This is the BEST Homemade Salsa Recipe, which is easy to make and ready in 10 minutes. It’s also Keto friendly and low carb so go to town!

Making Salsa is a recipe that’s so close to my heart. I love making salsa and it’s one of my favorite things to eat of all time! My husband and I used to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant for years and just sit there and get several bowls of chips and salsa to have with our favorite Rum drinks before dinner.  

Then we would order a huge bag of homemade chips and several quarts of salsa to take home with us. We just couldn’t get enough. And the problem was that we lived an hour away from the restaurant so going there to get our salsa was a treat. So that’s when I decided that if I learned how to make my own easy homemade salsa we could have it at home anytime we wanted it. Problem solved… 

Our kids loved the chips and salsa that we brought home too as much as we did, they couldn’t get enough. I hope that you love eating this recipe that we’ve created as much as we do. The salsa in this recipe is easy to make and is made totally of veggies so its very low net carbs and great for the Keto diet. You can allow room for this salsa in your diet with no guilt, so enjoy.

What Ingredients are in this Salsa Recipe?

Canned Plum Tomatoes – plump and juicy tomatoes make the salsa juicy too. Just make sure that when you buy the plum tomatoes you get the ones without the basil. Basil is good when making Italian food but not for Mexican salsa. If you can’t find plum tomatoes in a can then just use a can of chopped tomatoes, again without basil.

You can also use fresh tomatoes, especially in the Summer when your garden produces so many tomatoes so many that you don’t know what to do with all of them! But either way make sure you drain as much liquid as possible or your salsa will be too watery. 

Onions – You can use any onions of your choice but if available I like to use vidalia onions. They are just a little sweeter than your regular yellow onions. You can adjust the amount you use to satisfy your taste. It will not ruin your recipe. It’s one of those things that if a recipe calls for one onion, I use 2 because I love onions.  

Jalapeno Peppers – These peppers are a common choice for a lot of homemade salsa recipes and most people like them because they are not overwhelmingly hot but also not too mild.

They give you just the right amount of flavor to enhance this recipe. Use a little more if you want more spice and a little less if you don’t want as much heat. The change will not ruin the recipe. 

Cilantro – This wonderful herb is full of so much flavor that any Mexican/Spanish dish is enhanced with it. You can use it to your desired taste, but in my opinion a little extra won’t hurt.  It’s one of my favorites.

Lime – Use a small amount of lime juice especially at first until you reach the desired amount. Too much could overpower the salsa and once you add it there’s no changing it. You can’t take it out once it’s in there so be careful.

What Tomatoes are Best for Making Salsa?

The best tomatoes to use are the ones that are hearty and not as juicy because if they are too juicy you will just end up draining the excess liquid off them because too much liquid and it makes your salsa too runny.

So try to use a tomato with more meat or body to it like fresh Plum tomatoes, San Marzano, Little Mama or Roma to name just a few. You can use any that you want to but just be prepared to strain most of the excess water off before adding other ingredients. 

My salsa recipe calls for canned Plum tomatoes and what I like about that is that you can get them year-round, even in the winter. By using canned tomatoes this allows your salsa to come together quickly, either by getting the already chopped canned tomatoes or whole ones.  

But in the Summer when fresh tomatoes and cheaper and more plentiful in the stores and even in abundance in your garden, then feel free to use fresh ones. The best thing to do if you are going to use fresh tomatoes is to roast them in the oven or in a skillet or on the grill. That way it lowers the acidity making them sweeter, more like canned ones.   

How to Make Homemade Salsa – Restaurant Style

The first thing you need to do to make homemade salsa is put your tomatoes in a food processor or blender. You want a thick but juicy consistency, not too runny though or you won’t be able to keep it on your chip (a low carb one of course).

If the tomatoes are too runny just pour off any excess water.  

Pour the tomatoes into a bowl. 

Next place all of your other ingredients, your cilantro, jalapeno peppers and onions in your food processor. Blend until everything is chopped up well. You don’t want some tiny pieces and some unchopped pieces. You want to have an even blend.

Then pour into the bowl of tomatoes and blend together with a spoon.  

Lastly, add salt and lime juice. Mix well by hand with a large spoon and serve.

Variations on My Keto Salsa Recipe:

Some people may wonder if they can substitute any of the ingredients in this salsa recipe with something else or if they can add something to make it better or a variation on the original.

Here are a few quick ideas to change up this salsa recipe:

If you want the freshness of this salsa recipe but don’t like the spice at all, then feel free to take out the jalapenos and use regular bell peppers, like the red, orange or yellow ones instead.

You could always add garlic to your salsa if you like the taste of fresh garlic. It won’t hurt it, it will only just add another fresh taste. 

Scallions are also an alternative to onions. Some people may like the taste of scallions better than raw onions because they are much lighter in taste and texture.  

Feel free to remove the lime juice if you don’t care for that or adjust the amount up or down, according to your taste buds.

What’s nice about making this Low Carb salsa recipe is that it’s perfectly adjustable and changeable according to your taste buds or the taste buds of your guests. Each and every ingredient can be adjusted to more or less or some omitted. Try it in several ways and see which way you like it best.

How to Make Salsa Less Spicy

What’s nice about making salsa is that you have the freedom to make to not too hot or not too cold but as Goldilocks said, “just right”. It won’t ruin it either way. 

A few hints to cool it down in case you added too many jalapenos and you tasted it and your mouth was on fire…..If you have enough ingredients at home you could always make a 2nd batch omitting the hot peppers. You could always replace them with red, yellow or orange peppers and then once your 2nd batch is complete then add it to the first one. 

You could always just add some extra ingredients to the first batch like some extra tomatoes to make the salsa less spicy.  More tomatoes to stretch the batch a little may help balance the heat. 

