It’s easy to make your own simple authentic Mexican restaurant-style salsa at home. The consistency and flavor is just like your favorite local Mexican restaurant.
Eating Mexican at home was never quite the same as going to our local Mexican restaurant. Mainly because one, I didn’t have to do the dishes when we ate out and two, the chips and salsa are the highlight of our meal and we could not get our homemade salsa to taste like a simple authentic Mexican restaurant style salsa.
Our family got the idea to go on a salsa quest for a recipe that reminded us of our local Mexican hang out. We first tried fresh tomatoes thinking that just had to be their secret. It was good, but not what we were looking for. We tried several different seasonings and vegetable combinations and even cooking the salsa after we mixed it all together but none were quite what our local restaurant had.
Then we hit on the secret. Your not going to believe this but it was canned stewed tomatoes!
We also realized fresh cilantro was another key ingredient. It seemed however every time we wanted to make salsa we had to run to the store to get fresh. One day just for fun, we popped the left over cilantro in a zip lock bag and froze it. It works perfectly!
We just pull out the bag and snip what we need into our salsa and put the rest back into the freezer. The fresh taste is nothing to be compared to dried cilantro in our recipes.
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Mexican Restaurant Style Salsa
Note: Be sure to read through the recipe’s post for tips and details about this recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 14 oz stewed tomatoes, canned
- 10 oz Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies, canned
- 1/4 cup onions, diced
- 2 teaspoons jalapeno , diced very small or chopped pepper of your choice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 2 tablespoons lime juice, use fresh, not the bottled kind
- 1/4 cup cilantro, fresh, leaves and stems
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, add the stewed tomatoes, Rotel, diced onions, minced garlic, sugar, salt, ground cumin, fresh lime juice, and cilantro. Blend until the salsa reaches your desired consistency. For a chunkier texture, pulse a few times. For a smoother salsa, blend more thoroughly.
- Transfer the blended salsa to a bowl. Stir in the finely diced jalapeño or your choice of pepper. Adjust the amount based on how spicy you want the salsa to be.
- Cover and refrigerate the salsa for at least 1 hour to let the flavors blend together. Serve chilled with tortilla chips or as a topping for your favorite Mexican dishes.
Notes
- Adjust Heat Level: If you prefer a milder salsa, remove the seeds and membranes from the jalapeño before dicing. For more heat, add extra jalapeño or a pinch of red pepper flakes.
- Use Fresh Lime Juice: Fresh lime juice gives the salsa a bright, authentic flavor, so avoid using bottled lime juice.