Mexican Salsas

This salsa recipe is all about versatility! With just 3 main ingredients 🌶️ (pepper), 🧅 (onion), and 🍅 (tomato), you can create endless variations by adjusting the heat, acidity, creaminess, and flavor with your choice of add-ins. Whether you prefer it fresh or cooked, you can boil, roast, fry, or grill the ingredients to your liking. Customize your salsa with garlic, cilantro, citrus, or even fruits and extra spices for a unique twist. Perfect for any occasion—serve it raw, cooked, or creamy for a flavorful Mexican-style treat!

You only need 3 ingredients:
🌶️ Any type of pepper
🧅 Any type of onion
🍅 Any type of tomato
The amount of peppers depends on your desired heat level.

For extra flavor, add garlic, cilantro, or celery.
For acidity, add citrus like lime, lemon, orange, or grapefruit, or a splash of apple cider or white vinegar—adding vinegar can also extend the salsa’s shelf life.
For creaminess, include avocado or a bit of oil (olive, avocado, seed, or vegetable), crema, cheese, or nuts/seeds like sesame or pumpkin.

Use any cooking method you prefer: boil, steam, roast, broil, grill, or fry on the stove, grill, oven, or even in the microwave!
Chop, grind, or blend using a blender, food processor, or the traditional molcajete.
You can use vegetables raw or cooked. There’s no strict order—blend everything fresh, then cook in a pot, or cook the vegetables first and blend afterward for added depth.

Add spices like cumin, coriander seeds, black pepper, achiote, allspice, or cinnamon.
Include herbs like oregano, bay leaves, spearmint, epazote, hibiscus, basil, cilantro, or thyme.
Try extra veggies like celery, cucumber, radish, nopales (cactus), xoconostle (sour prickly pear), squash, corn, beans, jicama, mushrooms, potatoes, or zucchini.
Add fruits like mango, orange, watermelon, prickly pear, berries, pineapple, grapes, apple, coconut, or papaya.
For color or mild flavor, add non-spicy dried peppers like ancho, guajillo, mulato, pasilla, or cascabel.
Spicy dried chiles like árbol, japonés, chipotle, morita, piquín/pequín, chiltepin, or puya.
Instead of water, consider using beer, tequila, wine, mezcal, tea, stock, broth, or coffee.

If fresh ingredients aren’t available, canned tomatoes, peppers, and onions can be used—they work well as a shortcut for canned salsa flavor!

Traditional Salsa

• 4 jalapeños

• 1 Roma tomato

• 1/2 onion

• 1 garlic clove

• Salt to taste

Boil all ingredients, then blend with some of the cooking liquid until you reach your desired consistency.

Salsa Guisada

• Any salsa

Add salsa to a pan with oil and cook until it bubbles. For extra flavor, sauté diced onion until translucent before adding the salsa.

Roasted Salsa

• 3 serranos

• 2 habaneros

• 4 tomatillos

• 1/2 onion

• 2 garlic cloves

• Salt to taste

Broil vegetables, then blend. If too thick, add water; for creaminess, add 2 tbsp cooking oil when blending.

Salsa Frita

• 2 red jalapeños, halved

• 4 chiles de árbol

• 1/2 onion, sliced

• 1 Roma tomato, halved

• 3 garlic cloves

• Salt to taste

Fry all ingredients in a pan with oil until tender, then blend, adding water if too thick.

Salsa Verde

• 3 jalapeños

• 4 serrano peppers

• 1/5 of an onion

• 2 garlic cloves

• Salt to taste

Boil ingredients, season with salt, then blend. Optional: stir in chopped onions, cilantro, and lime juice or vinegar after blending. For creaminess, add an avocado to the blender.

Toasted Pepper Salsa

• 10 chiles de árbol

• 10 japones chiles

• 3 tomatillos

• 2 garlic cloves

• 1/4 cup cilantro

• Salt to taste

Toast peppers on a griddle until blackened. Toast tomatillos, onion, and garlic until slightly charred. Blend with cilantro, salt, and water, adding water gradually for the right consistency. Bring to a pot and boil, then cook down if too runny.

Salsa Tatemada

• 2 jalapeños

• 4 serrano peppers

• 2 habanero peppers

• 2 garlic cloves

• Salt to taste

Grill veggies until charred. Crush in a molcajete or blend in a food processor/blender, adding water for a thinner consistency if needed.

Smoked Salsa

• 3 dried chipotle peppers

• 5 morita peppers

• 2 garlic cloves

• 2 tomatillos

• 1/4 onion

• Salt to taste

Boil all ingredients until peppers are tender, then blend with salt and water until you reach desired thickness.

Salsa Roja

• 3 red jalapeños

• 1 Roma tomato

• 1/4 onion

• 1 garlic clove

Microwave in a zip bag with a bit of water for 3 minutes, or boil until tender, then blend. Add water for a thinner salsa if needed.

Salsa Cruda

• 1 Roma tomato

• 2 jalapeños

• 2 garlic cloves

• 1/4 onion

• 1 celery stick, medium size

• 1/4 cup cilantro

• Salt to taste

• 1/4 tsp cumin

• 1/4 tsp celery salt

• 1/4 tsp onion powder

• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

• 1/4 cup tomato paste

Blend all ingredients with water to reach desired consistency. Optional: add chopped cilantro and onions after blending.

Enjoy your homemade Mexican salsas!

NoWayJoseCuisine
Mexican Salsas

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