If your salsa recipe for some reason comes out way too hot, you could always add some more cilantro because it helps calm down the heat.

Dairy products, in general, are known to calm heat and actually go well with spicy foods. So one thing you can do is serve some cheddar cheese or sour cream with your salsa which should help a bit.

Another idea is to add some sweet fruit to your salsa like mango or peaches or pineapple, for instance. Be careful you don’t overdo it if you are counting your carbs. Just a little goes a long way. There are a lot of ways you can fix your salsa if it comes out too hot.

How do you Make Salsa Spicier?

One way to make a hotter salsa is by adding more jalapeno peppers to your Low Carb salsa than what the recipe calls for. If you are a lover of very spicy things you could always substitute the jalapeno for a much hotter pepper, even as hot as habaneros. 

If you prefer jalapenos in a jar feel free to use these too. But in most cases, I think fresh ones are hotter. 

You may wonder if you should use the seeds in the jalapeno peppers or discard them. It’s a personal preference. They won’t hurt you to eat them.  I like to use them because I think it makes the salsa hotter. It’s like using crushed red pepper on your food to add a kick.

If you don’t want as much spice in your Low Carb Salsa, then use fewer peppers and discard the seeds.

My husband likes things really hot so if he feels my salsa is not hot enough for him he will put a few drops of tabasco on top and mix it in.

Is Salsa Keto / Low Carb? 

This recipe for Salsa is low in carbs since it’s all vegetables…what is better for you than that?! Something so tasty and on your Keto/Low Carb diet. Just make sure that whatever you choose to dip in it is low carb. Sometimes I dip celery in it. You can always put it on a burger or some steak or chicken, another way to spice up your Keto meal. 

My husband, who has been on a low carb diet for years, loves this homemade salsa with his eggs in the morning.

Just chop up a couple of breakfast sausages and throw in some salsa, saute it up and then once heated add your eggs to the pan. Mexican eggs for breakfast. It’s a nice way to spice up the plain old eggs in the morning. So make extra salsa and keep it on hand in the refrigerator and pull it out for several snacks and meals.

Important Tips for Making the BEST Salsa

One important thing to remember is that you don’t want your salsa to be runny from too much liquid in it, so if that happens just drain the excess liquid off. You want it to have a thick but still wet consistency. If it’s too wet it will just run off your chip or cracker or make your chip too soggy and fall apart.

Do not use paprika or cayenne pepper in your salsa because it may alter the taste of the recipe too much.

Don’t forget to add your salt. It enhances all of the other flavors and pulls it all together.

Don’t make a small amount. Make yourself enough to have leftovers for the next day. 

What is the Difference Between Salsa and Pico de Gallo?

Pico de gallo and salsa are 2 very similar recipes because often they use the same ingredients and have a very similar taste. It’s very easy to confuse them with each other but there are some differences.

Pico de gallo is made by hand chopping the ingredients with a knife, for a chunkier texture. But salsa on the other hand like in this recipe is made by throwing all of the ingredients in the food processor and blending them all up for a smoother, more liquidy texture. 

Sometimes instead of making my salsa recipe, I like to make pico de gallo, which is made up of 5 fresh ingredients, Fresh Tomatoes, Cilantro, Jalapeno peppers, red or orange or yellow peppers, and onion, Vidalia onions and some salt. Also very delicious and low carbs, and very good for you to eat all those fresh vegetables. These ingredients are fresh and chopped with a knife, not a food processor.

My family swears that if I make either type of these 2 Keto/Low Carb Salsa recipes in the winter months it helps to ward off colds. I’m not sure medically speaking if it does but it’s sure delicious trying to stay healthy. So happy eating!

Is this Low Carb Salsa Recipe Good for Other Diets?

Yes, once again this is another recipe that is gluten free, being all vegetables. Just be careful whatever chips or crackers that you dip into the salsa that they’re also gluten free. 

This salsa is also good for a person on a Vegan diet, a Keto diet, a Vegetarian diet….etc because it’s all vegetables. You certainly can’t go wrong eating vegetables. 

What to Serve with Salsa? 

If you want to make your snack/appetizer completely low carb, almost carb-free, I found that you can take a couple of stalks of celery and cut it into the desired length and use it as a scoop and fill with salsa. Just veggies, yum!

There are many crackers, parm crisps, tortilla chips etc that are low in carbs that as long as you count your carb intake you can indulge and enjoy. In fact, we have our own Keto Tortilla Chip recipe you’ll love!

And sometimes you just want Tostitos Scoops, so have a few and you can still stay within your carb count for the day and stay low carb. I try to stay within 60 carbs a day, and once in a while it’s a nice treat to use corn chips. I load up the scoops with a big scoop of salsa per chip.

How to Store Homemade Keto/Low Carb Salsa – 

When you are done eating your salsa, put the leftover portion, if there is any, into a container with a tight-fitting lid and store it in your refrigerator for a week, if it lasts that long because it’s so delicious.

If your house is anything like mine is we all fight over the leftovers, making sure that one person doesn’t eat it all and not leave some for everyone. So if you have a few extra minutes or some extra ingredients hanging around your kitchen then why not just make a double batch and that way you will be assured to have some leftovers. 

If you take out the leftovers the next day and you find that it got a little runny overnight, just drain off the excess liquid before serving. That way you won’t get your chip soggy and cause it to fall apart before getting it to your mouth.  

Other Low Carb Mexican Recipes:

If you’re in the mood for some other Keto Mexican recipes then try our:

• Avocado Salsa Recipe
• Mango Salsa Recipe
• Keto Tortilla Chips
• Skinny Margarita
• Chicken Enchilada Casserole

They are Keto-friendly and low carb, and you’ll want to eat them over and over again!

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