Canned Tomato Salsa

By cnash

Ingredients

• 5 lbs of tomatoes
• 1 lb large Anaheim green chiles (5-6 chiles)
• 3 jalapeno chilies, seeded and stems removed, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh chopped cilantro (including stems)
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1-2 teaspoons sugar (to taste)
• 5 to 6 pint-sized canning jars, with rings and new lids
• A very large stockpot or canning pot (16-qt)
• A flat steamer rack on which to place the filled jar for the water bath canning, so that they don't touch the bottom of the pan and crack from excess heat
• Canning tongs to make it easy to lift the jars in and out of boiling water
• Rubber or latex coated gardening gloves to make it easier on your hands for handling hot jars

Details

Servings 5
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 65mins
Adapted from simplyrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Before starting, prepare your workspace so that it is clean and uncluttered. If you don't want to roast your own green chiles, you can sub with about two 7-ounce cans of green chiles, chopped. This recipe uses specific amounts of ingredients, balancing the non-acidic ingredients with the amount of added acid needed to make the recipe safe. Do not increase the amount of green chiles beyond 1 1/2 cups, or decrease the amount of tomatoes less than 7 cups.

A flat steamer rack on which to place the filled jar for the water bath canning, so that they don't touch the bottom of the pan and crack from excess heat

Canning tongs to make it easy to lift the jars in and out of boiling water

to make it easier on your hands for handling hot jars

Prepare for canning. Place steamer rack in the bottom of a large (16-qt) stock pot or canning pot. Place new or clean mason jars on the rack. Fill the jars with water and fill the pot with just enough water to come to the top of the jars. Heat water to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. (Keep the jars warm while preparing the salsa.)

Have a kettle half filled with water ready to boil, to use to sterilize the jar lids a few minutes before canning.

.) If you don't have a gas cooktop you can broil the chiles, or blister them on a grill. Note that it is not essential that the chile peppers be cooked through, only that the outer tough skin is blistered and blackened. This is what will help with flavor. Also it will make it easy to peel the chiles. Just put the chiles near a heat source until blistered and blackened, and turn them so that they get blackened on all sides. Then place the chiles in a brown paper bag (or in a covered bowl), close the bag and let the chiles steam in their own heat for a few minutes. Then gently rub off the outer skin and discard. Cut away the stems and remove the seeds and any prominent veins. Chop up the chiles and set aside; you should have 1 cup of chopped chiles. Do not use more than 1 1/2 cups of chopped chiles.

Prepare the tomatoes. You want the tomatoes peeled, and there are several ways of doing that. Blanching them is easiest; grilling or broiling will result in more flavor. To blanch them, score the ends of the tomatoes and place them in boiling water for a minute. If you are going to grill or broil the tomatoes, I recommend coring them first. Grilling is best with whole plum tomatoes; grill them on high direct heat until blackened in parts and the peels are cracked. Broiling works with any sized tomato. Just cut them in half and place the cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan. Broil until the peels are blackened in parts.

Remove the tomatoes (from water, grill or broiler) and let cool to the touch. Remove and discard the peels. Cut away any cores if you haven't done so already. Chop the tomatoes taking care to save any juices that may come out of them. Starting with 5 pounds of tomatoes you should end up with about 8 cups of chopped tomatoes and juices. (You must use at least 7 cups of tomatoes.) Place them in a bowl and set aside.

Put all of the ingredients into a large (8-qt) stainless steel pot. (Do not use aluminum or the acidity of the sauce will cause the aluminum to leach into the sauce.) Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Cook uncovered for about 10 minutes.

While the salsa is cooking, place the jar lids in a bowl and cover with boiling water to sterilize.

If you want your salsa to be more smooth than chunky, use an immersion blender to pulse it a few times, or working in batches ladle about half of it into a blender and purée.

Adjust seasonings. If too acidic to taste, you can balance it with a little more sugar. If too sweet, add a bit more vinegar.

Ladle salsa into canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch head space. Wipe the rims with a clean, dampened paper towel so that there is no residual food on the rims. Place canning lids on the jars. Screw on the lid rings. Do not over-tighten or you may not get a good seal. Air does need to escape from the jars during the next step, the water bath.

