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+ servings
A white bowl holding deep red. smooth and slightly chunky salsa surrounded by tortilla chips.

The Best Restaurant Style Salsa Recipe

Want to recreate a restaurant-quality salsa recipe at home? Grab some fresh tomatoes, serrano peppers, garlic, onion, plenty of cilantro, and your trusty food processor. You'll be enjoying chunky Mexican-restaurant salsa in no time!
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 0 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
Yield:6 servings

Equipment

  • Cutting board
  • Sharp chef's knife
  • Food processor
  • serving bowl or airtight container

Ingredients

  • 1-3 medium serrano chili peppers approximately 4 ounces each, see Notes for heat levels
  • 4 cloves garlic peeled
  • ½ of one bunch cilantro approximately ¾ cup loosely packed leaves
  • ½ of one medium yellow onion or white onion, approximately 3 ounces
  • ¾ pound Roma tomatoes approximately 6 medium tomatoes
  • 3 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes drained; 42 ounces diced tomatoes total, drained
  • 1 teaspoon salt more or less to taste

Instructions

To Prepare the Ingredients

  • Using sharp chef's knife, remove stem(s) of 1-3 medium serrano chili peppers. Quarter each pepper, and remove seeds from pepper(s) if desired. Discard stems and seeds. Add quartered pepper(s) to food processor bowl.
  • Slice ½ of one medium yellow onion into 1-inch long pieces. Set aside.
  • Slice ¾ pound Roma tomatoes into 1-inch long pieces. Set aside.

To Make the Salsa

  • Add 4 cloves garlic (peeled) and ½ of one bunch cilantro to food processor with peppers. Pulse peppers, garlic, and cilantro together until ingredients are minced and well combined.
  • Add sliced onions to food processor bowl. Pulse ingredients together until onions are finely chopped and mixture is fairly smooth.
  • Add sliced tomatoes to food processor bowl. Pulse ingredients together until no large chunks of tomato remain.
  • Add 3 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes (well drained) and 1 teaspoon salt to food processor. Pulse all ingredients together until desired salsa consistency is achieved. Taste salsa and adjust salt if desired.
  • When satisfied with flavor, transfer prepared salsa to serving bowl and serve immediately with tortilla chips. Alternately, transfer prepared salsa to airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

  • Serrano Peppers: For a mild salsa, use 1 serrano chile with the seeds removed. For a medium salsa, use 1 serrano chile, including seeds. For a hot salsa, use 2 serrano chiles, including seeds. For fiery salsa, use 3 serrano peppers, including seeds. You can replace the serrano peppers with jalapeño peppers if you prefer them, but it will change the overall flavor slightly.
  • Diced Tomatoes: Choose a brand without any added sugar.
  • Consistency: This is not intended to be a super chunky salsa. Ideally, the end consistency should be fairly smooth with some small chunks, but you can make it whatever consistency you like best.
  • Leftovers: Refrigerate salsa in an airtight container. Salsa will keep approximately 2 to 3 weeks if stored properly.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1serving | Calories: 69kcal | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 691mg | Potassium: 704mg | Total Carbs: 16g | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 9g | Net Carbs: 11g | Vitamin A: 1291IU | Vitamin C: 50mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 3mg
Recipe By:Cheryl Malik