Salsa. When I find good salsa, I am liable to put it on all of my savory breakfast food and any mexican food I can get my hands on. Salsa is a great, healthy alternative when made fresh. At least compared to sauces that are processed, loaded with sugar, and full of preserving chemicals.

One of my family’s friends looks to my mom every year to make jars upon jars of this stuff to (hopefully) last them until the following summer. She is basically a pro and has yet to have a bad response to the flavor.

I consulted with my mom on her tried and true recipe, full of helpful tips, to share here on my blog. It is a can’t miss!

Ingredients

• Fresh tomatoes | Roughly 40
• Fresh Jalapeños |2-12 depending on desired level of spicy
• 2 Medium white onions | roughly chopped
• 1 Medium purple onion | roughly chopped
• 1 TBSP minced garlic
• 1/4 c Lime Juice
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• (Optional for smokey flavor) 1 tsp Smokey Chipotle Chili Powder
• 1/2 pkg Mrs. Wages Salsa mix
• salt to taste

Note

• These measurements yield approx. 12 jars of salsa
• Do not add salt until the very end of the mixing process
• You can sub dill pickle juice for the lime juice
• Be sure to have a NONMETAL spatual, spoon, or object (will make sense in the instructions)
• Wash your jars throughly before hand
• A food processor makes this process wayyyy easier

Instructions

• Grill your tomatoes and jalapeños until the skin will easily peel off
• peel the skin off, let cool, and de-core
• squeeze roughly 75% water out (unless you want a more liquid consistency.)
• Fill food processor about 1/2 way with tomatoes.
• For MILD flavor add 2-3 jalapenos, for SPICY add roughly 12 jalapenos.
• Add: white onion, purple onion, garlic, lime juice, sugar, cilantro, chili powder (optional), and salsa mix.
• Blend until desired consistency
• Add salt to taste and stir with spoon.
• Dump mixture into a large bowl.
• Add your remaining tomatoes to the food processor and blend until same consistency.
• Combine both mixtures in the bowl and stir together.

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• Salsa is ready to be filled into the jars but first, make sure your jars have been prepped.
• You want your jars warm from a water bath. Once removed from bath, be sure to dry all of the excess water.
• Fill your jars, leaving roughly 3/4 of an inch space from the top of jar. (no salsa should be in the neck of the jar)
• Take a NONMETAL spatula and insert into jar, running along side and pulling towards the middle to release any trapped air.
• Apply lid.

Okay, at this point you have 2 options.

1. Tighten the lid and place in fridge for immediate consumption
2. Submerge jars with lids tightened in water bath to allow for preservation and sealing. This keeps your salsa pantry safe until ready to eat. IF this is what you want, keep reading.

• Submerge cans with a minimum of 1-2″ of water on top of them for 20 mins.
• Remove and allow to cool. During the cooling process, the lids will pop and seal down.

If you do not have garden tomatoes or they are out of season, this recipe also works great with Hunts Fire Roasted canned tomatoes! 4-6 28oz cans should do the trick. Keep the rest of the ingredients the same.