Place the filled and lidded jars back onto the rack in the large stock-pot of hot water you used to sterilize the jars in step one. You may need to remove some of the water from the pot to prevent it from overfilling. Cover the jars with at least 1-inch of water. Bring to a rolling boil and process for 15 minutes (20 minutes for altitudes 1000 to 6000 ft, 25 minutes above 6000 ft). Then turn off heat and let the jars sit in the hot water for 5 minutes. Remove jars from the water bath and let sit on a counter for several hours until completely cool. The lids should "pop" as the cooling salsa creates a vacuum under the lid and the jars are sealed. If a lid has not sealed, either replace the lid and reprocess in a water bath for another 15 minutes, or store in the refrigerator and use within the next few days.

Makes about 5 pints.

Is it possible to adjust the peppers (and also the vinegar amounts) to increase the spice level? Or should you add cayenne or red chili flakes to accomplish that?

The recipe calls for de-seeding the jalapenos. If you want more heat, just add in some of the jalapeno seeds. Do not reduce the vinegar amount. ~Elise

I think plum tomatoes work best, that said, for this batch I used a mix of plum tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes and just plain ole tomatoes. ~Elise

Not if you plan to can it for shelf storage. But, if you just want to make some to refrigerate and use fresh, then sure. It’s probably not a one to one substitution. I would add it to taste. ~Elise

When the tomatoes over run our ability to consume them I’ll can, freeze, sauce, juice, and salsa them also. One other thing I do is to slice, dehydrate, then smoke them. Once they are nicely smoked I put them through the spice grinder to make smoked tomato powder for various uses. Adds a nice smoky flavor to soups, stews, dips, sauces or even chili.

I am going to make your salsa this weekend. I made your tomato pie last weekend it was awesome! What type of salt do you use for the salsa; kosher, sea salt, table salt etc. Thanks for your help!

No, you may want to add more vinegar. ~Elise

Made the salsa this weekend, first time canning. The directions were outstanding and the whole process was successful taking about two hours start to finish. Would like to tweak for taste by adding lime juice and more heat – I used some jalepeno seeds. Any recommendations on how much lime juice and by addiing do I need to adjust amounts of other ingredients? How about more heat?

You can add more lime juice, as much as you want, as it is very acidic, and it’s the acidity that keeps the canned salsa safe. As for the heat, I would just taste the salsa and keep adding seeds until you get to the point of heat you like. Do note that jalapenos are notoriously un-uniform. In other words sometimes you get some peppers that are crazy hot, sometimes you get peppers with no heat. You really should taste them first, to check, before you put them in anything. ~Elise

I just made this – doubled it because of my abundance of ‘maters in my garden! It’s wonderful! I love taste the apple cider vinegar adds! Thanks for the wonderful step by step directions to make it and can it.

I have been making salsa for years and bring the salsa to a boil,the jars in a boiling bath as are the lids. After I can the jars I do not do the hot bath just let them cool. This has worked for me and I have recently opened and consumed a jar from 2004 am I lucky or good?

Heather

Made this last night. I doubled the recipe and it made 11 pints. I also added a touch extra sugar, salt and cumin, and I minced up a habanero to add. Tasty!

If you cut the vinegar, then do not can it for shelf storage. The vinegar is needed to provide enough acid to prevent botulism. I balance the acidity by adding a bit of sugar, without the sugar I find the salsa to be too acidic for my taste. ~Elise

When I was canning this salsa I had a little bit that wouldn’t fit into the jars that I had, so I ate the salsa right away with chips. It was the best salsa I had ever tasted. That was back in September. I have been hoarding the jars for very special occasions because I like it so much. Last night my daughter, whom is moving 9 hours away, asked me if she could try some. I reluctantly took out a jar and when we tasted it we both agreed that it was too sweet for our tastes. I was very surprised at this because it was heavenly back when I made the batch. I would like to try making this again, but I don’t want it to be sweet like that. In your opinion, can I leave out the sugar? Or should I use regular vinegar? If I use regular vinegar, should I put less in the recipe? Or simply add more peppers? Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.