. Turned out sooooo good. Got 8 pints and a little for the refrigerator. 5 star recipe with excellent research and resources. Thank you!!
This sounds like a wonderful salsa, Robin, using your garden produce – I’m so glad you liked this recipe!
Thank you for the in depth research you have done. I am getting ready to try it out. Just curious I found another recipe similar choice salsa which uses near the same amount of tomatoes but double the peppers but no tomato paste. Is the reason your recipe is lighter on the peppers and onions is due to the tomato paste added. I can’t find much information about adding tomato paste other than it safe again thank you for a great recipe and all the work you’ve put into it appreciate it. Please reply.
I based this on a tested recipe with these amounts including the thickness from the added paste (thickness and acidity are two things important to the safety of canned foods), so you can’t change the total amounts. I found that salsa with no tomato paste at all is always is runnier.
Best salsa, thick delicious and an amazing cup of flavor. I used all Anaheim peppers.
Wonderful! So glad you liked it – thanks for the review!
This is an absolutely love it. I would love to make another batch and roast the peppers to char them in order to give it a frothy of flavor. Do you think it’s safe to do that if I change nothing else in the recipe?
Yes, you can roast them first, as long as you are keeping all the measurements the same.
I froze my tomatoes so I could make this salsa. Is there anything I need to do to the tomatoes other than thaw them?
I’d probably partially thaw them and then slip the skins off and just chop instead of using the food processor. With the walls of the tomatoes already broken down from freezing, I think processing would puree them too much and you’d end up with sauce. Otherwise, carry on with the recipe!
I just chopped them up in the blender and then did all the rest of the ingredients not so much chopped so there was still a little bit of chunks in it.
Turned out good.