Salsa Roja or Salsa de Mesa or Salsa Mexicana
Simple, fresh, and easy to make. A winning Mexican restaurant style salsa prepared with plum tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and serrano peppers. Fresh tomatoes, not canned, star in this recipe.
In Mexico, it is known as salsa roja (red sauce)or salsa de mesa (table sauce). And just like in the U.S., it is served in every restaurant before your meal with tortilla chips.
Try With These Dishes
This salsa goes really well with quesadillas, carne asada, chorizo tacos, chicken fajitas, chicken taquitos, and nachos.
This is an easy Mexican salsa recipe that you will make again and again. Follow the simple steps to get great results every time.
Start with Fresh Ingredients. They Count
Homemade salsa starts with fresh ingredients. The fresher they are the better the results. Don’t use canned tomatoes. It gives the salsa a metallic taste.
You’ll notice that there aren’t any limes in the recipe. Whhhaaattt? Lime juice throws off the balance of flavors by overpowering the flavor of the tomatoes. But, if you prefer your salsa with lime try adding the juice from only one lime at a time until you get it perfect.
Ingredients
- 1 pound plum (Roma) tomatoes
- 1 half medium white onion
- 2 serrano chiles or small jalapeños
- 1 clove garlic (optional)
- 8 sprigs fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Chop the Ingredients Before Blending
You need to chop the ingredients before adding them to the blender. Precise chopping isn’t important. You just need smaller pieces so that it is easier to blend without adding water.
Don’t Add Water
Put all of the ingredients in your blender. Adding the tomatoes first makes it much easier to blend.
Do not add water unless it won’t blend and then only add 2 tablespoons of water at a time. Most of the time you won’t have to add any. Too much water makes the salsa runny.
You want a full-bodied slightly chunky tomato salsa.
Pulse to Get It Started
The easiest way to get it started it to pulse the blender 5 or 6 times until the blades start to catch. Then blend for about 30 to 45 seconds until it is fully blended but still has a coarse texture. The salsa sticks to tortilla chips better when it has a little texture.
Fry in Hot Oil
Once the salsa is blended, you are going to fry it in 2 tablespoons of hot cooking oil. To fry it you just pour it into the hot oil. This step is important to develop the flavor of the salsa and helps bind it. Don’t skip it.
Simmer Until Perfect
Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes until it has taken on a deep red color and has more body. Looks good, doesn’t it? The tomatoes need to be very ripe for the sauce to take on the deep red color in the photos.
There you have it, a delicious cooked salsa recipe!
Cool and Serve
Allow your restaurant salsa to cool and then serve with tortilla chips, tacos, or anything else you enjoy with salsa.
It is so easy to make you should always have some in your refrigerator. Let us know what you think!
Make it Your Go To Homemade Salsa Recipe. Provecho!
Restaurant Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound plum Roma tomatoes
- 1 half medium white onion
- 2 serrano chiles or small jalapeños
- 1 clove garlic optional
- 8 sprigs cilantro fresh
- 2 tbsp. cooking oil
- 1 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Remove the seeds and veins from the chiles (Leave them in if you want a hotter salsa)
- Roughly chop the tomatoes, onion, chiles, and cilantro
- Add the chopped vegetables to your blender (Do not add extra water unless needed and then add a couple of tablespoons at a time)
- Add ½ teaspoon salt
- Blend the salsa until it has a coarse texture
- Preheat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan
- Pour the blended salsa in the hot oil
- Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low
- Simmer for 15 minutes
- Adjust the salt
Notes
- 1 clove of garlic
- Juice from 1 lime
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
Nutrition
Tools
- Cutting board
- Kitchen knife
- 4-quart pot
- Kitchen spoon
- Serving bowl
Timaree says
This sounds good. I usually make a salsa with both canned and fresh tomatoes plus the lime (my kids love the lime more than I do). I think I will try this one as mine is great but not quite “restaurant” tasting.
El Vato Gordo says
To prevent it from being runny like so many salsas, pierce the tomatoes individually with a fork and squeeze out the juice and seeds into the sink.
Other than that, adding in a diced poblano never hurts.
Also, you can separately simmer black beans with a diced white onion until the onion is completely dissolved, along with salt and pepper. Mix that half and half with the cooked salsa, as well as a couple fresh avocados and you’ll have a salsa/dip that’s incredible with blue corn chips or pretty much anything else you can think of.
Agreed on Serranos, they just have a better flavor than jalapenos.
Orange bonnets are really good with this, too.
Darin says
That is a great way to make salsa. I’ve been making it with canned tomatoes and not heating/simmering like your recipe. I tried it and I’m now hooked! Great recipe! No more cans for me :-)
Douglas Cullen says
Glad you enjoyed the recipe. Nothing compares to salsa made from scratch. Cheers!
Shannon Altman says
Especially if it’s the El Adobe recipe!!!!
