Enjoy The Pioneer Woman’s salsa, an easy, scrumptious, restaurant-style salsa! Recipe also includes instructions for canning it for long term storage!
Do you like Mexican food? Our family sure does! Occasionally we go OUT for Mexican food, which always includes a big basket of tortilla chips (or two) and salsa to munch on before dinner is served. Well… I found this recipe for The Pioneer Woman’s (Ree Drummond) Restaurant-Style Salsa on line, and adapted it for canning! It’s SOOOO good!
The thing I like the most about making this salsa is that I can make it (and can it) any time of the year. The recipe calls for canned tomatoes, which is kind of nice, because we all know the very best ripe tomatoes are available during our summer months.
You Can Make This Salsa Any Time Of The Year!
But what if you want to make or can great salsa in the middle of January? (those grocery store tomatoes are kinda gross at times!) Well, with this awesome recipe you can make wonderful restaurant-style salsa (and can it!!!) any month of the year!
I made this salsa and canned it for the first time last July. We saved some to eat “fresh”, and I canned the rest. I was able to can about 10 jars of the salsa (Note: I DOUBLED this recipe), and last month (March 2015), we ate the last of our canned salsa.
Each time we opened a jar, the salsa tasted just as good as the day I made it… and I didn’t have to buy salsa for 8 months! YeeHaw and Awesome!
Do I HAVE To Can This Salsa?
The quick answer is no. You do NOT have to can this salsa! If you are not going to can it, you need to know that this recipe makes a large quantity, AND is as easy as putting all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and pulsing until fully mixed.
Adjust seasonings to taste, and refrigerate salsa for an hour before serving. That’s how easy it is!
How To Make The Pioneer Woman’s Salsa
Get the ingredients together. Prep the onion and jalapeno according to the instructions in the printable recipe at the bottom of this post.
Place all ingredients in a large food processor or blender (you may have to prepare this in batches, and then mix all together in a large bowl or pot).
Pulse or blend until salsa becomes the consistency you prefer. Taste the salsa, and adjust the seasonings to suit your taste.
If You Are NOT Canning This Salsa
The salsa is done at this point if you are not planning to can it for long term storage. Cover the salsa and refrigerate it for one hour before serving with a ginormous bowl of tortilla chips. That’s it!
Planning To Can The Pioneer Woman’s Salsa For Long Term Storage?
If you are going to can and preserve the salsa, prepare 5 half-pint jars (or 10 if you are doubling the recipe). Wash canning jars in hot soapy water, rinse, drain, then heat the jars.
To heat the jars, I place the clean jars on a dish towel on a baking sheet. Place jars in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes, before heating the salsa up for canning.
Heat water in a water bath canner while preparing the salsa and jars for canning (according to manufacturer instructions). Bring the salsa to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. While this is cooking, put the jar’s flat lids into simmering hot water for 4-5 minutes.
Fill The Jars With The Pioneer Woman’s Salsa For Canning
Ladle the hot salsa into the hot, prepared canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space in each jar. Follow instructions in the printable recipe below, to remove air bubbles, and apply the flat lids and rings.
Place the prepared jars of The Pioneer Woman’s salsa onto a rack in canner. Process jars in a gently boiling water bath for 15 minutes (per instructions below in the recipe card).
Once done, the hot jars of salsa are removed and rest on the counter for 12-24 hours. When completely cooled, test the jars to ensure they have sealed properly, wipe them clean, label the jars, and then they are ready for the pantry.
Hope you will give this wonderful restaurant-style salsa a try! We sure have enjoyed having absolutely delicious salsa available to us year-round, with only a couple of steps to our pantry to get it!
Looking For More CANNING Recipes?
You can find all of my recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page. These canning recipes include:
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Recipe Adapted From: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/restaurant-style-salsa/
↓↓ PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW ↓↓
Enjoy The Pioneer Woman's salsa, an easy, scrumptious, restaurant-style salsa! Recipe also includes instructions for canning it for long term storage!
