Salsa is just so satisfying isn't it? Whether you're serving it with chips or adding it to the top of tacos, fresh bowls, or whatever else you can dream up; this easy homemade salsa fresca recipe can be diced up in minutes! It's:
So Fresh
Simple
Has A Bit Of Spice
A Bit Of Tang
Just 5 Ingredients
And Is Ready In 5-10 Minutes Depending On Your Chopping Speed!
Ingredients For This Homemade Salsa Fresca Recipe
All you need is 5 ingredients! This is a great recipe for tomato growing season! Grab:
- One medium to large tomato (or use a few smaller roma tomatoes)
- ⅓ cup red onion
- Some spice
- we use ½ a deseeded red thai chilli pepper because that's what we always have in our freezer for adding a quick bit of spice to our recipes. BUT feel free to use serrano or jalapeño for a more traditional salsa fresca!)
- 1 teaspoon lime juice (fresh or from concentrate if that's what you have). And...
- ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
Traditional salsa fesca, or pico de gallo as it is also known, will often use roma tomatoes, white onion, and serrano pepper. Take a look at the pico de gallo recipe on Mexican Food Journal for some history and traditional preparation!
How To Quickly Dice The Ingredients
I confess I am not the quickest or most efficient chopper BUT my dicing skills have improved with this handy trick!
To slice your tomato:
- It helps to start by sharpening your knife so you have less trouble getting through the tough, slippery skin!
- Place the tomato top down on your cutting board.
- Make parallel slices all going in one direction, slice far enough down but careful to not slice completely through the tomato.
- Spin the tomato around and slice in the other direction, making a checkerboard pattern. Again, careful to not slice all the way through the tomato.
- Then, turn the tomato on its side and slice all the way through the tomato, slicing off the little cubes you have made. Do this 3 or 4 times depending on the size of your tomato. And voila!
Slice your onion in the same way:
- Peel your onion but keep the root intact.
- Place the onion root side down on the cutting board and slice in one direction.
- Then slice in the other direction.
- Finally, turn the onion on its side and slice away to loosen those little chunks you've made.
- Make sure to toss the root end into your veggie scrap bag for homemade veggie broth!
Recipe Cost
This recipe is surprisingly thrifty compared to store-bought salsa.
If we make this easy homemade salsa recipe using lime juice from concentrate our cost is approximately: CAD $1.65.
Buying a fresh lime for this recipe brings our cost to $2.41.
And purchasing a similar amount of salsa from our local grocery store would cost us approximately: CAD $5.49!
We usually get about 2 cups of salsa but depending on the size of your tomato that amount could vary.
So dip your chips into this homemade salsa fresca recipe or add a scoop to the top of tacos, fresh bowls (like this Seaside "Fish" Taco Bowl), or whatever else your heart desires!
Make sure to check out our popular and super "cheesy" Extra Speedy Queso for another Mexican inspired dip! And... we all need some Guacamole in our lives right?
Print
Easy Homemade Salsa Fresca Recipe
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Just dice up tomato, red onion, a hot pepper, cilantro and splash on some lime juice for this easy homemade salsa fresca recipe! Scoop away!
Ingredients
- 1 medium tomato* (we use beefsteak but feel free to use 3-4 roma tomatoes)
- ⅓ cup red onion* (or use white)
- ½ small red hot thai chili pepper, deseeded (OR serrano pepper for a more traditional version!)
- 1 tsp of lime juice (more to taste)
- ½ cup of fresh cilantro leaves*
- salt & pepper to taste
*Fresh Ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- Dice the tomato, onion and deseeded hot pepper. Add them to a bowl.
- Splash on the lime juice, either fresh or from concentrate.
- Add the chopped cilantro leaves (use any remaining leaves and the stems for cilantro lime vinaigrette, chimichurri, OR add the stems to your veggie scrap bag for homemade veggie broth!)
- Then add salt and pepper to taste and stir well to combine.
- Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. Although best served fresh as the tomatoes will let out more water as they sit. Try it on our Seaside "Fish" Taco Bowl!
Notes
Approximate Cost: CAD $1.65 with lime juice from concentrate and $2.41 using a fresh lime vs. approximately $5.49 for the equivalent store-bought salsa.
- Category: Sauces & Dips
- Method: Raw
- Cuisine: Mexican
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