In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I’m reposting my version of Ree’s homemade salsa. If you’ve never made homemade salsa, you don’t know what you’re missing. It is absolutely the freshest, most delicious salsa you have ever eaten. Just like your favorite Mexican restaurant!
Ever since Ree talked about homemade salsa on her Pioneer Woman website, I have been wanting to make it. We don’t normally eat a lot of salsa, but that will all change now that I have this recipe. I used Ree’s recipe as a starting point, but since I didn’t have all of the ingredients, I just improvised. You will need:
Two cans of diced tomatoes
One can of Ro-Tel (I used hot and it was a little too much. I’ll use mild next time.)
One onion, finely chopped
Three cloves of garlic, smashed and diced
At least a cup of chopped fresh cilantro (more if you love it, less if you don’t)
Sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
One lime
One tablespoon sugar
One jalapeno pepper, optional
Run the tomatoes and Ro-Tel through the food processor until they are pureed. I don’t like big chunks, so I pulse mina a good bit. Add the chopped onions, garlic, cinantro, and jalapeno, if you are so inclined. Pour it into a big mixing bowl. To the tomato mixture, add the sea salt, cumin, sugar, and the juice of the lime. Mix well. Refrigerate for at lest 30 minutes.
Here’s the kicker on this one… you have to let the flavors meld together in the fridge before you adjust seasonings. You can’t adjust the seasonings when you are making it because it will taste totally different after sitting for a little while. In fact, I didn’t even really like it when I first made it, but an hour later it was delicious. It was even better the next day. Those flavors just need time to get to know each other, man. They are kinda stand-offish like that.
You can serve this with your favorite tortilla chips, but if you haven’t tried the Mission Tortilla Strips, I highly recommend them. They are worth the extra money. I made this the other night and served it with cheese quesadillas. Everybody was happy! Jonathan declared it “as good as what you get in a restaurant.” Mission accomplished!
Sorry I didn’t take any pictures to accompany this post. But you kow what salsa looks like don’t you? Just use your imagination. 🙂
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