- 1 large can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes with juice
- 20 ounces canned Rotel Tomatoes (2 cans) (10 ounce cans each) (these are diced tomatoes w/ green chiles)
- 1/4 cup chopped brown onion
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 1 whole jalapeno (quartered, sliced thin, seeds and all)
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro (or more, to suit your taste)
- the juice from 1/2 of a large lime
- Place all ingredients into a large food processor or blender (may have to process in batches). Pulse (or blend) until you reach the desired consistency you prefer. Taste the salsa; add more seasonings to suit your taste. If not canning this, refrigerate (covered) for 1 hour, then serve with tortilla chips.
- Fill canner or large, deep soup pot (with metal rack on bottom) over half full with water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Wash canning jars in hot, soapy water. rinse well; drain. I put the clean jars on a dish towel on a baking sheet in a preheated 250 degree oven for about 25 minutes to heat up.
- Prepare salsa according to above directions. Place salsa in a separate large cooking pot.
- Once jars are heated, bring salsa to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer/low boil for 5 minutes. While this is cooking, place the jar lids in separate saucepan, cover with water and simmer over medium heat (do not boil) for 4-5 minutes. (Keep lids hot until ready to use).
- Work with one jar at a time: Insert funnel into mouth of jar. Ladle the hot salsa into hot jar. Leave 1/2 inch headspace from the top of the jar to the salsa. Slide a non-metallic utensil (plastic knife or rubber spatula work well) into salsa 2-3 times to remove air bubbles. Re-adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding more salsa (only if needed for 1/2 inch headspace).
- Wipe rims and threads of jars with a damp cloth so no sauce or food particles remain (food particles left on rim could cause jars to not seal). Place lid on jar (I use a magnetic utensil). Place screw band on jar. Tighten to fingertip tight (do not over-tighten). Place filled jar onto rack in canner. Repeat process until all jars are filled.
Once all jars are in canner, adjust the water level until it covers the tops of the jars by at least one inch. Cover canner with lid; bring water to full rolling boil over high heat. Once water is boiling HARD, start the timing (15 minutes) for processing the salsa. Keep up the rolling boil throughout the cooking process. Process half-pint jars for 15 minutes. At end of processing time, turn the heat off. Remove the canner lid. Let the jars cool in the canner for 5 minutes before removing with tongs.
Lift jars out of canner carefully. Place the jars on a dish towel on counter (where they can be undisturbed) for 24 hours to cool down. Within an hour or so, you should hear a "ping" sound as the jars seal. After 24 hours, check to make sure all jars have sealed, remove band from jar, wipe clean, label, then place in pantry for long term storage.
For the sake of the recipe instructions, the prep and cooking time is for making the salsa only.
If you are going to can the salsa, obviously the processing time indicated in recipe instructions will also be involved.
If making this in pint jars, the processing time is 15 minutes in a water bath canner. Making this recipe in half-pint jars yields approx. 5 jars. I DOUBLED the recipe easily, and was able to can 10 half-pint jars.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!
I love this recipe, one question, can you omit the cilantro?
I’m sure you can, however it will change the flavor of the salsa.
Thank you SOOOOO much!! I’ve been making this recipe exclusively for years, and was trying to find a similar enough salsa recipe that I could can safely, but they all looked gross. This was precisely what I was looking for—I gasped when I saw the pin! Thank you AGAIN for researching this and posting!!!!
The recipe calls for canned tomatoes so they have already been processed thus you can use fresh lime juice.
All canning books and extension services will tell you not to use fresh lime or lemon juice because the pH levels can vary from fruit to fruit. It’s recommended to use bottled lemon or lime juice.
I’m concerned with putting a dish towel in the oven while heating up the jars. I’ve never placed a dish towel in the oven. Does the towel need to be wet or dry? Wouldn’t want to start a fire 🙃
Hi, Lindsey… I’ve neve had a problem with that, and I’ve canned hundreds of jars of jams, soups, veggies, etc. over the years. It really is there to help the empty jars be stable and not slide around, but if you feel more comfortable not using it, then don’t. Have a great day.
