Make a big batch of homemade salsa that's just as delicious as your favorite Mexican restaurant! This is the best blender salsa recipe made with only a handful of simple ingredients and less than 5 minutes of your time.
Are you a salsa hogger, too? I mean, pick-up-the-bowl-and-walk-around-with-it kind of person. Because I am so guilty of that. I'll have a little bowl of salsa verde to add to carnitas tacos and a huge side of red salsa and chips...but that's just me.
When hubs and I were dating as kids, we had a really good Mexican restaurant across the street from my subdivision, called Cancun. It was the best: there was karaoke and live singing, an amazing brunch every Sunday, and the best Mexican food.
And the salsa? Free-flowing, you'd never run out! It was blended together and more sauce-like than a pico de gallo so you could put it on basically anything, but you could tell that it was made in house with tons of fresh flavor.
So my restaurant-style salsa is very reminiscent of Cancun's! Made of fresh herbs, spices, and canned tomatoes so I can enjoy it any time of the year, not just when my tomatoes are bursting out of the garden or abundant at my local farmers' market, you know?
It also only takes a few minutes to whip up and is a staple in my freezer! Make this easy blender salsa ahead of time for your Cinco de Mayo festivities or all your Taco Tuesday needs.
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Equipment
Vitamix Blender - I have my high-speed blender and just pulse until the salsa is as smooth as I want it. But that doesn't mean you need to shell out the big bucks. A regular blender or food processor works just fine.
Ingredients
Full ingredients, measurements, and printable instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Canned Tomatoes - using a can of tomatoes means that you will end up with pretty consistent results every time, and be able to make blender salsa any time of the year. You can use any kind of canned tomatoes (not tomato sauce!) like whole, diced, crushed, etc.
Jalapeño Peppers - in my house, we don't do a lot of spicy so we deseed and remove the membrane of the peppers. But if you're a spicy household, use the whole jalapeño or heighten the spice level with serrano peppers or whatever chiles you like.
Fresh Cilantro - When you have your bunch of cilantro, cut the cilantro leaves from the stems. The stems can mess with the flavor of the salsa, making it seriously bitter.
Red Onion - I love the assertive flavor of red onions in the salsa, but if you aren't looking for that use a sweet onion like Vidalia or more mild flavor or a white onion.
Ground Cumin - have you ever made a Mexican dish (like refried beans?) and forgot to add the cumin? It's incredible how such a small amount of this spice is so impactful!
Chipotle Pepper - love, love, love the smokier flavor of a chipotle pepper. It's less about the spice it brings and more about that savory, smoky flavor. Yum! Can't find the can of them in your grocery store? Use ground chipotle or chili powder.
Limes - lime juice has that tart-bitter element that you wouldn't get from lemon juice. I also like adding the zest of the limes --why not?-- I really like the lime oils in the salsa, it emphasizes that element.
Garlic Cloves - garlic powder won't give the same spicy, punchy flavor since it's cooked before being dehydrated and turned into powder. That fresh garlic taste is a must for me!
Kosher Salt.
How to Make Salsa
Step 1 | chop up your ingredients and place them into your blender.
Step 2 | add the canned tomatoes to your vitamix.
Step 3 | blend the salsa in quick pulses or blend on the lowest speed until your salsa is at your desired consistency. Less pulses = chunkier salsa!
Step 4 | Taste for seasoning, like adding as much lime juice as you like. A good homemade salsa is always served with your favorite tortilla chips!
Pro Tips, Variations, and Substitutions
This recipe is incredibly customizable! Add in fresh oregano, different chiles, substitute the cilantro for parsley (shout out to y'all with the soap gene!).
We love a more mild salsa, but if you love spicy salsa turn it up a notch! Use cayenne pepper to really add that spice.
If you're going to use fresh tomatoes, the type of tomatoes matter! The best tomatoes (in my opinion!) are San Marzano-style roma tomatoes because they tend to be sweeter and less watery than your classic sandwich-style tomatoes, so save your beautiful heirloom tomatoes for a chicken caprese sandwich instead.
If your tomatoes are on the too-acidic side add in a small bit of sugar, like ½ teaspoon. You don't want it to taste sweet, you just want to balance out the acidity.
Here's a secret for thicker salsa: make sure you don't have tomato seeds in your salsa. The seeds make your salsa watery!
My best salsa tip (in my opinion): this is my go-to salsa recipe every Taco Tuesday so I make a big batch and freeze it in portions in freezer-safe zip-top bags or in Souper Cubes.
Serve your Fresh Salsa with...
This fresh salsa recipe is fantastic for game days! Serve it up with fresh paloma mocktails, lemon pepper wet wings, or tasty beef fajita tacos!
It's also great as a condiment for taco salad, on burrito bowls, or anything that could use a fresh addition!
Storage Instructions
Your leftover salsa will last 2 weeks in an airtight container (like a mason jar). It gets an even better flavor as it sits!
FAQs
You can freeze blender salsa! Make a big batch and freeze it in portions in freezer-safe zip-top bags or in Souper Cubes. Keep in the freezer for up to 6 months and thaw in the fridge before serving.
Air can get whipped into your salsa if you blend it too fast on too high a speed, turning it pink. It'll turn back to red once it calms down.
Restaurant style salsa is a smoother, thinner, more homogenous consistency. The ingredients are well chopped/minced/blended, while a chunkier salsa has very obvious ingredients that are chopped into much larger and more recognizable pieces.
While it's easy to grab a $4, 8 ounce jar of salsa at the store, it's much more budget-friendly to make your own salsa.
You will have much more salsa left over for canning or freezing to enjoy for months while spending maybe a few dollars more for ingredients.
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Vitamix Blender Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 28 oz can roma tomatoes
- Zest of 1 lime
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 small red onion, quartered
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 chipotles in adobo sauce OR ½ teaspoon chipotle powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 jalapeño pepper, membrane and seeds removed
- ½ bunch fresh cilantro, stems removed
- Kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
- Add all ingredients into your blender container.
- Give quick pulses or run your blender on the lowest setting until your restaurant-style blender salsa is at your desired consistency.
- Give a quick taste and season with kosher salt and lime juice as needed.
- Serve in a bowl. The flavors get even better as the salsa sits.
Recipe Notes
Can you freeze blender salsa?
You can freeze blender salsa! Make a big batch and freeze it in portions in freezer-safe zip-top bags or in Souper Cubes. Keep in the freezer for up to 6 months and thaw in the fridge before serving.Pro Tips, Variations, and Substitutions
- This recipe is incredibly customizable! Add in fresh oregano, different chiles, substitute the cilantro for parsley (shout out to y'all with the soap gene!).
- We love a more mild salsa, but if you love spicy salsa turn it up a notch! Use cayenne pepper to really add that spice.
- If you're going to use fresh tomatoes, the type of tomatoes matter! The best tomatoes (in my opinion!) are San Marzano-style roma tomatoes because they tend to be sweeter and less watery than your classic sandwich-style tomatoes, so save your beautiful heirloom tomatoes.
- If your tomatoes are on the too-acidic side add in a small bit of sugar, like ½ teaspoon. You don't want it to taste sweet, you just want to balance out the acidity.
- Here's a secret for thicker salsa: make sure you don't have tomato seeds in your salsa. The seeds make your salsa watery!
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