EASY Homemade Freezer Salsa

(This is going to be another dorky post but I am so excited about how easy this is that I felt the need to share.)

Even though I wasn’t born here I like to think of myself as a native New Mexican. I have lived here for 25 years and I love salsa. I am picky about my salsa and if it has high fructose corn syrup in it or is made in New York that is just unacceptable. I am growing 8 tomato plants this summer because last year I ran out of homemade salsa in November (also a major bummer!) There are problems with making your own salsa, though, and I think that I’ve found a way to fix these problems .

Problem #1) If you’re growing your own tomatoes they’re never ALL ripe at the same time and it’s hard to amass a large enough bunch to make doing your own salsa worth your time.

Problem #2) Canning your salsa is very time consuming and uses a LOT of hot water, heat for boiling jars, etc. It’s not very economical this way.

Problem #3) My jars of salsa would frequently go bad after 2 weeks in the fridge (and that frankly makes me want to cry!)

Solutions: Freeze your tomatoes whole until you’ve got enough for a LARGE batch of salsa (doesn’t affect the texture or quality of the salsa- I tried it this morning and can’t stop eating it!) When they thaw, the skins slip off easily (eliminates boiling your tomatoes to get them off). Also, skip the bottling and put them in snack size Ziploc bags. Then freeze them until you’re ready to eat a bag at a time. Less waste, less mess, less headache, more delicious salsa. What more could you ask for?

Homemade Freezer Salsa
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium garlic cloves
2-3 jalapenos to taste, chopped
2 tsp salt to taste
8 large tomatoes (or 16 medium Romas)
8 oz can tomato sauce or 4 oz tomato paste
1 tsp lemon juice

Freeze your whole, washed tomatoes until you’ve got enough for a batch of salsa (or two or three!). Pull them out of the freezer, let them thaw on the counter for 1-2 hours. When they’re still pretty frozen cut off the green tops. Then, when they’re less frozen squeeze the tomatoes out of their skins into a nice big pot. Discard the skins. I like my salsa chunky so I used my potato masher and just squashed the tomatoes until they looked right. If you like yours more smooth, run them through the food processor first. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and boil down to the consistency you like. (Use tomato paste for more a robust tomato flavor and thicker consistency, use tomato sauce for a lighter flavor and thinner texture.) You can experiment by adding different peppers, cilantro, more onion, garlic, etc. When you’re happy with the flavor and texture let it cool in the pot. Then ladle into snack sized Ziploc bags and freeze. When you’re ready to eat it, throw a bag or two in the fridge for 2-3 hours. You can put leftover thawed salsa in the fridge for a few days but it will spoil faster than the traditional methods. Eat up! I’ve had it stay good in the freezer for MONTHS. If you’re concerned about freezer burn just double bag them and then put them in a big freezer Ziploc. They don’t take up much space and it’s a taste of summer in December when you can still eat your homemade salsa.

Recipe from the kitchen of Melissa Spencer & Sandy Henrie