My Winning Salsa Recipe
My goal this year was two-fold:
- Grow enough veggies to make my own salsa
- Find a salsa recipe that my family likes more than or equal to Pace Picante
I am happy to report success in both areas! Here is the salsa recipe I found/altered:
- 24 pounds tomatoes (equals about 34 cups cored, skinned, and quartered)
- 2 pounds green peppers (equals about 4 cups seeded, chopped)
- 12 ounces hot peppers (equals about 1 cup seeded, chopped)
- 2 pounds onions (4 whole onions)
- 3 TBS tobasco/hot sauce
- 2 2/3 cups vinegar
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1 TBS chili powder
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tsp pepper
- 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 TBS oregano
Blanch, peel, core, and quarter tomatoes. Let sit overnight. The next day, drain the tomato juice off (and can it!). Seed and dice green and hot peppers (use gloves). Sit overnight and drain, discard liquid. Chop onions. Sit overnight and drain, discard liquid.
Combine everything in a stock pot. Cook for 3-4 hours. The longer it cooks, the spicier it will be. Pour into hot jars, leaving 1/2″ headspace. Process 45 minutes in a water bath canner (this is for 4000-6000 feet elevation, adjust).
p.s. I called this my “winning” recipe because it won my family over. No official awards to report.
Your site has been alot of fun for me as well as helpful. So….. I made the salsa and, IT’S A WINNER! Thanks so much for the receipe. Will keep watching your site waiting for next spring! Regards
Hi! I think this is definately going to be one of my gardening goals for the year. We love the Pace picante salsa, and I’ve really wanted to can a year’s worth of SOMETHING, lol. I haven’t managed it yet, but this will be the summer!
I just wanted to know what the yield of this recipe is? I see you have quite a few quarts in the picture. Is that one batch? Thanks!
P.S. Have you noticed the renewed springtime traffic from my blog to yours because of my raised bed post from last year? Guess the raised bed gardening fever is still going strong! 🙂
Thank you!
Launa,
You made sense of it–cut everything up, put in separate containers, and let sit overnight in the fridge. Drain juices off (tomato juice can be kept and canned if you want), and combine. This recipe gets hotter the longer you cook it, so it’s difficult to get it to the right consistency (not so watery) without getting it too hot unless you include the step of draining.
🙂 Emily
I am interested in trying your salsa recipe, but I want to make sure I understand your directions correctly. Your instructions say “let sit overnight” – is that in the fridge, or out on the counter? Are the tomatoes, peppers, and onions in separate containers? – my guess would be yes.
The directions almost sound like the tomatoes are cut up on Day-1, the peppers are cut up on Day-2, the onions on Day-3, and then the salsa made on Day-4, but I think you mean this –
Day-1 : Using three bowls: Blanch, peel, core, and quarter tomatoes – let sit overnight. Seed and dice green and hot peppers (use gloves) – let sit overnight. Chop onions – let sit overnight.
Day-2 : Drain off tomato juice and can it. Drain and discard juice from the peppers. Drain and discard liquid from the onions…Combine everything in a stockpot…
Is this right?
Your website is wonderful. Thank you so much!
I think this recipe made 18 pints. I’ll double check on it when I make it this year!
I love your site! How many bottles of salsa did you end up with?
We eat the mild. I followed this recipe and cooked it for 3 hours and it turned out between mild and medium, compared to Pace. For me it was perfect–I like a little more spice than mild, but not as much as medium.
Hi! I’m a new reader to your blog! This is my second year at our new house and I have MUCH more space to garden than at our previous house but I want to cram a lot more in so I am practicing my sq.ft. gardening! I whole heartedly encourage you to submit your salsa to your local fair! I wrote a little post last summer about exhibiting at fairs. It’s so much fun!
http://corgipants.blogspot.com/2008/06/exhibiting-at-county-fair.html
Pace is also my favorite salsa. Does your family like the mild, medium or hot? and how long did you cook it to get that level of heat? Thanks