Restaurant-Style Blender Salsa

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Quick & Easy Blender Salsa — 🍅🎉💃🏼 This FAST and EASY salsa recipe will teach you how to make salsa at home in just a few minutes in the blender so you’ll never run out! It tastes just like that addictively amazing salsa that your favorite Mexican restaurant serves alongside a basket of warm tortilla chips. Get ready to DIG IN and impress your friends and family with this restaurant-style blender salsa recipe!

Restaurant-Style Salsa recipe.

Easy Homemade Salsa … in a Blender!

I’m a chips and salsa fiend. I almost don’t even need the chips and can just shovel in the salsa by the fork-full.

When I want salsa now, I turn to this restaurant-style salsa recipe made in a blender.

The best part of this salsa is how fast, easy, and goofproof it is. Add all the ingredients to your blender or food processor, blend, and you’re done in under 2 minutes. My favorite kind of recipe!

Over time, the flavors really marry, and the rawness of the onion and garlic mellows.

We love this easy salsa recipe so much more than any restaurant or store-bought salsa. I love it when homemade, easy recipes trump all the others.

How to make salsa at home in a blender.

Homemade Blender Salsa Ingredients

I prefer making my blended salsa with canned tomatoes rather than fresh. Using canned tomatoes keeps this a dump-and-blend recipe and eliminates the need to dirty a knife and cutting board.

Gather the following ingredients to make the salsa in a blender:

  • Canned tomatoes
  • Yellow onions 
  • Jalapeño pepper
  • Fresh garlic
  • Ground cumin
  • Salt 
  • Granulated sugar
  • Fresh cilantro
  • Fresh lime juice

Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.

How to make Salsa with easy salsa recipe made in blender.

How to Make Salsa in a Blender

This blender salsa recipe is customizable and requires you to stop, taste-test, and tweak based on your own personal preferences. Everyone’s preference for salt, heat, and texture differs.

Here’s an overview of how blender salsa is made:

  1. Add all the ingredients to a blender.
  2. Pulse until the salsa reaches your desired consistency.
  3. Adjust the seasonings to taste.
  4. If desired, stir in optional black beans or corn to the blended salsa to add extra flavor and texture (stir in by hand, don’t pulse in the blender). 
  5. Transfer the salsa to an airtight container or jar, or serve right away!

Tip

You can enjoy the blended salsa right away, but I actually think it tastes best after it’s been allowed to sit in the refrigerator for a day. This gives the flavors time to come together. 

How to make homemade salsa to serve with corn chips.

Recipe FAQs

Can I Omit the Sugar? 

Yes, but try making a batch with a little sugar in it and see what you think! The sugar balances the heat from the pepper and the acidity in the tomatoes. Start with less and add more if necessary, and definitely be careful not to over-sweeten.

How long does homemade salsa last?

This salsa will last up to a week in the fridge and can be paired with chips, tacos, burritos, and more! 

What type of canned tomatoes should I Use?

Also, I used canned whole tomatoes, but you can use diced if that’s all you have on hand.

Just make sure to buy a large enough can, and double check that your tomatoes don’t contain extra flavorings (sometimes they’re canned with basil or other herbs). 

Can the salsa be made in advance?

Yes! This restaurant-style salsa is extremely hard to resist right out of the blender, but if you can make it a day in advance and store it in the fridge, it’s much better the second and third day. I’ve never been able to get it to last past the third day.

How spicy is the blender salsa?

Fairly spicy! Use fewer jalapeños and/or remove the seeds if you don’t like four-alarm fires as much as I do.

Can the salsa be made with fresh tomatoes?

Yes, it probably would be fine to use fresh tomatoes instead of canned. It will result in a slightly different flavor perhaps, but if you have them to use up, I would go for it!

Easy salsa recipe that makes restaurant style salsa.

What to Serve with Restaurant-Style Salsa

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4.56 from 101 votes

Blender Salsa

By Averie Sunshine
🍅🎉💃🏼 This FAST and EASY salsa recipe will teach you how to make salsa at home in just a few minutes in the blender so you'll never run out! It tastes just like that addictively amazing salsa that your favorite Mexican restaurant serves alongside a basket of warm tortilla chips. Get ready to DIG IN and impress your friends and family with this restaurant style blender salsa!
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 2 minutes
Servings: 20 servings
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Equipment

  • 1 Blender or Food Processor

Ingredients 

  • 28 ounces canned tomatoes, including juice (I used these whole, peeled plum tomatoes)
  • 1 small yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, de-stemmed and roughly chopped*
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin, or to taste
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt, or to taste (remember some brands of tomatoes and chips are much saltier than others)
  • ¼ to 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, optional and to taste**
  • 1 tbsp or 2 handfuls cilantro leaves, discard stems (I prefer 2, or about half of a 1 small bunch)
  • 3 tbsp lime juice
  • 3/4 cup corn, optional
  • 3/4 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed, optional
  • corn tortilla chips, for serving

Instructions 

  • Add all ingredients (except optional corn and beans) to the canister of a blender or food processor in the order listed. Pulse or blend on high power until texture is as smooth as desired. If you have a very strong blender, you probably don’t need to pre-chop the ingredients before adding them to the blender, but I do just to make sure I don’t get large random, accidentally unblended chunks of any one ingredient.
  • Taste the salsa and based on personal preference tweak as necessary.
  • Optionally stir in the corn and black beans.
  • Transfer to airtight container and serve immediately with chips. However, I prefer to refrigerate salsa for 1 day prior to serving because I prefer chilled salsa and because the flavors marry, mellow, and the flavor improves on the second and third day. Salsa will likely keep up to 1 week airtight in the fridge; however, we’ve always eaten a batch within 3 days.

