This canned green tomato salsa is the spicy treat that my family and friends adore. I love canning salsa early in the summer so I can serve it every time I have people over. Still, you can make this any time of the year, and if stored properly, it will last a long time.
Give Your Family a Treat With This Canned Green Tomato Salsa
Spice it up!
For me, using fresh green tomatoes is a given. I had a few of them leftover from another cooking adventure, so I decided to use them in this salsa. I used about 7 cups of peeled, seeded green tomatoes. While I recommend you use these, if you don’t have them, try other options, like cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, or Roma tomatoes.
The heat in this delicious salsa comes from peppers. In my case, I love using jalapenos. But you can use habaneros or Scotch bonnet, or even simply hot sauce or red pepper flakes.
Also, if you want more heat, add some of the jalapeno seeds. You can add as many peppers as you want, but I suggest you keep your eyes protected and use rubber gloves. These peppers sting like crazy!
For crunch, I use red onions, but you can use white or yellow onions. If you don’t like them, add bell peppers instead.
The seasoning is key in my book, so I add garlic, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. You can use other ingredients as well. Some good ideas include chili powder, onion and garlic powder, dry cilantro, and thyme.
The cooking part is easy, but I suggest you prepare your hot jars in advance. I use a water canner that I leave running as I cook all my ingredients.
Once my salsa is done simmering, I ladle it into the hot jars. While this part is personal, I usually leave my jars to process for about 20 minutes.
Finally, allow your jars to cool down for at least 12 hours. Enjoy your canned green tomato salsa with corn chips, with a steak, or even in a tortilla bowl salad.
Canned Green Tomato Salsa
Ingredients
12 medium green tomatoes, chopped, cored, peeled
5-10 jalapeno peppers, seeded, finely chopped
2 large red onions, chopped
1/2 cup (120 ml) lime juice
1/2 cup (64 g) finely chopped cilantro
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
Directions
- Prepare water-bath canner.
- Simmer jars until ready for use.
- Wash lids and rings with warm soapy water. Set aside.
- Mix tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic and lime juice in a large saucepan.
- Bring mixture to boil.
- Stir in cilantro, cumin, oregano, salt and ground black pepper.
- Lower heat, simmer for 5 minutes.
- Ladle salsa to hot jars, leave half inch headspace.
- Remove trapped air bubbles by running a spatula around the inside of jar.
- Wipe jar rim with clean damp cloth then apply lid and ring. Adjust to fingertip-tightness.
- Process jars for 20 minutes. (Adjust for altitude)
- Turn heat off and let jars sit for 5 minutes to settle.
- Remove jars and cool for 24 hours. Don’t place jars on a cold surface or where there’s a cool draft as jars may crack.
- Test seal on lids by pressing the center, lid shouldn’t wiggle and must feel nice and solid.
- Any unsealed jars must be refrigerated and consumed first.