Homemade Mexican Salsas
Howdy folks, and thanks for stopping by the website! It’s the middle of the summer here in beautiful Oklahoma and our garden has produced a wonderful patch of tomatoes, onions, and peppers. There’s nothing as good as a tomato fresh from the garden, is there? We have such an abundant crop this year that we’re making two different salsas and have some great tips and tricks to help you do the same.
We’ll start with a fresh garden salsa like my Mama used to make, and then we’ll add an authentic Mexican salsa. If you make both of these, let us know in the comments which one you liked better. We couldn’t decide! The full recipes are at the bottom of this web page.
Salsa Tips:
- You’ll need a blender or food processer, but if you don’t have one, that’s ok. You’ll slice and dice as fine as you can, and then put the salsa in a ziploc bag or bowl and use your hands or any tool that will crush the ingredients together.
- If you like your salsa chunky, withhold one or two ‘maters for after you’ve blended the salsa. Add them in at the end for a chunkier salsa.
- If you want more heat, leave the jalapeno seeds in!
- If you like a thick salsa, squeeze some juice out of the tomatoes before adding to the blender.
- Save the tomato juice to use in soups, sauces, or a Bloody Mary.
- Strain the salsa if you’d like it to be very thick. Freeze the strained juice and use it to enhance the flavor of soups, chili, or tacos.
- Add some honey for sweetness.
- Do not leave out the citrus! I use lime in my recipe, but you can use any citrus juice you like – the acid from the citrus breaks down the tomatoes in such a way that transforms the flavor of the entire recipe. This is an essential ingredient.
- Chill the salsa until it’s time to serve. There’s nothing quite like cold salsa with a hot meal, is there?
If you LOVE eating salsa, but you don’t enjoy making it? No problem. You can try mine!
As always, Shannon and I thank you for sharing our food! We release a new episode on YouTube every Wednesday at 2:30 CST. Please subscribe to our videos and follow us on Facebook for all the latest news and events. We hope you come back every week!
Garden Fresh Salsa - Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 6 beefsteak or large tomatoes divided
- 8 garlic cloves minced
- 2 jalapenos stemmed and seeded
- 1 serrano pepper stemmed and seeded
- 1 small white onion quartered
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- Juice of half a lime
- Kent’s Mesquite seasoning or salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Core four of the tomatoes. If using garden fresh tomatoes, give them a little squeeze to drain some of the juice. Place in a blender. Add the garlic, jalapenos, serrano, onion, honey, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika and lime juice to the blender.
- Pulse the blender until the contents are chunky, or you reach the desired consistency. Do not run the blender too long to create a soupy consistency.
- Pour the contents into a bowl. Roughly chop the remaining two tomatoes and stir in. Season to taste. Cover and chill for 30 minutes, or until ready to serve.
- Note: After blending, you can also strain the contents through a colander for a less juicy consistency.
Smoky Mexican Salsa - Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 3 dried ancho chiles stemmed and seeded
- 6 Beefsteak or large tomatoes cored
- 2 jalapenos stemmed, seeded and chopped
- ½ large white onion chopped
- 3 to 5 tablespoons Hatch green chiles
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons whole oregano
- Kent’s Original seasoning or salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the ancho chiles to a small saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil for about 4 minutes, or until add enough water to cover the ancho chili and bring to boil. Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until tender.
- Add the tomatoes to a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Roast for about 4 minutes, turning occasionally, until the tomatoes are tender and slightly charred.
- Add the jalapeno and onions and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the garlic.
- Add the content of the skillet to a blender.
- Strain the ancho chiles from the water and add to the blender along with the honey, cumin and oregano.
- Pulse the blender until the contents are chunky, or you reach the desired consistency. Do not run the blender too long to create a soupy consistency.
- Pour into a bowl and season to taste. Cover and chill for 45 minutes, or until ready to serve.
- Note: After blending, you can also strain the contents through a colander for a less juicy consistency.