Are you ready for the best salsa recipe? Blended from a handful of easy ingredients, it’s sultry, slightly chunky and the perfect balance of tangy and spicy. Store-bought options are no match for this homemade version.
No Mexican meal is complete without freshly made salsa. You can scoop it with tortilla chips, spoon it atop grilled carne asada, dollop it on taco salad, or drizzle it over carne asada tacos or carnitas tacos. It will enhance the flavors of just about anything.
But let me emphasize on the freshly made part. After making this recipe, I bet you’ll never buy store-bought versions again. Why? Because making it from scratch tastes so much fresher, and it only takes five minutes to make.
CANNED VERSUS FRESH TOMATOES
The debate between using canned versus fresh tomatoes can go on forever. But in my opinion, I think using canned tomatoes is best for the perfect salsa.
Unlike pico de gallo, restaurant-style salsa has a much smoother consistency and finer texture. Canned tomatoes help with that.
Restaurant-style salsa also tends to have more depth of flavor, compared to pico de gallo. You can get this layered depth from fire-roasted canned tomatoes (my favorite), along with additional herbs, and seasonings.
If you decide to use just fresh tomatoes, I recommend roasting them. This will help add a rich, smoky flavor to salsa.
