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This roasted tomato salsa recipe is easy to make and packed with smoky, spicy flavor. Perfect with tortilla chips, tacos, and more!
This roasted tomato salsa has been one of my favorites for years, and once you taste it, you’ll understand why! Instead of using raw or canned tomatoes, I roast fresh tomatoes, onions, and garlic in a hot oven until they’re softened and lightly charred. Roasting brings out the tomatoes’ natural sweetness, mellows the onions and garlic, and gives the salsa a wonderful smoky flavor. (I use the same technique for my salsa verde, swapping the tomatoes for tomatillos.)
It’s easy to make, and the flavor gets even better after a day or two in the fridge, so it’s perfect for making ahead when you’re having people over.
What You’ll Need To Make Roasted Tomato Salsa
As you can see, this salsa recipe calls for three serrano peppers. Serrano peppers are similar to jalapeño peppers in taste and appearance but they are smaller and hotter. Feel free to substitute jalapeño peppers, if you like, but keep in mind that you’ll only need one or two, depending on how spicy you like your salsa.
How To Make Roasted Tomato Salsa
Toss the veggies with oil: Begin by tossing the quartered tomatoes (I don’t even bother coring them), onion wedges, garlic and whole peppers with the vegetable oil directly on a baking sheet.
Broil: Cook under the broiler until blistered and slightly charred, 10 to 15 minutes.
Add seasoning: Transfer the vegetables to a food processor fitted with a metal blade, and add the salt and cumin.
Blend: Process until slightly chunky. Taste and add the remaining chili pepper(s), if desired.
Finish: Add the cilantro leaves and lime juice and pulse a few times until the cilantro is finely chopped. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!
Make-Ahead and Freezing Instructions
Make ahead: This salsa is perfect for making ahead, especially if you’re entertaining. Prepare it up to a week in advance and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Give it a good stir before serving, and taste for seasoning. A squeeze of fresh lime juice can help brighten it up after a few days in the fridge.
Freezing: You can also freeze the salsa for up to 3 months. Let it cool completely, then transfer it to an airtight, freezer-safe container, leaving a little room for expansion. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and give it a good stir before serving. The salsa may release some liquid as it thaws, so just drain off any excess if needed.
Roasted Tomato Salsa
Ingredients
- 4 vine-ripened tomatoes, quartered
- 2 small yellow onions, cut into wedges
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled
- 3 serrano chili peppers, stemmed (use less for a milder salsa)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, from one lime
Instructions
- Preheat the broiler and set an oven rack about 5 in (13 cm) beneath the heating element. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Place the tomatoes, onions, garlic, whole serrano chile peppers and vegetable oil directly on the prepared baking sheet and toss with your hands. Broil until softened and charred, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Transfer the vegetables and their juices to a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add the salt and cumin and pulse until slightly chunky.
- Add the cilantro and fresh lime juice, and pulse until the cilantro is chopped. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and more lime juice if necessary. Transfer to a bowl and serve warm, at room temperature, or slightly chilled.
Notes
- This recipe is not meant for canning.
- Adjusting the heat: Serrano peppers can vary quite a bit in spiciness. If you prefer a milder salsa, start by blending in just one roasted serrano pepper. Taste the salsa, then add more of the roasted peppers, pulsing after each addition, until it’s as spicy as you like.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you’re following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
What to Serve with Roasted Tomato Salsa
Of course, this salsa is delicious with tortilla chips, but don’t stop there! I love spooning it over chicken fajitas, carne asada, or southwestern burgers. It’s also great alongside guacamole and chili con queso if you’re putting together a spread for a party. And don’t forget about breakfast: a spoonful on scrambled eggs is delicious, too!
More Salsa Recipes You May Like
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This really tastes great. I even use it as a kind of sandwich spread on my toast, topped with a few slices of fresh tomato and/or avocado. Can it get any healthier?
Made this for a get together and had 4 people ask me for the recipe! The roasted nature gives the best flavor to all of the veggies used in this salsa. I love it!!
What’s the best way to roast them without a broiler? Would baking work? Sounds delicious!
Hi Ashley, I would roast them at 450°F/230ºC on the center rack in your oven 30 to 35 minutes until the onions are browned on top and the tomatoes are golden and caramelized on the bottom. Hope you enjoy!
I have made this recipe twice, and it is a big hit. I make a good salsa, but love this one.
Since it is just the two of us, I let it sit a day to blend flavors and then put half in a glass jar with lid and freeze, it does not change the flavor or texture at all. GREAT RECIPE, thank you for sharing.
This salsa has changed my life. Really. I spent about fifteen years experimenting with salsa recipes, but never produced anything that met my approval. Jenn Segal’s recipe changed all that.
The most important aspect of her recipe is the method. I have tried many variants so far as the ingredients are concerned, and even now have several quarts of salsa in my freezer labeled “Kitchen sink salsa” because I harvested ALL the peppers and tomatoes and tomatillos in my garden (just before the freeze) and made a couple of gallons of salsa.
Being originally from Texas, I find Jenn’s approach shockingly mild. So I use probably ten times more peppers (mainly jalapenos, some serranos) than tomatoes. Subsitute tomatillos to make salsa verde. My salsa is NOT for the faint of tongue!
I make large batches and freeze them. If you’re going to freeze, it may be a good idea not to add the cilantro; because it remains uncooked, there’s the possibility of its going a bit bad. (I don’t KNOW that, it’s just a guess. Alas, since my wife is a “taster,” I can’t add cilantro.)
I’ve found through long practice that the salsa can be thawed and refrozen with little problem. I freeze it in 8-ounce yogurt containers, taking one out when I’m having Mexican fare. If there’s very much left over, I just put it back into the freezer. I haven’t noticed any serious degradation of taste after even three cycles of freezing–although it usually disappears much more quickly than that.
Delicious! My favourite salsa recipe!
This came out good. I had problems with my food processor, so I had to use my old Black & Decker chopper. Pain in the neck, but it did the job. Everyone loved it! Will make it often. Thanks.
This salsa is fantastic! I have been looking for the perfect recipe for some time now and this is it. I wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you Jenn!
This is very good. I’m a bit confused by the claimed yield, though: four tomatoes alone is a lot more than two and a half cups, unless they’re REALLY tiny tomatoes. When I made this with four decent-sized but not huge tomatoes, it made six cups.
It was also on the spicy side, despite only putting in one jalapeno (milder than a Serrano, right?) with the seeds and membranes removed. We wound up adding a couple more tomatoes.
Oh, and I’m always conservative with salt: half the recommended salt was about right (until I added more tomatoes, at which point it needed a bit more, though not a whole teaspoon).
Hi Phil, I’m baffled how you ended up with so much salsa! I just made this last week for my new Stacked Beef Enchiladas and I measured the amount to be about 2-3/4 cups.
Love this salsa.
Agree it only needs 1 tsp Of salt! Delicious! Going to try freezing it per the other reviews.
Fantastic served warm or cold. Another outstanding recipe, Jenn. This is a real crowd pleaser!!