Homemade Spicy Tomato Salsa
, Updated Jan 18, 2021
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This addictive but super-easy dip uses only three ingredients – use the best salsa you can find or make your own!
Happy International Can-It-Forward Day! Organised by Ball, this annual event celebrates the joys of fresh preserving, encouraging gardeners & food enthusiasts to preserve their favourite home-grown or locally sourced ingredients. I am thrilled to be doing my bit this year – looking at my growing collection of homemade preserves I can’t help but feel proud. I have made jams, chutneys, salsas and quick pickles and have shared the wealth with neighbours and friends receiving many equally amazing homemade gifts in return. That big jar in the photo below is full of walnuts my neighbours are pickling – can’t wait for them to be ready.
Homemade preserving is definitely making a big comeback judging by the many wonderful recipes my fellow bloggers shared with me. Many continue the traditions and recipes passed down to them – ‘making chutneys and ketchups is a great way for me to remember my maternal grandfather who died when I was very young but passed lots of recipes down to my mum’ said Kavey and she has many recipes in her blog archives to prove it! Others, like Choclette love to use home-grown produce and many have a well-developed passion for jam making (looking at you Camilla). I have included a list of my favourite blogger recipes to give you some inspiration below.
• Damson and redcurrant jam from Baking Queen 74.
• Check out Camilla’s jam recipes at Fab Food 4 All.
• Pineapple chilli jam from Farmersgirl Kitchen
• Plum and Amaretto jam from Domestic Gothess.
• Homemade Russian sauerkraut from Vikalinka.
• Homemade pickled onions from Amuse your bouche.
• My grandfather’s spicy tomato ketchup from Kavey Eats.
• Best chilli sauce – using homegrown chillies! – from Tin and Thyme.
This post was kindly sponsored by Ball Preserving. Use code FREEDELIVERY when shopping for Ball products. Use #canitforward to share your creations on Twitter and Instagram.
But now we need to talk about this Homemade Heirloom Tomato Salsa – because, confession time, I actually heartily dislike salsa. I never use it when eating nachos or Mexican food unless it’s quick freshly made pico de gallo. Turns out I hate shop-bought salsa – the homemade stuff is completely different and so totally addictive. When I saw these amazing heirloom tomatoes at my local grocer I knew I had to make some! I used the recipe from Ball Blue Book of Preserving but omitted the dried hot chilli peppers as I knew my kids would want to eat it. You can make yours as spicy as you dare – that’s the joy of homemade preserves!
Use your homemade salsa to make the quickest, easiest and incredibly addictive party dip – you only need three ingredients and 5 minutes! Combine a jar of salsa, a pot of cream cheese and some grated cheddar, heat in the microwave and serve with homemade tortilla chips. Your guests will thank you (assuming you are sharing it with guests of course – I wanted to eat it all myself).
Homemade spicy tomato salsa
Use the best tomatoes for this homemade salsa. To dial up the heat don't remove the seeds from the chillies.
Ingredients
- 180 ml | 6fl oz red wine vinegar
- 13 large tomatoes
- 6 jalapeno peppers seeds removed, finely diced
- 2 medium red onions peeled and finely diced
- 80 g | 3oz fresh coriander cilantro, roughly chopped
- 12 cloves garlic finely diced
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ tsp crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Heat jars and lids in simmering water (follow method here) until ready for use.
- Blanch the tomatoes for about a minute in boiling water. Transfer to a large bowl filled with cold water and gently peel the skin off.
- Discard the seeds and chop the tomatoes.
- Combine all the ingredients in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Ladle the hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles and wipe the rim clean. Centre lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.
- Process the jars in a a large stainless steel pot (hot water bath preserver) for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off, remove cover and let the jars cool for 5 minutes. Remove jars without tightening the bands if loose. Cool for 12 hours and test the seals. Lid should not flex up and down when centre is pressed.
Notes
For a spicier salsa, rehydrate 5-9 dried chilli peppers with hot water, letting them steep for 15 minutes. Drain half the liquid and process the rest with the chillies in a food processor until smooth. Add to the salsa with the other ingredients in step 4.
Easiest three ingredient dip with homemade spicy tomato salsa for Can-It-Forward Day
This addictive but super-easy dip uses only three ingredients - use the best salsa you can find or make your own!
Ingredients
- Easiest three ingredient party dip
- 200 g | 7oz homemade salsa
- 200 g | 7oz cream cheese
- 100 g | 3.5oz grated mature cheddar cheese
- a little olive oil to drizzle optional
- sprinkling of chopped flat-leaf parsley optional
- Tortilla chips
- 8 large corn tortillas
- olive oil to brush on tortillas
- sea salt
- sweet paprika
- Italian dried herb mix or herbs of your choice
Instructions
- Make the baked tortilla chips. Preheat the oven to 200C (400F). Brush the tortillas with a little olive oil on both sides.
- Pile the tortillas in a stack and slice into 8 wedges.
- Spread on a large baking tray in a single layer (you will need to do this in batches). Sprinkle with salt, paprika and herbs.
- Bake for 5 minutes then flip over. Bake for another 5 minutes or until the tortillas start browning at the edges. Leave the chips to cool down.
- Make the dip. In a large bowl, combine the salsa, cream cheese and cheddar. Mix everything together and heat for 2 minutes in the microwave. Stir well and heat for another 1-2 minutes and serve hot, drizzled with a little olive oil and some chopped parsley.
I think the reason that preserving is making a comeback is because people are finally realising how wasteful we are in the modern world. Preserving is a great way of making sure your fresh produce doesn't go to waste!!! Great post 😀
Your dip looks amazing. So summery… I would not mid this for dinner tonight. I'm adding it to our Summer Time board 😉
My that sounds good…. so creamy and what a beautiful colour too!
My family would love this dip, so delicious, fabulous flavours:-) Thanks for linking to my jams:-)
That three ingredient dip sounds amazing! I can't resist anything creamy and cheesy, and I bet it has so much flavour with that lovely salsa. Yuuuum.
I have never tried making canned salsa but this is now on my list to make! Love making jams out of the lesser seen fruit like damson, redcurrants and gooseberries. Thanks for linking to my recipe!
You are right that I ADORE preserving! I mostly make jams, jellies, chutneys, pickles and ketchups which I preserve in regular sterilised jars but I also tried a little canning, making some large bottles of apple pie filling and then heat treating to preserve. Means all I need for an instant apple pie is some good quality ready made pastry. Now we have an allotment, we get even more home grown produce too, which is great for preserving! Pete has been making wines with some of it too! Thanks for sharing my grandfather's recipe!