Candi, back in August 2020, asked the same question I have but never received a reply. What would the cooking times be if we wanted to do this in quart jars? Also, would it require additional water, I mean, we want the jars covered, right? I’ve canned before, but only ever strawberry jam, never tomatoes. Thanks so much! ❤️
Hi, Christy… Unfortunately I do not have an answer for you. I have ONLY ever canned these in pint sized jars, so I honestly don’t know.
Can you freeze this salsa?
Hi, Susan. I have never frozen this salsa, so I am not sure. I’m not confident the tomatoes would hold up too well, as they “might” get too squishy upon thawing. Have a great day.
Could you do these in quart jars? And does that affect the amount of time in the water processing?
What is a brown onion?
Hi, Janna… a brown onion is another name for a yellow onion or Spanish onion.
Good recipe for a try I used jalapeños jelly in stead of fresh jalapeños and sugar I really liked it and it seemed thicker
Hi. We love this recipe but I’ve never canned it. I know that pH levels are an issue for safe canning. Has this recipe been tested for that? Thanks!
Hi, Terri. Thank you for writing. Sorry for the late response (company for the past week from out of state). Yes… I matched ingredients up with a Canning book’s salsa recipe to make sure that the lime juice, etc. that is added provided the necessary balanced acid for it to be safe for canning. I’ve made this salsa and canned it for years, without any problems at all. Hope that helps! Have a fantastic day!
I was concerned about this too, however the tomatoes are processed and they have citric acid and lime. So I think it should be good.
Absolutely delicious!, easy to make. I actually used my own garden tomatoes that I stewed myself, and removed the skin of course. Want to make more, we are non chunky salsa lovers
So happy to hear you tried it, and enjoyed it, Nancy! I LOVE my home grown tomatoes, too (homegrown are the best, right?). YAY for homemade salsa, too! Have a GREAT day!
What if I want to use fresh tomatoes from my garden? How would I adjust the recipe?
I am on vacation out of state right now, so can’t access my Canning books to get an answer. I would suggest searching online, Nancy. You’re bound to find the answer to your very good question. Sorry I can’t help.
Hi how many home grown tomatoes would you use. This is my first time
Hi, Mary. Thank you for writing. I would ASSUME you would need to used the equivalent of the canned tomatoes which are used for this recipe. But… I really do not know the answer for you. I have only made it using canned tomatoes, as per the written recipe. Not sure I am much help, since I have never made this exact recipe using fresh tomatoes. I used a completely different home recipe for fresh tomato salsa.
Love this. Our familiy’s favorite
We do too, Maria! It sure is good! I love having jars of it in our pantry so any time we want some salsa… it’s right there! Have a wonderful day, and thank you for taking time to write!
And according to the recipe the processing time is 15 minutes whether it’s pint jars are half pint jars is that correct?
Hi, Kim. Sorry for my late answer in response to your question. I’ve been out of state for the past week (my Mom doesn’t have internet, and I couldn’t access the admin. side of my blog). Yes, I have done 15 minutes for both pints and half-pints and had no trouble with either. Thanks for taking the time to write.
I had to google canner, but I think my turkey roaster should work. First time canning and I’m canning salsa! Love it!
Hi, Kelly! Funny thing is, I’ve never used a turkey roaster for anything before. Ha Ha. Listen… if it’s your very first time canning, please remember this…a large deep soup pot also works very good, but no matter what type of large pot you use to hold the jars, make sure there is a rack under the jars so they don’t touch the bottom of the pot (breakage from direct heat is no fun). Also remember to completely cover the jars and lids by at least one inch with water. Not sure how deep a turkey roaster is, but once the water is boiling it can bubble all over the place. Remember to start the processing time once the jars are submerged and water has come to a full boil. Good luck. Hope you enjoy the salsa!