It isn’t easy to come across a recipe that’s so unfussy and humble, yet so flavorful and delicious as this best homemade salsa! With just a handful of ingredients and a few minutes of prep time, you’ll be able to whip this up.
Summarize & Save This Recipe
Ready to give this versatile recipe a shot? Scroll down to get a quick gist of everything you need to know about it.
Ingredients For Making the Best Homemade Salsa Recipe
You’ll need just a few simple ingredients to put the salsa together.
- 2 ripe large tomatoes
- 2 jalapeños or 3 hot green chilis to taste (more heat or less for your preference)
- 1 medium onion
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 12-14 sprigs of fresh cilantro, chopped
- ½ tsp of salt or more to taste
- 1 tbsp of freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 tbsp of water
How to Make the Fresh Homemade Salsa Mexicana
Once you have all the ingredients, here’s the process you’ll need to follow to make the salsa from scratch.
- Core the tomatoes and squeeze out the seeds and liquid, chop finely and add to medium bowl
- For a more mild salsa you can seed the jalapeños or chilis, then chop finely. Add to your bowl.
- Finely chop the onion and add to the bowl along with the cilantro and garlic.
- Stir in the salt and lime juice. Add more or less to your preference.
- Stir in 1 tbsp of water and place in your refrigerator to let the flavors mingle for approximately 30 minutes.
- Serve with your favorite tortilla chips
What Other Ingredients Can I Add to it?
For the best homemade salsa, aka Pico de Gallo, tastes best when you stick to the recipe and the basic ingredients that make it up. You can, also, however, tweak what you’re adding in, based on your personal preference. Some people like using white onions and others like using purple onion, so the type of onion you use totally depends what flavor you want.
Roasted bell peppers, when chopped, taste great when added to the salsa. You can also season the salsa with some crushed black pepper, or throw in some red pepper flakes if you don’t mind a bit of heat.
What Kind of Tomatoes Should I Use?
Since tomatoes are the hero ingredient in the recipe, the kind of tomatoes you choose makes a huge difference in the end result. Choosing tomatoes that are too juicy will cause the salsa to become watery- when you add salt and the other ingredients, it will cause the tomatoes to release water, which will also end up affecting the texture of tomatoes that are already soft and juicy.
Opt for tomatoes that are firm and ripe- early girl and plum tomatoes are the best picks.
How Do I Store the Leftover Best Homemade Salsa?
Your leftover salsa can be transferred to an airtight container and refrigerated for up to a day. Remember that this salsa tastes best when it is fresh, and the longer you store it, the longer the tomatoes will start to break down and release water.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
While making the fresh salsa Mexicana is super easy, having these little tips and hacks up your sleeve can really help you get those flavors and textures right.
- If you’re not a fan of the chunky bits of tomatoes and onions, you can also blitz all the ingredients in a food processor and get a super fine texture to the salsa.
- For some extra flavor and a bit of texture, use flake-style salt instead of regular salt.
- You can also bring a bit of variation to the salsa by first boiling the tomatoes until they soften, removing their skin and then following the rest of the recipe as is.
- To enjoy a bit of a smoky flavor in your salsa, pan-roast or bake the tomatoes until they have a slight char on the outside, remove their skin, and then put them to use.
- Want your salsa to have an intense depth of flavor? Crush half of a tomato stock bouillon and mix it into the salsa.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
My homemade salsa tastes incredible when paired with chips, nachos or any Mexican dish- tacos, quesadillas and even tortilla wraps. You can also enjoy it as a salad on the side with any of your mains- it imparts a nice texture and a punch of flavor that works wonderfully with almost any of your culinary creations.
I love adding to fresh oven baked fish, and love adding it to different dips!
More Delicious Recipes To Try
- Instant Pot Mango Chutney
- Pesto Crusted Chilean Sea Bass
- Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken
- Chilled Herb-Crusted Tuna Salad Recipe
- Peanut Thai Noodle Salad
Best Homemade Salsa
Ingredients
- 2 ripe large tomatoes
- 2 jalapeños or 3 hot green chilis to taste more heat or less for your preference
- 1 medium onion
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 12-14 sprigs of fresh cilantro chopped
- ½ tsp of salt or more to taste
- 1 Tbsp of freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 Tbsp of water
Instructions
- Core the tomatoes and squeeze out the seeds and liquid, chop finely and add to medium bowl
- For a more mild salsa you can seed the jalapeños or chilis, then chop finely. Add to your bowl.
- Finely chop the onion and add to the bowl along with the cilantro and garlic.
- Stir in the salt and lime juice. Add more or less to your preference.
- Stir in 1 Tbsp of water and place in your refrigerator to let the flavors mingle for approximately 30 minutes.
- Serve with your favorite tortilla chips!
