Canning Salsa: Hot Tomato and Pepper Sauce
Save your extra tomatoes and chili peppers this year with this home-canned salsa recipe. Canning salsa will give you a great on-hand appetizer for unexpected guests or before-meal snacks.
Don’t pay 5 dollars for a jar of salsa when learning how to make your own salsa is so easy! This recipe gives you the ingredients and shows you how to can salsa. Stop spending money, the salsa party is already in your garden.
Tomatoes and chili peppers are always easy to use after harvest season. But with the short shelf-life of these crops, finding alternative ways to use an abundant harvest is a must. Try this salsa recipe to make use of a tomato and chili surplus from your garden. Canning salsa is a smart way to preserve your crops, it also loads your kitchen with possibilities. Add to eggs, burgers, rice, pasta, chips — and much more — to load your dishes with flavor. This excerpt from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, explains the hot pack process for canning salsa.
The following is an excerpt from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning covering how to can salsa.
Canning Salsa With Hot Chiles
5 lbs tomatoes
2 lbs chili peppers
1 lb onions
1 cup vinegar (5 percent)
3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Yield: 6 to 8 pints
Caution: Wear plastic or rubber gloves and do not touch your face while handling or cutting hot peppers. If you do not wear gloves, wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face or eyes.
Procedure: Peel and wash and dry chilies. Slit each pepper on its side to allow steam to escape. Peel peppers using one of the following methods:
Oven or broiler method: Place chilies in oven (400 degrees Fahrenheit) or broiler for 6-8 minutes until skins blister.
Range-top method: Cover hot burner, either gas or electric, with heavy wire mesh. Place chilies on burner for several minutes until skins blister. Allow peppers to cool. Place in a pan and cover with a damp cloth. This will make peeling the peppers easier. After several minutes, peel each pepper. Cool and slip off skins. Discard seeds and chop peppers
Wash tomatoes and dip in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split. Dip in cold water, slip off skins, and remove cores. Coarsely chop tomatoes and combine chopped peppers, onions, and remaining ingredients in a large saucepan. Heat to boil, and simmer 10 minutes. Fill jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process according to the recommendations in the Image Gallery.