Laurence tempest says
The best there is. I have been eating it at the restaurant for third years . Great stuff
Shannon Altman says
How about four generations God I miss El Adobe!!!
Liz says
Just wondering if you can use jalapenos instead of serrano peppers. Also, can you not use canned plum tomatoes if they have the white lining? I think this counteracts the metallic taste. And…no garlic?
Douglas Cullen says
The recipe is really flexible. Jalapeños will work really well. Canned plum tomatoes should work too. Omitting the garlic shouldn’t be a problem either. Cheers!
William Davey says
I made some today. Flavor was good but color never made it past an orangish brown. Boiled on low at least 45 – 60 minutes.
Carl says
We lived in West Texas for 18 years and now live in NE Pennsylvania. Didn’t have to worry about Salsa in Texas as there was a Mexican restaurant on almost every corner. Not so in PA. I have been making my Salsa (Mexican Chili) from a good Mexican friend of ours now for 12 years with some adjustments, 1 large can of Furmano’s whole tomatoes, jalapenos, cumin, coriander, salt fresh cilantro (when we can get it), minced garlic, diced yellow onions, lemon and lime juice, and some other spices. Will have to say it is VERY good.Have had many people Rave about it who are transplants like myself from Texas and California.
One thing though, I have never heard of simmering it. I switch up making mine to where I add all ingredients into a food processor and process until well mixed and chopped and then serve, or I only place the tomatoes and spices in the food processor and process until well chopped and then add the finely chopped onions, jalapenos and cilantro and then mix manually until all is well mixed. This makes for a chunkier salsa, and again I serve immediately.
What advantage does simmering the Salsa make? Is this how it is done in most Mexican Restaurants? Believe me I am not criticizing I am just trying to learn. If this is a necessary step that I have been omitting and it will make my Salsa taste better I am all for it. I have just never heard of doing it before.
Thanks so much for sharing this! :-)
Charlie says
@Carl. My wife is Mexican and I’ve traveled there many times; particularly the state of Michoacán where she’s from. In Mexico, the sauce that you make is called a “Salsa Cruda” (Raw Sauce). It is perfectly fine to make it without frying/simmering since it’s just one of the MANY ways to make a sauce in the Mexican kitchen. I must say that adding cumin to a sauce is more typical of Tex Mex than the authentic Mexican style sauce. Also, lime is only added to something such as pico de gallo. Salsa verde is another sauce that made by cooking tomatillos, jalapeños and a couple garlic cloves in slightly boiling water for about 10 min. Once the tomatillos are cooked, you add them with a little bit of the cooking water, the chilies, garlic, a piece of white onion, cilantro and salt to a food processor. This is carefully processed due to the hot liquid. Tomatillos can be pretty acidic so a pinch of sugar can be added to counter that. I’ve been in a ranch in Michoacán where they cooked a goat over a wood fire. I saw them make the “birria” (typical Mexican sauce for roasted meats) over the same wood fire. It picked up the smoke taste and I’ll tell you, it was the best BBQ goat that I EVER had!
kelly vetch says
I was dying to recreate pur favorite restaurant’s salsa and this has done it!! Spot on.
We use jalepenos for our kiddos batch and serranos for the adults.
I hace made a lot of “ok” salsas in the past. and what makes this perfect is the fresh tomatoes and that the onions have some of the rawness cooked off.
No upset tummys from raw onions after dinding this. Love it!
Mark Pickrell says
Can you can this particular recipe for salsa or is there another close version that could be canned? Also, how long does this keep in the refrigerator? Thank you in advnce for any and all comments on this topic.
Shanda says
I was wondering if this can be canned too. Not canned, as in using canned tomatoes, but actually canning the salsa to have some for later.
Jerry Marcantel says
I’ve been trying to make salsa for about the last 3 years, and up until this recipe, my endeavors were all dismal failures. Found this one today, and I will probably settle on it as my goto recipe. Thanks. …..Jerry (in Tucson)
Tabitha Mathers says
Thank you for sharing! I made this salsa yesterday and it still has a very raw tomato taste. Wondering how to fix this for next time – maybe more cooking time?
Douglas Cullen says
Tabitha,
If the salsa tastes undercooked, keep simmering until it gets the taste you want. Maybe another 10 to 15 minutes. Cheers!
Noelle says
Wow! That was really good. It had an almost roasted flavor with just the right amount of spice. I used 8 seeds, chopped up a little bit, and the heat was right on.
Douglas Cullen says
Glad you enjoyed it! Cheers!
Cheryl Christian says
Made this today and added one adobe chili and half a lime to the recipe. It is delicious and I was using up the adobe chilies, so it worked. Chilling in fridge as I keep wanting to sneak a taste. :)
Douglas Cullen says
I like the ideo of adding chiles in adobe. I’ll have to give it a try. Cheers!