This easy restaurant-style blender salsa is easy to whip from from just a few healthy, fresh ingredients. It's great for dipping or to use in any Mexican recipes.
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Making salsas has been my first step into learning more about and how to make Mexican food. After my favorite tomatillo Salsa Verde, I wanted to make an easy and versatile tomato salsa next.
And it really doesn't get much easier than this restaurant-style blender salsa. There is no cooking at all and only some of the ingredients need to be chopped before adding to the blender.
You can use canned tomatoes in this recipe or fresh ones. For best results with fresh tomatoes, make sure that they are really ripe.
Let store-bought tomatoes sit on your kitchen counter for several days until they are really red and soft. Cut fresh tomatoes into quarters. Canned tomatoes can be added to the blender whole.
Chop the onion and garlic. Remove the stem, seeds and veins from the jalapeño pepper. Then chop that too.
Removing all seeds and veins makes for a rather mild salsa. Leave some seeds in for medium, or use all seeds and veins for hot salsa.
I recommend leaving most out at first. You can always add in more after trying the salsa and wanting more heat. But taking out heat isn't so easy.
Squeeze the juice out of the limes. Pick the cilantro leaves off the stems and finely chop the stems. While the leaves blend up nicely, the stems won't, so it is better to chop them before adding to the blender.
Once all ingredients are added to the blender, pulse until the salsa reaches your desired consistency. You can go for a quite smooth salsa, or leave it chunky like I do.
Now taste the homemade salsa and see if you want to adjust any of the flavors. As desired, add more salt, lime juice, cumin, sugar, or jalapeño seeds.
Now cover the salsa and let it sit refrigerated for at least 30 minutes for all of the flavors to meld together.
If you find the salsa is too thin and liquidy, you can also strain out some of the liquid through a fine mesh strainer.
Recipe
Restaurant Style Blender Salsa
Ingredients
- 28 oz (800 gr) ripe fresh tomatoes cut into quarters (or canned tomatoes)
- 1 small red onion chopped (about ¾ cup worth)
- 1-2 jalapeño peppers de-stemmed, diced (remove seeds and white ribs for mild salsa, leave some or all for medium or hot salsa)
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 3 tablespoons lime juice from 2-3 limes
- 1.5 teaspoons cumin
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon coconut sugar
- 5-7 sprigs of cilantro pick off leaves (yields about ¼ cup worth) and finely chop the stems)
Instructions
- Prepare the homemade salsa ingredients by cutting the tomatoes into quarters, if using ripe fresh tomatoes. Canned tomatoes can be used whole.
- Chop the onion and garlic. De-stem and dice jalapeños; remove seeds and white ribs for desired heat level. Keep in mind that you can always add more heat, but salvaging too hot salsa requires more creativity. So keep seeds/ribs to side and blend in later, if you want more heat.
- Pick the leaves off the cilantro sprigs. You can add the leaves whole but the stems won't blend up as well, so chop them finely.
- Add all ingredients to a high speed blender and pulse until the salsa reaches desired consistency. You can blend the salsa until it is completely smooth or leave it a little chunky, like I do.
- Taste the blender salsa and adjust to taste by adding a little more lime juice, cumin, salt, sugar, or jalapeño seeds for heat and blend again to incorporate.
- Cover the salsa and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes for flavors to meld.
- If you want a thicker salsa, you can also drain off some of the liquid through a fine mesh sieve.
Pin Restaurant Style Blender Salsa recipe for later?
Random Questions
Both appliances can be used to make salsa, but blenders are generally better for achieving a smoother consistency, while food processors are great for chunkier salsas with more texture.
A high-powered blender with sharp blades and variable speed settings works best for making salsa. Brands like Vitamix, Blendtec, and Ninja are popular choices.
The three main types of salsa are salsa roja (red salsa), salsa verde (green salsa), and pico de gallo (fresh salsa). Each type has its own unique flavor and ingredients.
Blended salsa is often referred to as smooth salsa, as it has a smoother, more uniform texture compared to chunky or fresh salsas.
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