Video

Notes

*I prefer 2 peppers; remove seeds to greatly reduce heat level.
**The sugar balances the heat and tomato acidity; start with less and add more if necessary; careful not to over-sweeten.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 17kcal, Carbohydrates: 4g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 0.2g, Saturated Fat: 0.02g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.04g, Sodium: 227mg, Potassium: 133mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 97IU, Vitamin C: 6mg, Calcium: 17mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

More Homemade Salsa Recipes: 

Chunky Tomatillo Avocado Salsa — If you like salsa verde, you’re going to LOVE this homemade version that includes creamy chunks of avocado! As FAST and EASY and tossing a handful of healthy ingredients into your food processor and the salsa is ready in seconds.

A spoon in a bowl of chunky tomatillo avocado salsa.

The Best Peach Mango Salsa — Fast, easy, and tastes a million times better than anything store-bought! So.darn.good!

A small bowl of peach mango salsa.

Pineapple Salsa — Pineapple Chunks, yellow bell peppers, Roma tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper — a healthy, clean, and simple ingredient list that packs big time flavor and texture.

A bowl of pineapple salsa.

Blueberry Corn Salsa — The salsa is packed with fresh blueberries, corn, strawberries, jalapeno, cilantro, lime, and hot sauce. There’s texture galore in every bite, but you can blend it if you prefer a smooth texture.

A bowl of blueberry corn salsa.

Sweet and Spicy Chipotle Salsa — A sweet and spicy salsa with a lovely smokiness from pineapple, tomatillo, onion, and garlic that are blistered under broiler and then blended with chipotle peppers! PERFECT over tacos, with chips, or as a great addition to any Mexican-inspired meal! 

Sweet and Spicy Chipotle Salsa with tortilla chips.

Watermelon Mango Salsa — The EASY salsa is made with watermelon, mango, and mint adds so much fresh FLAVOR! Healthy, FAST, EASY!

Watermelon mango salsa over chicken.
4.56 from 101 votes (75 ratings without comment)

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

Recipe Rating




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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Another hit! Fast, easy, and it tastes just like the salsa served in restaurants! ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป
    Serve it with good and salty chips.ย 

  2. 5 stars
    Another hit! Fast, easy, and it tastes just like the salsa served in restaurants! ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป
    Serve it with good and salty chips.ย 

  3. 5 stars
    Omg this salsa ย is too good itโ€™s the only one that is just right!!! Not too hot and not bland, itโ€™s just right FLAVORFUL !!! and who knew about the sugar, it works though ย thanksย 

  4. 5 stars
    Omg this salsa ย is too good itโ€™s the only one that is just right!!! Not too hot and not bland, itโ€™s just right FLAVORFUL !!! and who knew about the sugar, it works though ย thanksย 

    1. Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it was super yummy and easy even without the cumin :)

  5. 5 stars
    Made this today and am absolutely thrilled with the end result. I didn’t measure much, just used the recipe as a guide, but it turned out so delicious and easy. Not as “pretty” as jarred salsa from the grocery, but 1000x better flavor. I don’t expect it to last a week in the fridge.

  6. 5 stars
    Made this today and am absolutely thrilled with the end result. I didn’t measure much, just used the recipe as a guide, but it turned out so delicious and easy. Not as “pretty” as jarred salsa from the grocery, but 1000x better flavor. I don’t expect it to last a week in the fridge.

    1. Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that it has 1000x better flavor for you than anything you’d buy!

  7. 5 stars
    So good and definitely tastes like what you’d get at a restaurant. Definitely doesn’t taste as good if you omit it the sugar, no matter how sweet the tomatoes are. I substituted two TBSP canned chipotles for jalapeno for a more smoky flavor.

  8. 5 stars
    So good and definitely tastes like what you’d get at a restaurant. Definitely doesn’t taste as good if you omit it the sugar, no matter how sweet the tomatoes are. I substituted two TBSP canned chipotles for jalapeno for a more smoky flavor.

    1. Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that it definitely tastes like what youโ€™d get at a restaurant! I agree with you about the sugar but there are always people who freak out over the slightest bit of sugar, so I try to give ‘options’ although like you I agree you need a bit of sugar. I bet than canned chipotles were great in it!

  9. 5 stars
    My go to salsa! Iโ€™m now not welcome at parties unless I bring this!ย 
    Thanks for the fantastic recipe!ย 

  10. 5 stars
    My go to salsa! Iโ€™m now not welcome at parties unless I bring this!ย 
    Thanks for the fantastic recipe!ย 

    1. Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that this is a favorite of your friends and family at parties you go to!