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Homemade Salsa for Canning with Cilantro and Jalapeno is a large batch salsa recipe. This easy to make salsa is made with fresh tomatoes, jalapenos, and cilantro from your garden harvest and canned in pint jars to enjoy year-round.

What is more delicious to serve your family and guests than a recipe made from the fruits of your labor? The fresh and delicious flavor is so delicious, you may go through all 6 pints lickety-split! We love it so much we will make this Venison Burger recipe and top it with the salsa instead of the sun-dried tomato pesto.

Homemade Salsa for Canning: Preserving your harvest

Tomatoes are one product I cannot get enough of in the garden. You can do so many things with them and it actually takes quite a few tomatoes to get a decent amount of end results.

For making salsa, the best tomato to use is the Roma tomato. They are a meatier fruit with few seeds. As a result, you have less water in your final product.

Why I like to make Homemade Salsa

We go through salsa like crazy and to be honest, I never have enough homemade salsa in my cupboard. And, while the store-bought salsa is not terrible by any means, I still prefer homemade salsa.

The freshness of homemade salsa can’t be beaten – unless you buy fresh salsa that is! However, I also like that you can control the flavors and heat of it yourself whether you like hot, medium, or mild salsa. This particular recipe reminds me of restaurant-style salsa.

Garden Fresh Produce for Salsa

This particular homemade salsa recipe was made from produce grown right in my own garden! I’m super excited about it! My garden produced plenty of Roma tomatoes and jalapeno peppers this year. It’s my opinion that fresh is best and when you grow it yourself it’s even more satisfying!

While I did grow cilantro and planted green peppers, my luck in harvesting them was not as successful. The cilantro went to seed before I was able to use it and the green peppers never amounted to anything. So, while I did use fresh ingredients for each, they were purchased at the grocery market.

Canning Equipment needed

• 9 piece canning kit
• Pint jars for canning (with lids and screw caps)

How to make Homemade Salsa for Canning

This recipe will take 9-1/2 to 10 pounds of tomatoes. To prepare the tomatoes for canning, you need to blanch and remove the skin. To do this, you will bring a large pot of water to a boil, place the tomato in the boiling water and let it sit a few seconds. Remove the tomato from the boiling water and immediately place it in a bowl of ice-cold water to cool it down quickly.

I do the blanching in batches and just keep my hot water on a very low simmer. Usually, I can get several Roma tomatoes in my stockpot to blanch. Once I put them in the cold water, I wait a few seconds, then remove them then core and peel them. The seeds and pulp are removed at this time also.

Next, I will take the tomatoes, dice them and place them in a colander to drain. I continue this process until all of the tomatoes I need are done.

Once the tomatoes have been prepped, I leave them in the colander to drain while I prepare the remaining ingredients for the homemade salsa. Then, I will add all of the ingredients into a large stockpot, stir to combine and bring to a boil.

Once the homemade salsa has come to a boil, let it simmer for about 15 minutes. This will allow some more of the moisture to evaporate.

Tip: If your salsa is still too thin for your liking, this is the point where you can add some tomato paste.

When your homemade salsa is done simmering, it is ready to process in your canner. The jars and lids the salsa will be canned in should be washed and sterilized before adding the salsa to them.

When filling the jars with salsa, use a funnel to aid in a clean transfer. Fill the jar with homemade salsa until it just reaches the neck of the jar. Wipe the rim of the jar with a paper towel, and place the sealing lid and screw cap on. Be sure the screw cap is on tight.

Place the jars in your water bath canner on the rack, and lower the rack into the bottom of the canner. Fill the canner with water until it just covers the top of the jars.

Cover the canner with the lid and bring to a boil. Once the water begins to boil, process the homemade salsa in the canner for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the lid, and let the jars sit for at least 15 minutes before lifting the rack up.

Once the homemade salsa jars have been removed from the canner, place them on a kitchen towel. Cover the hot jars with another towel to prevent drafts on the jars. This helps to prevent the hot jars from coming into contact with circulating cool air.

Tips for making Homemade Salsa for Canning

• If you like a thicker salsa, add 1/4-1/2 cup of tomato paste to your salsa while it is simmering on the stovetop.
• This recipe is keto-friendly – just use Monkfruit in place of sugar.
• You can make this as hot or mild as you like. This recipe has a hint of heat from the jalapeno. I personally would call this recipe mild. Go for hot and double the jalapenos.
• Always remove the seeds and the liquid membrane inside the tomato. This part holds a lot of water and the seeds are bitter.
• If a few seeds make it into the salsa, that will not destroy the recipe.
• Canned green chiles can be substituted for the jalapenos.
• Reduce the number of carbs by cutting the amount of garlic used in half.

What to serve with Canned Homemade Salsa with Cilantro!

We are all about salsa and Low Carb Keto Tortilla Chips! Mix this salsa into Easy Vegan Cashew Queso for a special treat!

I love to add homemade salsa for flavor, and this recipe would make a great one to use in this recipe for Avocado Egg Chilaquiles! I also love to top omelets and burgers with this salsa!