Canning Salsa: Recipe & Guide

4.44 from 980 votes

Canning salsa is easy, fun, and a great summer project for the whole family—we walk you through step-by-step and share our tested recipe!

Prep Time50

Cook Time40

Total Time1 30

Course: Canning Recipes

Cuisine: Tex-Mex

Servings: pint jars

Calories: 14kcal

10 cups chopped cored peeled tomatoes about 25 medium
5 cups chopped seeded green bell peppers about 4 large
5 cups chopped onions about 6 to 8 medium
2 ½ cups chopped seeded chili peppers such as hot banana, Hungarian wax, serrano or jalapeño about 13 medium
1 ¼ cups apple cider vinegar
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce optional

Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Wash lids in warm soapy water and set aside with bands
Combine tomatoes, green peppers, onions, chili peppers, vinegar, garlic, cilantro, salt and hot pepper sauce, if using, in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim. Center lid on jar and apply band, adjust to fingertip tight. Place jar in boiling water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.
Process both pint and half pint jars for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat, remove lid, let jars stand 5 minutes. Remove jars and cool 12-24 hours. Check lids for seal, they should not flex when center is pressed.

Change the spice level: you can safely change the ratio of hot to sweet peppers as long as you keep the same total volume of peppers
Swap (some) of the vinegar: you can safely swap out half of the vinegar for an equal amount of bottled (not fresh squeezed!) lemon or lime juice
Add dried herbs and spices: you can safely add dried herbs and spices (I like cumin!) to this recipe, you cannot add more fresh herbs safely
Make a smoother or blended salsa: home canned salsa recipes will be on the chunkier side because the density of the food is important when it comes to canning safety. So while I can’t recommend you blend this salsa before canning, you can blend this salsa right before eating—most immersion blenders fit perfectly in wide-mouth canning jars!