How to Make Restaurant Style Salsa

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I cannot get enough of chips and salsa! We have a lot of Mexican restaurants in our area, and they are all amazing. I’m sure I am not (or I hope I’m not) the only one that gorges on chips and salsa before my food arrives. You’d think that would stop me from eating my entire meal and then going back for more chips and salsa, but it doesn’t.

Confession time. I have never made home made salsa before. I am slowly, and I mean slowly, trying to make more things myself so I can better control the ingredients that I feed my family. Again, this is a process that will build up over time.

I hadn’t actually thought of trying to make my own salsa until I happened to see this recipe come across my Facebook feed. I’m not sure where it originated from, but I did a lot of tweaking to the original recipe. It looked so easy to make that I decided to give it a go. As it turns out, it was very easy to make. Now I am addicted and cannot go back to salsa from a jar. I mean, I guess I could if I had to. But I don’t want to.

The key ingredient to this salsa being restaurant style is the tomato sauce. The tomato sauce gives it that smooth almost runny texture you would get from restaurant salsa.

Looking ahead to summer, I am so excited to make this with fresh garden ingredients.

Now, on to the recipe.

What you need to get started:

Lemon Juice

Salt

Garlic Powder

Red Pepper Flakes

A Can of Tomato Sauce

Jalapenos

Red Onion

Bell Pepper- I used a green bell pepper, but you can use any color pepper of your choice. If you want to add more than one color just add half of each color.

Cilantro

Prep the Ingredients

The first thing you need to do is cut up the onion, peppers, jalapenos, and cilantro. Whenever I add ingredients to the food processor, I always just do a rough chop. Quartering the ingredients works nicely.

The great thing about making your own salsa is that you can make it as spicy or mild as you like. Obviously, if you want a spicy salsa, leave the seeds in the jalapenos. My family can not take the heat, so the seeds have to go.

Time To Process It All

Once you get everything chopped, add it to the food processor. I use the pulse setting and process until it is all nicely blended and in fine pieces. You want it almost blended together. The goal is a smooth salsa, so large chunks of onion or peppers will throw off the texture.

This is how it should look. Nice and blended. It smells so good too. This mixture would be delicious added to other recipes as well, like guacamole, for example.

Time For Seasoning

Now it’s time to add the seasoning to the tomato juice. I was in a hurry and added the tomato sauce on top of the pepper mixture, then I added all the seasoning.

I prefer to add the tomato sauce in a separate bowl and then add the seasonings and mix it all together before adding in the pepper mixture. But, I rarely do things the way I should.

In goes the tomato sauce, garlic powder, salt, red pepper, and a splash of lemon juice.

Let’s mix it all together.

And, this is what we are looking for. Doesn’t that look beautiful!

Taste Testing Time

I always have taste testers waiting behind the scenes. The milk dripping off his chin is evidence that I made this a little too spicy.

This recipe is easy to adjust. I added a little more tomato sauce to calm down the heat.

This recipe makes 16 oz. You can store in an air tight container or mason jar in the refrigerator. It should stay fresh for 5-7 days.

I also doubled the recipe while I was making this batch and stored the extra in a 32 oz mason jar.

I love this salsa, it takes so good and is so easy to make. Try it as an appetizer for your next family gathering or for yourself, to snack on. It pairs great with guacamole. You can also use as a topping for tacos, or of course, just great ole chips and salsa.

Enjoy!