5 Minute Blender Salsa Recipe
This blender salsa comes together in about five minutes, thanks to fire-roasted canned tomatoes. It’s bright, punchy, and full of fresh flavor. The kind of salsa you’ll find yourself making again and again because it’s just that easy.
Yes, you can make salsa in the blender.
That’s right. Add all your favorites – garlic, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro – along with some canned tomatoes in the blender and let it do the work for you! Because this recipe centers around canned tomatoes, you can enjoy it all year round, no matter the season.
Here’s how it all comes together.
Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor.
Blend for about a minute until everything is well minced and combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Enjoy immediately with crispy tortilla chips or store in the fridge for 24 hours to let the flavors really come together!
Things I learned while testing this recipe.
- If you like a thicker salsa, feel free to drain the juices from the canned tomatoes before blending. I prefer a nice smooth consistency, so I blend the juices along with the tomatoes and other ingredients.
- If you like a chunkier salsa, don’t blend it for quite as long. I’m a HUGE fan of the smooth consistency of restaurant-style salsa, but if you like chunks of tomato and onion, scale back the blending time. Give it a few quick pulses until it reaches your desired consistency.
- You don’t necessarily need a high-speed blender for this salsa. If you’re using just a regular blender, you might need to blend for longer than a minute. Use your judgment – when the salsa ingredients are well minced and combined, the salsa is done. You could also use a food processor to make this salsa! Again, just use your judgment on consistency.
- The longer this salsa sits, the more the flavors will blossom. If you’re having friends over, feel free to make this salsa a day or two in advance (and then hide it in the back of your fridge so your kids and husband don’t eat it all)! 24 hours in the fridge will make this salsa the best of the best. ALSO – Add more salt to taste just before serving if it’s been in the fridge for a couple days. This salsa will stay fresh for up to a week in the fridge.
- It’s easy to adjust this salsa to suit your personal taste! Like it spicy? Add a little more cayenne or leave the ribs and seeds in the jalapenos. Do you like a strong acid flavor in your salsa? Add an extra squeeze of fresh lime juice. A 1/2 teaspoon of chilies in adobo added to this salsa will give you a great smoky heat, too! This recipe is really easy to use as a blueprint and make it your own!
The great debate – fresh vs. canned tomatoes
- You can use fresh or canned tomatoes for this recipe.
- I prefer the consistency that canned tomatoes offer.
- But if it’s tomato season, I could be easily persuaded to use fresh, ripe, juicy heirloom tomatoes from the farmer’s market.
- Keep in mind, though, fresh tomatoes are definitely going to change the overall flavor of the salsa. It will be much brighter, more acidic, and “raw” tasting, and not as sweet or “cooked” tasting.
- If you’ve got fresh tomatoes that maybe weren’t picked at the peak of freshness, try my roasted tomato salsa.
Here’s what I’d serve with this delicious salsa.
- sheet pan shredded chicken nachos
- crispy ground beef flautas
- beer-braised pork carnitas
- easy baked fish tacos
- sheet pan chicken quesadillas
Just in case you have leftovers.
- Store this salsa in the fridge for up to a week.
- Season to taste with salt if it’s been in the fridge for a few days.
More easy appetizer recipes for your eating pleasure.
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Easy Restaurant Style Blender Salsa
This quick and easy blender salsa takes just 5 minutes to throw together thanks to fire-roasted canned tomatoes. It’s loaded with fresh flavors and tastes just like that smooth restaurant-style salsa from your favorite restaurant!
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 2 (15 oz.) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
- 3–4 cloves smashed garlic
- 1 jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed
- 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- juice of 2 limes
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- pinch cayenne pepper
- a couple large pinches Kosher salt
- large pinch fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender or food processor.
- Blend for about a minute until everything is well minced and combined.
- Serve with your favorite tortilla chips!
Notes
If you like a thicker salsa, feel free to drain the juices from the canned tomatoes before blending. I prefer a nice smooth consistency, so I blend the juices along with the tomatoes and other ingredients.
If you like a chunkier salsa, don’t blend it for quite as long. I’m a HUGE fan of the smooth consistency of restaurant-style salsa, but if you like chunks of tomato and onion, scale back the blending time. Give it a few quick pulses until it reaches your desired consistency.
You don’t necessarily need a high-speed blender for this salsa. If you’re using just a regular blender, you might need to blend for longer than a minute. Use your judgment – when the salsa ingredients are well minced and combined, the salsa is done. You could also use a food processor to make this salsa! Again, just use your judgment on consistency.
The longer this salsa sits the more the flavors will blossom. If you’re having friends over, feel free to make this salsa a day or two in advance (and then hide it in the back of your fridge so your kids and husband don’t eat it all)! 24 hours in the fridge will make this salsa the best of the best. ALSO – Add more salt to taste just before serving if it’s been in the fridge for a couple days. This salsa will stay fresh for up to 5 days in the fridge.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: No Cooking Required
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10 of salsa
- Calories: 33
- Sugar: 2.9 g
- Sodium: 211.8 mg
- Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 7 g
- Fiber: 1.8 g
- Protein: 0.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This is excellent. Best and easiest recipe I’ve seen. It can be modified to suit ones taste. More of this and less of that. But still, a great recipe!
