The Best Mild Salsa Recipe: A Fresh, Flavorful, and Easy Dip for Beginners
🍅 Fresh, zesty, and beginner-approved! This mild salsa is packed with garden-fresh flavor, perfect for dipping, drizzling, or spooning over everything. No spice overload—just pure, tasty goodness! 🧄🫑🌿
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings (about 3 cups) 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 pounds San Marzano tomatoes, sliced into thirds or fourths
- 1/2 white onion, chopped into wedges
- 2–3 jalapeños, sliced and seeded (adjust based on desired heat level)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon lime juice (freshly squeezed is best)
- 1/3 cup cilantro leaves (roughly chopped)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Add the ingredients: Place the sliced San Marzano tomatoes, chopped onion, sliced jalapeños (seeds removed if you want it mild), garlic cloves, lime juice, cilantro, and kosher salt into the bowl of your food processor. If you’re using a smaller food processor, you may want to do this in batches to ensure everything blends evenly.
- Pulse to combine: Start by pulsing the mixture a few times. You want the ingredients to break down, but you can control the texture by pulsing more or less. For a chunky salsa, pulse only a few times. For a smoother consistency, pulse more, but be careful not to over-process and turn it into a puree. It should be a nice, slightly chunky salsa.
- Taste and adjust: Once you’ve reached your desired consistency, taste the salsa and make any necessary adjustments. If you’d like more acidity, add a little more lime juice. If you prefer more heat, toss in a few more jalapeño seeds or slices. Add salt as needed to balance the flavors.
- Serve or chill: Once you’re happy with the flavor and texture, you can serve the salsa immediately, or if you prefer, cover it and refrigerate it for 30 minutes to an hour to allow the flavors to meld together. This salsa tastes great fresh, but the flavors tend to improve as they sit.
Notes
- Adjust the heat: If you like your salsa on the milder side, be sure to remove all the seeds from the jalapeños. The seeds and membranes inside the peppers hold the majority of the heat. For a more intense flavor, leave in a few seeds or add an extra jalapeño.
- Choosing tomatoes: San Marzano tomatoes are often considered the best for making salsa because they have a naturally sweet, rich flavor. If you can’t find them, Roma tomatoes are a good alternative. Just keep in mind that the quality of the tomatoes will significantly impact the taste of your salsa.
- Don’t over-pulse: You want to achieve a nice texture, not a puree. Pulse in short bursts to control the consistency. If you accidentally over-process it, no worries—it will still taste great, but the texture will be much smoother.
- Make it ahead: If you’re making salsa for a party or gathering, this recipe can easily be made ahead of time. In fact, allowing the salsa to sit for an hour or even overnight in the fridge will give the flavors time to come together. The longer it sits, the more flavorful it becomes.
- No food processor? No problem!: If you don’t have a food processor, you can still make this salsa by chopping everything by hand. It will take a little longer, but you’ll still get the same great taste. Just make sure the pieces are small enough to blend together when you mix them.
- Storage: Store any leftover salsa in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will last for about 3-4 days, though it’s always best when eaten fresh. If the salsa becomes too watery after sitting, simply drain off the excess liquid before serving.