• If you have a question about commercial production or the hot sauce business, please post in Startup Help.

cooking Base Cooked Salsa Recipe

maximumcapsicum

maximumcapsicum

Working on formalizing a salsa base to experiment with. This would be a cooked salsa, I know there are lots of different ways to divide up the category. The idea is I'd add different fruits or peppers to this to make different salsas. The base is mild to medium. Would add hab's or superhot's to particular batches.
 
2 lbs roma or cooking tomatoes
1 sweet onion (will post weight once I get it down)
2-3 cloves garlic
10 big jalapenos (will post weight once I get it down)
juice from 2 small limes
1 half bunch cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
 
1. Roast, skin, and seed jalapenos.
2. Chop tomotoes, onions, jalapenos and garlic
3. Toss in pot with cilantro, salt, lime juice, and black pepper
4. Simmer for 2 and a half hours.
 
Should get me a medium-chunky consistence, mild to moderate heat (which can be boosted up), approximately 2 quarts of sauce.
 
Note: I am not blanching or seeding the tomatoes. I normally like the skin, but I've never tried this prep before. Normally I eat salsa fresh, but some of the cooked batches folks have been posting around here inspired me to try to cook one.
 
Any suggestions?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Went ahead and gave this a shot on Sunday. Already ate a can of it!
 
See pics here.
 
I did go ahead and blanch the tomatoes. Interesting differences of opinion. The result was very sweet. Much sweeter than I had intended, I think it came from the onion.
 
Heat level was medium to a normal person... mild to nothing for me hah! A good base to build on for sure. It didn't make a whole lot, about a quart and a half. Was hoping for a bigger batch. But this was a good test run. Will continue to post progress.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yes the onions and garlic make it a sweet. I use white onion. If your not canning your salsa and using it right away. Try adding the onions last. Not to long before you stop cooking they won't become as sweet. Sounds like your on to something. I start with 20lbs of Roma's, 4lbs of onions, 2 bunches of cilantro and spice to taste. Good luck and be careful. You might have stumbled onto a new obsession. That's what happened to me. Let me know if I can help.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Your recipe is almost exactly how I make mine with the following exceptions:
 
I always use a red onion (I find the flavor is the best);
I don't use the juice of any limes (I feel it doesn't need the extra acidity, there's already enough with the tomatoes);
I always use an entire head of garlic (that's how I like it);
I also add about 1 to 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (again, I like the flavor it adds).
 
I never do the following:
1) cook it (fresh is always the best & since I can kill it all within a week, I never have to worry about it going bad).
2) add vinegar (that just trashes the taste of the salsa).
 
But that's just me.  Most folks around here seem to both cook theirs & add vinegar.
 
I make a couple of gallons a month & rarely go more than a week without.  It's good on everything & goes well with breakfast, lunch dinner & snacks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I have been making salsa similarly for the last ten years or so, and had to give away 90 pints of my best when we moved to Australia.  The recipients were very happy, while I was not so much...
 
Anyway, I always use Roma tomatoes and I always blanch and peel them.  I don't like finding the peels in the salsa, and they get stuck in teeth, etc.  On the other hand, I never roast and peel my peppers.  I generally use a lot more garlic than what you have here (five bulbs in a batch that makes 20 pints after cooking down) and the pepper ratio is much higher.  In fact, what I do if the season is right is to take out quite a few of the tomatoes (by weight) and substitute in some fresh fruit for added sweetness.  Peaches is my favorite addition, although a recent batch with mangoes was quite nice.  Apples can make a nice addition, but they have to be fresh and local to get the best flavours.  With the added sweetness you can really crank up the heat factor, and then watch the reaction of people when they give it a try.  The sweet hits first, and then the slow burn of the heat kicks in.  Makes that salsa addicting.
 
I also cook it down for 3-4 hours, shorter if using romas and longer if using a beefsteak or the like.  We generally like a more chunky consistency.  As OCD said, it can be an obsession and you may find you are constantly playing with the recip to see what new you can make!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I can them. So I add applecider vinegar and lime. I also make mine so it's not as chunky with the exception of roasted Serranos. I'm thinking that's why I don't mind the skins. Don't really see them. Here it is.

20lbs Roma's
8- onions
1.5lbs of Habaneros or .5lbs of favorite super.
2lbs of Serranos roasted
2 bunches of Cilantro
8 Limes
half a cup crushed garlic
4 carrots
Assortment of other spices and that's it. If I don't can. I skip the vinegar. The spices and there amount is the key. Everything else is basic. I throw the roasted Serranos in last. Cut up into half inch pieces.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thanks for all of the feedback guys! I am continuing to experiment/make batches. Looks like I am going a bit heavy on the pepper comparatively.
 