Thanks bunches
I’m so glad you enjoyed this easy salsa recipe, Leah! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review 🙂
I love this!!! Up until about a week ago I never tried making fresh salsa. In the past week I’ve made it about 5x…lol. This is so easy and has the most amazing taste! Thank you for sharing🥰
For a smoother Salsa without blending, it’s probably also what a lot of restaurants use, is “Passata”, which also can be bought in a can, jar, even paper / cardboard box 🙂 It’s just another word for a very smooth blended can of Tomatoes 🙂
Great tip! Thank you for sharing!!
I’m not going to rate this because I didn’t follow the recipe to a T. Coming from a Mexican border town I’ll say it’s pretty good. Canned tomatoes aren’t in lack where we are so it’s definitely not authentic but we used them and can’t quite tell. We did omit cumin because that’s not a typical ingredient in any salsa we’ve ever had. Take or leave the lime as it’s good either way. We kept all of the jalapeño parts because we prefer a kick. All in all a great recipe!
Wonderful
Midwestern girl here. Better than my local Mexican Restaurant Salsa. Easy and yummy! Won’t make salsa any other way!
(I will say I also made this with roasted tomatoes from my garden. And can’t tell the difference between the canned vs fresh!)
You cannot beat the fresh taste of this salsa. I doubled the amount of cumin, though, as it is one of our favorite seasonings. I think next time I will use sweet onion instead of red (or 1/4 red and 1/4 sweet onions). After three days in the refrigerator, the onion taste was quite distinctive. I added a teaspoon of sugar, and that helped tame the distinct onion taste and allowed other flavors to come through. (If you have a suggestion for those of us who won’t eat it all in a day or two to prevent this, please share.) Thank you for an easy and delicious recipe.
Do you know if this recipe can be frozen or canned?
I have not tried either! I think that if you’re canning salsa you’ll want to use a recipe that is designed for canning so this one might not be best for you. Sorry, I can’t be of more help!
I have frozen it but it tends to get looser once thawed so not as good.
That is good to know! Thank you for sharing!
You might try rinsing your chopped onion under running water for a minute or so before adding to food processor. Saw this in a Rick Bayless pico de gallo recipe. The pico de gallo was excellent. Might work here.
You can soak a peeled sliced onion in ice water for about 10 minutes to tame the punch
Great idea, Leah! I’ve never heard of that before but it sounds ideal for this recipe!! Thank you for taking the time to share 🙂
I made the salsa this afternoon and left a few seeds on the jalapeño and added a little more garlic and a little more cumin and added a teaspoon of sugar! I tasted it after I blended it together and it was great I can’t wait to taste it after it sits in the fridge for a day! Thanks so much for this recipe it definitely taste better then store bought!!
If I am making several jars do I have to cook it or as long as its in sealed jar it will be fine?
This recipe is not written for canning – it’s just meant as a fresh salsa using canned tomatoes. I know there are some specific things that need to be done when canning to avoid botulism so a recipe that is specific to canning might be a better option for your needs. Hope that helps!
I loved this. I made adjustments I made it with fresh tomatoes and added more jalapeños and cumin and cayenne perrer in as we like ours hot. I also just used ingredient list to make my batch since I wanted to make a lot and use my garden ingredients.. I loved how it turned out!!! Will make again.
You already have lime juice. But you also can it. Just make sure you add a little bit of Sugar, white vinegar to it and cook to boil put in jars. Cook to what your pressure cooker or other advises.
Haven’t made this one. But others similar. It is a great one.
Question. Have you ever been to Milwaukee and had La Fuentes salsa or Botanas? I’m going to try this… hope it is similar.
I haven’t! But I’ll definitely check them out if I’m in the area! Can’t wait to hear what you think, Brian!
This recipe is fantastic! I used a can of whole San Marzano tomatoes flavored with garlic and red chili, and a chipotle pepper in adobo, along with the remaining ingredients. This is definitely going in my permanent recipe file!
I could (and probably will) eat this with a spoon.
This salsa is fantastic! I am eating it with one hand and typing with the other.
I didn’t have fire roasted tomatoes so I used a Mexican flavored stewed tomatoes.
I’ll definitely be making it again.
Thank you!
How many (16oz )jars does each recipe make? Trying to decide whether to double the recipe?
It will make slightly less than 2 (16 oz.) jars. Hope that helps!
Just made this tonight and it is delicious! Will be making this a lot! Thank you for the recipe
I am so glad that you enjoyed this recipe, Kelly! Isn’t it so quick and easy?! Thanks for leaving a review – I really appreciate it 🙂
This is good
Didn’t have fire roasted so used regular San Marzano tomatoes. Added an extra clove of garlic and a couple slices of habarnero pepper. Husband said it is the best salsa he’s had. Was perfect for our Taco New Years Celebration. Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that, Michelle!! The fire roasted San Marzanos are hard to find sometimes so I’m glad you were able to use regular ones with success!! Thank you so much for leaving a review – I really appreciate it 🙂
Faaan tastic Ty so much for inspiring me! . I had roasted some frozen corn in the oven & added this to the pico & made veggie nachos with. sharp cheddar! So so delish! ❤
YUM! Corn would be such a great addition to this salsa – and those nachos sound delicious!! Thanks so much for leaving a review, Eileen. I really appreciate it!! 🙂
This was really easy to make and so very good!
I am so glad that you enjoyed this recipe, Barbara. Thank you for leaving a review – I really appreciate it 🙂
I just want you thank you,Kylie.
I have made and gone through a 3 other recipes and adjusted according to my taste.This just so happens to require minimal modification compared to the others but it is now my permanent go to.
During taco night or a sports game.People ask what’s my secret.I simply say,Thank Kylie and her taste buds.
Everyone-
“Whoever she is.Thank you”!