People throughout the North and South American continents love salsa. Which might be an understatement!
And, every culture and geographical area has their own way of making it. Being native Texans, we like our salsa slightly chunky and with the bold and spicy flavors of cilantro and jalapeños.
The beauty is: many of us can grow all the ingredients right in our own backyard — with the exception of limes and salt. Serve with guacamole to add a southwest flare to any meal. (Or here’s a fermented guacamole.)
Texas Style Salsa
Being native Texans, we like our salsa slightly chunky and with the bold and spicy flavors of cilantro and jalapeños. This recipe creates a mild salsa, and my 2 year old will eat his fair share. Want to kick it up a notch? Use 2 jalapenos. Makes 1 quart.
Ingredients
- 5 cups tomatoes diced
- 1/2 onion finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno de-seeded, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
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Combine all ingredients and stir well.
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Place half of the salsa mixture into a blender and blend on low for 10 to 15 seconds.
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Combine the blended and chopped salsa together in a quart jar.
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Let sit for 4 hours in the fridge to meld the flavors together.
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Devour!
What’s your kind of salsa? What part of the world does it originate?
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Out here in California that style is called “pico de gallo” (literally translated as “rooster’s beak” and there are all sorts of stories on the web about WHY it’s called that). Sometimes it’s referred to as “salsa fresca” (fresh salsa).
I love it better than traditional salsas (which are usually more like a sauce than a relish), but I’m a wimp. No peppers for me. It’s best in the late summer, early fall when tomatoes are at their peak.
Oh, I should add I have a Mexican friend who makes this by holding the onion or tomato in her left hand with a large and very sharp knife in the right hand, and she chops the veggies very fine right there in her hand, very fast, but NEVER cuts herself. Wow!
We make a salsa that is similar to yours, but we heat and can it in large quantities. My family likes it hot and we go through lots of it!
I make ours chunky like that too and pretty much use the same ingredients with the exception that I will add a lot of garlic. I make up a mild batch and then we’ll season our individual servings to taste. I like to add a little bit of dried oregano, a small amount of cumin, and smoked paprika. Sometimes I’ll use chipotle chilis in place of the paprika.
This would be pico de gallo in my house. Salsa is more saucy. But we eat both!!
I too am a native Texan living in Texas and I too would call this pico de gaillo
I make mine very similar but we add lots of chunks avocado and sometimes we add cottage cheese for a delicious twist!
Would this recipe be safe for canning if lemon juice were added? How much lemon juice would you recommend?
Is there a ratio of fresh peppers and onions to tomatoes and lemon juice? Water bath? This is the kind of salsa I want to make but I really would like to can some also and add green peppers and mild yellow peppers.