OCD Chilehead said:
Yes the onions and garlic make it a sweet. I use white onion. If your not canning your salsa and using it right away. Try adding the onions last. Not to long before you stop cooking they won't become as sweet. Sounds like your on to something. I start with 20lbs of Roma's, 4lbs of onions, 2 bunches of cilantro and spice to taste. Good luck and be careful. You might have stumbled onto a new obsession. That's what happened to me. Let me know if I can help.
Click to expand...
 
Luckily the sweet isn't so bad. I am going to work around it I think. I also need to increase the number of tomatoes I think. 
 
ZeekyBanutski said:
Your recipe is almost exactly how I make mine with the following exceptions:
 
I always use a red onion (I find the flavor is the best);
I don't use the juice of any limes (I feel it doesn't need the extra acidity, there's already enough with the tomatoes);
I always use an entire head of garlic (that's how I like it);
I also add about 1 to 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (again, I like the flavor it adds).
 
I never do the following:
1) cook it (fresh is always the best & since I can kill it all within a week, I never have to worry about it going bad).
2) add vinegar (that just trashes the taste of the salsa).
 
But that's just me.  Most folks around here seem to both cook theirs & add vinegar.
 
I make a couple of gallons a month & rarely go more than a week without.  It's good on everything & goes well with breakfast, lunch dinner & snacks!
Click to expand...
 
Yeah I actually make a secondary batch of fresh salsa (uncooked) that I go through in about a week. Lots of work though. Hoping to can ahead and do a big prep every month or so.
 
Vinegar isn't so bad, complements the lime I think. Haven't tried the apple cider vinegar.
 
ivplay said:
I have been making salsa similarly for the last ten years or so, and had to give away 90 pints of my best when we moved to Australia.  The recipients were very happy, while I was not so much...
 
Anyway, I always use Roma tomatoes and I always blanch and peel them.  I don't like finding the peels in the salsa, and they get stuck in teeth, etc.  On the other hand, I never roast and peel my peppers.  I generally use a lot more garlic than what you have here (five bulbs in a batch that makes 20 pints after cooking down) and the pepper ratio is much higher.  In fact, what I do if the season is right is to take out quite a few of the tomatoes (by weight) and substitute in some fresh fruit for added sweetness.  Peaches is my favorite addition, although a recent batch with mangoes was quite nice.  Apples can make a nice addition, but they have to be fresh and local to get the best flavours.  With the added sweetness you can really crank up the heat factor, and then watch the reaction of people when they give it a try.  The sweet hits first, and then the slow burn of the heat kicks in.  Makes that salsa addicting.
 
I also cook it down for 3-4 hours, shorter if using romas and longer if using a beefsteak or the like.  We generally like a more chunky consistency.  As OCD said, it can be an obsession and you may find you are constantly playing with the recip to see what new you can make!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks ivplay! Browsing your posts was one of the reasons I decided to try cooking some batches! I do lean toward the peppers, but I think I am going to have to town it down and maybe experiment with some of the superhot varieties, get the texture from maters and fruit. I think I am going to add some mangoes and habs to my next batch.
 
Okay, so this weekend I made the same recipe, blanched the tomatoes, and tripled the sizes to get enough to can. Looked something like:
 
6 lbs tomatoes
3 sweet onions
24 oz (1 lb 8 oz) jalapenos, some ripe
4 limes (juice... ~4 tbs)
1 head garlic
1 bunch cilantro
1 tbs pepper
2 tbs salt
3/4 cup vinegar
 
Blanched tomatoes, roasted jals/onions/garlic together, added it all to a big pot and cooked it for 2 hours. Unfortunately childcare became a bit more demanding than anticipated and in the last 10 minutes, while I was prepping jars, a small patch burnt on the bottom of the pot. DANG! I canned it anyway. 15 minutes processing in a hot water bath. Yield was 5 pints.
 
It tasted great just before it burnt. After the burning, which I was careful not to mix into the whole batch, it tasted a tad off. Still gonna eat it but it's definitely not the best work. Here is a pic:
 

 
ALMOST there.
 
I call this one Sweet Lime 1.0. Will probably adjust to get it perfect. Basically just a cooked pico. 
 
In a couple weeks I am going to try a mango/hab salsa and a base salsa with superhots powder, probably from a 7 pot yellow.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I like to purée a can of chipotle chiles. Gives it a nice smokey flavor. I use what I want. Freeze the rest in cheap ice cube trays and put in ziplock bag. Then you can use it for another time one cube at a time. Tomatillo is another great ingredient. I like making up pico de gallo a well. Making me hungry.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Romas are nice for making sauces and salsas, but in my opinion you can't get much more bland than a standard roma tomato.  Switch those up for some OP/heirloom tomatoes with flavor and you won't believe the taste difference in your salsa.    That looks like a good base for a salsa, though I would lean towards a few more peppers too.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Going to do another batch this week. Swap out about half the tomatoes for mangos and about half the jals, which will be seeded and roasted alone, with bonnetts. About 1 bonnet per 4 jals. Something like that. May toss in a sweet pepper as well. Will post the recipe when I get down to business.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top