Easy, Delicious Fresh Tomato Salsa Recipe for Your Crockpot or Stovetop

After my recent trip to visit my mom, I returned home with a 5-gallon bucket of tomatoes. Since I didn't want a colony of fruit flies in my house and I didn't want to deal with a bunch of rotting tomatoes either, I knew I had to act fast to use up the bounty of my mom's small garden. I thought about making spaghetti sauce, since that's fairly easy and delicious, but I don't have any canning jars and don't have the money on hand to go out and buy any either. So then I thought about salsa! Freezing tomatoes usually results in a more watery product than what you started with, and since I like my spaghetti sauce nice and thick, I figured salsa was a good bet. Salsa's usually a tad on the watery side anyway, and since one of my favorite recipes for Chicken Tortilla Soup calls for a whole jar of salsa for each batch, I figured it was a win-win proposition.

Here's what I used to make my batch of salsa, which ended up making the equivalent of 5 large jars of salsa. You should alter this recipe to suit your tastes and to suit how many tomatoes you have one hand. This recipe should be used as a guideline to get your started. Salsa is one of those things that can be altered easily without messing up, so experiment!

First, the equipment:

To make your life easier, you will need to have a food processor, a very large pot, a medium sized bowl, and a large crockpot. Make sure you have some ice in the freezer, too. 1 or 2 trays should be plenty, unless you are making a larger batch, then you might want to pick up a bag of ice. You'll also need a wooden spoon, a slotted spoon, a sharp serrated knife (i.e. with teeth), and containers to store your salsa in when you are finished. I used plastic containers (the clear ones with blue lids) that you can pick up cheap at the grocery store, but you can also use recycled glass jars or freezer Ziploc bags. You can get by without the crockpot, so don't fret if you don't have one.

Now, the process:

You'll note that I don't give you a definitive shopping list. That's because the supplies you need will depend on how you like your salsa, and how much you are making. In the directions, I've included what I've used, and my salsa turned out to be mild to medium hot, with a creeping bite. It's delicious! If you want a hotter salsa, you'll need to pick up extra jalapenos, and you might even want to add in habanero peppers. If you want salsa that's on the milder side, cut the jalapenos in half. I don't recommend that you skip the japs entirely though, because salsa is meant to have a bit of a kick, and without the japs, it's basically just tomato sauce.

You'll need lots of tomatoes. I started with about a dozen large tomatoes, but use whatever you have one hand. I also used 2 cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles and 2 cans of plain diced tomatoes. (Note: I recommend having these on hand even if you aren't planning on using them. If you mess up the heat level, you can add canned tomatoes to tone it down. That's how i ended up using the plain diced tomatoes, so it happens...)

The first thing you'll do is peel the tomatoes. This can be a bit labor-intensive, but the taste is worth it, so buckle down. Fill the large pot about halfway with water and bring it to a boil. Using a sharp knife, cut a small cone into the tomato with will remove the stem end. If you are confused, just try to cut out the stem while wasting as little tomato as you can. You'll develop a knack with practice. Fill a medium to large bowl with ice and water to make an ice bath. Using the slotted spoon, add tomatoes to the boiling water, and after about 30 seconds, transfer to the ice path. The skin will peel right off as soon as you pick them up. If you are having trouble, boil the tomatoes for a little longer. Discard the stems, and place the peel tomatoes on a plate until they are all finished.

Now, empty the pot and place back on the stove with the burner off. Puree the tomatoes in your food processor. You will want to puree about 1/3 of the tomatoes until they are liquid and for the rest, use pulse to break up the tomatoes into bigger chunks. Add all of the tomatoes to the pot.

Next, you're going to puree your white onions, cilantro, and garlic. No need to wash out the food processor! You'll need 1 large white onion. I don't measure anything, so you can guesstimate this, but figure if you have 5 lbs of tomatoes, you'll need 1 large onion. You definitely don't want to go overboard with the onion. Garlic, on the other hand, you can go wild. I used 7 cloves, and it wasn't anywhere near overpowering. Just break the cloves from the head, cut off the bottom, and use a knife and the heel of your hand to push down on the clove to make it easy to peel. You'll also need cilantro, about 1 cup, give or take. If you don't like cilantro, add a little less, if you love it, add more. Again, I don't recommend ditching the cilantro, because it's essential to the salsa flavor profile. Process this mixture until it's in small chunks and well blended. Add the mixture to the pot, and again, without cleaning the processor, do the next step.

Peppers are essential to salsa. I used 5 jalapenos, 2 cubanelles, 1 red peppers, and 3 green peppers. Note that my red and green peppers were HUGE, so if yours are small, grab an extra one. As noted above, you can add extra heat with more japs and lessen the heat with fewer, but don't leave them out or it won't taste like salsa. Cut off the tops of the jalapenos, and without removing the seeds, add the whole peppers to the processor bowl. Process until small and add to the pot. With the cubanelles and bell pepppers, you will remove the tops and the seeds. Cut into large chunks and process into fine chunks. Add to the pot.

Now add tomato paste to the pot. I used 2 small cans. The tomato paste adds a richer flavor to the salsa. If you don't have any, you can substitute condensed canned tomato soup (without water!). You'll also need to add salt, vinegar, cumin, and lime juice. I used 1/8 cup salt, 1/4 cup vinegar, 2 large tablespoons of cumin, and 1 whole squeeze bottle of lime juice. You can use fresh limes if you feel like squeezing 'em, but for me it was cheaper and easier to use the bottled stuff.

You can add red pepper flakes, too, if you want more heat. I like my salsa mild-to-medium hot so I left 'em out. At this point, you can add some extra add-ins, if you'd like. You can added: cracked black pepper, corn kernels, or black beans. I used all and some of these in salsa batches, and I've never been disappointed. I've also seen salsa with other vegetables, too, like grated carrots or celery, but I can't vouch for the deliciousness of these.

Now that you've got all your ingredients together, you need to cook it down. Basically, you want to boil it gently until most of the liquid evaporates and you are left with a delicious, thick salsa. You can taste your salsa, too, to see if the heat is good for you, but remember that the heat gets stronger with time and after it cools, so don't go overboard. Bring the pot to a boil, then drop the heat slightly so it continues to bubble, and cook it like this for about 2 to 3 hours. Be sure to stir pretty often (about every 10 - 15 minutes) so you don't burn the bottom. This can be a time-consuming, pain-in-the-butt, so for all of you with crockpots, here's what you do: Bring the batch to a boil then carefully transfer the mixture to your crockpot. Set the crockpot on low and come back later to check on it. I haven't cooked it in a crockpot, since my crockpot was laughably too small, but I bet you'll need 4 - 8 hours on low for it to cook down enough.

Your salsa is done when it looks like salsa -- i.e. it's thick enough to suit your tastes. You might even want it a little thicker than you think you'll like because it will get thinner after you freeze then thaw it. Then the salsa cool to room temperature then place in containers, leaving a small amount of space at the top, add the lid tightly and freeze. Your salsa will keep for about a year in the freezer, and you can easily whip up a batch of my tortilla soup by letting it thaw overnight before you cook. If you want to can your salsa, follow usual canning methods and do the salsa in a hot water bath for 20 minutes. Enjoy!