We learned all about how to make easy, delicious homemade salsa with fresh tomatoes, peppers, and onions from our local pick-your-own farm.
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Summer may be “officially” over… and even though we’re excited for fall, we’re not over summer just yet.
A few weeks ago, Alex and I visited our local pick-your-own farm to grab some fresh summer vegetables and berries. We had planned to get some produce for making our Eggplant Parmesan, plus raspberries and blackberries to experiment with making jam.
But like always, we got distracted by all the unique produce growing at the farm and spent over 4 hours picking everything we could find. Here’s what we ended up leaving with:
- Raspberries
- Blackberries
- Eggplant
- Green squash
- Pickling cucumbers
- Pineapple Pie heirloom tomatoes
- Celebrity beefsteak tomatoes
- Bell peppers
- Anaheim chile peppers
- Red cherry chile peppers (aka cherry bombs)
- Fresno chile peppers
- Jalapeno peppers
- Pasilla chile peppers
…and a bundle of sunflowers, so we could make summer last a little bit longer in our apartment before breaking out the fall decorations.
Since we had about a thousand peppers to use up, we spent the next week making a bunch of different salsas and hot sauces. We’d never made a true salsa from scratch before (just pico de gallo), so we did a little research and experimented with different flavors.
Here’s what we learned about making salsa:
- The base for pretty much any salsa is tomato, onion, pepper, acid (we used lime juice), sugar, salt, and pepper
- A blender or food processor is the easiest way to chop everything up and get the right consistency
- Using more than one type of pepper or tomato and a few extra spices really adds depth to the flavor
All in all, we made 6 different jars of salsa, ranging from very mild and fresh to a spicy, smoky blend. We mixed and matched the Celebrity beefsteak tomatoes, Pineapple Pie heirloom tomatoes, and all the different types of peppers we picked with red onion and white onion. We tried adding vinegar, garlic, cumin, chipotle powder, and ancho chile powder.
Out of all the combinations we tried, there was one clear winner: our spicy, slightly smoky (but not too smoky) version, dubbed “Salsa #5.”
As far as the hot sauce goes, we’d tried making it once before with this fun kit full of dried peppers. We drew inspiration from the kit, bought some dried mangoes and pineapple, and made a few bottles of hot sauce with our fresh peppers – and they turned out pretty good! If you’ve never made hot sauce before, a make-your-own kit is the best way to learn how it’s done.
Try our favorite salsa recipe below for your next taco night – or try your own take on fresh salsa using different combinations of tomatoes, onions, and other flavors – and let us know how it goes!
Homemade Salsa
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ Anaheim chile pepper
- ½ poblano (pasilla) pepper
- ¼ medium white onion
- 1 Celebrity beefsteak tomato
- ½ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp chipotle powder
- ½ tsp minced garlic
- ½ lime juiced
- ¼ tsp sugar
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Core and de-seed peppers, then slice into strips and add to food processor.
- Slice the white onion and add to food processor.
- Quarter the tomato and add to food processor.
- Add cumin, chipotle powder, minced garlic, lime juice, sugar, salt, and pepper to the food processor.
- Pulse until desired consistency.
- Serve with tortilla chips, or store in an air-tight jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.
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