Restaurant Style Salsa is inexpensive and a cinch to make at home. Learn the ingredient I use to make it taste just like a restaurant's!
“This salsa is AMAZING!! It is so simple to make and is so much better than store bought. Everyone that has tried it requests the recipe!”
I’m about to share with you one of the greatest restaurant hacks of all time: making homemade, restaurant-style salsa is not only easy and inexpensive, but it’s BEST made with canned tomatoes.
While fresh tomatoes make great pico de gallo, you gotta go with canned tomatoes if you want that true restaurant salsa flavor.
You heard it here first, folks!
Watch How to Make It
Homemade Restaurant-Style Salsa
I’ve been making this homemade salsa recipe since college, which is when I found out that canned tomatoes are the secret to the addictive-deliciousness of restaurant style salsa (ie, I begged the waiter at Carlos O’Kelly’s to tell me how they make their salsa. SO GOOD!)
Of course I occasionally slack and buy salsa at the store, but this recipe gives you the restaurant experience at home, and takes just a few minutes to make.
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- Inexpensive: the recipe for Restaurant Style Salsa makes 4 cups of salsa for under $5. That said, its very economical and great for serving at parties and get togethers.
- Long-lasting: homemade salsa will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge. While I don’t have experience canning, I know enough to confidently say this recipe would can well.
- Quick & easy: I use my 14 cup food processor to whip this salsa up in just a few minutes, though a blender would most likely work well too.
- Customize the spice: as written, my recipe is mild on the spice scale, but feel free to leave the seeds in the jalapeno to increase the spice level, and/or experiment with adding different kinds of chili peppers.
How to Make Restaurant Style Salsa
There’s just one step involved in this recipe – throw a bunch of ingredients into the bowl of a food processor then pulse – woo!
We’ve got canned whole peeled tomatoes, red onion (white onion works great too), fresh cilantro, fresh garlic, jalapeno, salt, sugar, and fresh lime juice.
NOTE: if your canned tomatoes contain sugar in the ingredient list then omit the sugar in the recipe.
Pulse the ingredients until you reach your desired consistency then taste and add more salt and/or lime juice if necessary.
That said, this salsa is best eaten 24 hours or more after making, so the flavors have time to meld, and so I like to adjust the seasonings just before serving the day after making.
Scoop the salsa into a 4 cup mason jar or bowl with a tight fitting lid then refrigerate for 24 hours to let the flavors really meld before digging in. The salsa will stay fresh in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks, though mine never ever sticks around that long.
I hope you love this EASY restaurant style salsa at home! Enjoy!
Serve Restaurant Style Salsa with these Recipes:
- Beef Enchiladas
- Cheese Enchiladas with Red Sauce
- Homemade Crunchy Taco Hamburger Helper
- Easy Chicken Enchiladas
- Chicken Fajitas
- Creamy Pinto Beans
- Cheesy Chicken Burrito Skillet
- Restaurant-Style Ground Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
- 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
- 1/2 red or white onion, roughly chopped
- 1 handful cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and roughly chopped (leave in seeds for a spicier salsa)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon sugar*
Directions
- Add ingredients — whole tomatoes through salt — to a food processor. Add the juice of half a lime, plus the sugar if your canned tomatoes do not contain sugar. If sugar is listed as an ingredient on your canned tomatoes, omit the sugar.
- Pulse ingredients until desired consistency is reached then taste and add more lime juice and/or salt if necessary. Refrigerate overnight for best results then serve.
Notes
- This salsa is mild as written with 1 seeded jalapeno.
- This recipe makes ~4 cups of salsa.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Super easy and delicious!
I’m thrilled to hear it, Haley! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Great recipe! My entire family approved! I added ~1 tsp cumin powder. It really does improve after sitting overnight. I’m thrilled that with minimal effort, I can make salsa sauce for half the price of a jar at the supermarket. This recipe will be a staple at our house. Thank you!
I’m thrilled this was such a hit at your house, Rema, and that you were able to make it your own with the addition of cumin. Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
I use diced tomatoes, drained, which makes final product more restaurant style- like. The recipe as written is way too watery. Otherwise flavors are great salsa is good and freezes well also.
Hi there! Did you make the recipe as written using whole peeled tomatoes, or just with diced tomatoes? If so, it will not be watery. If you want the recipe to turn out exactly like mine, you need to use the same ingredients I do.
would Rotel tomatoes work for this recipe
That could work, Joyce!
Excellent salsa! Thank you for sharing this recipe. Made it twice now. Doubled the garlic and limes and added a tsp of garlic salt.
I’m so glad you loved it, Susan, and were able to make it your own! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Can you use fresh tomatoes from the garden?
As crazy as it sounds, this salsa tastes very bland made with fresh tomatoes!
I’ve been searching for years for the perfect homemade salsa. This is it! Thank you so much.
WOHOO!! Fantastic to hear, Jamie!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!