The best salsa is easy to make as long as you have great raw ingredients. You don’t even need a recipe to make salsa—but we’ll give you plenty, plus basic rules and tips for perfect homemade salsa every time, whether you’re following specific instructions or not. And you can always customize it depending on what produce you have and how hot (or mild) you like things.
You’ll be all set for dipping chips, but there’s a lot more you can do with your salsa too: top grilled meats and seafood with it; dollop it on salads; spoon it over your favorite quesadilla, burrito, or Mexican sandwich. Eat it with a spoon, even (you’ll be tempted).
Here’s everything you need to know about making the best homemade salsa.
Salsa is a pretty loose term—technically, it’s just the Spanish word for sauce—but you’ll generally always find tomatoes and chilis in it (there are exceptions, as you’ll see).
It comes in both smooth, pureed versions (like our Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde recipe) and chunky styles, like a traditional pico de gallo:
The smooth kind often includes dried peppers that are rehydrated or toasted, while the raw version usually includes jalapeños, serranos, habaneros, and other fresh chili peppers.
But really, salsa can be whatever you want it to be!
Follow a recipe if you like guidelines (we’ve got some excellent ones below), or just go rogue.
You’ll need tomatoes, onions, and some sort of hot pepper—or you won’t; you can always swap in another fruit (like mango, pineapple, or papaya) for the tomato, and/or leave out the onions or the peppers if you prefer.
You will need salt for seasoning and a splash of lime juice for acid (other citrus can also work, but it should always be fresh). From there, you can choose to add fresh herbs like cilantro and basil, as well as additional ingredients (we’ll get to those in a bit).
If you’re making a smooth salsa, assemble your produce and chop it all roughly. You’ll be whirring everything in a blender, so no need to be precise with your knife cuts. Sometimes you’ll roast or char the ingredients first.
If you’re making a chunky salsa, dice your ingredients carefully. You want the vegetables (and fruit if you have it) to all be roughly the same size, partly for looks but partly so each mouthful is evenly balanced. The fresh chilis can be in smaller pieces—minced, instead of diced—so they’re more evenly distributed throughout.
1. Start with Very Good Ingredients
Salsa is a pretty simple condiment to make, and with so few ingredients, every flavor shines through. So it’s important to start with high-quality produce, since you’ll really taste it. Summer is the best time to make salsa: Head to your local farmers’ market and pick the ripest, juiciest tomatoes you can find for your base. Ditto any other fruit that’s going in.
This is a cardinal rule of cooking in general, but it still applies when you’re assembling a no-cook salsa. The only way to know what you need to add is to taste.
Take a tiny nibble of your hot pepper; if it’s much spicier than you expected, add less of it to the recipe. Same goes for your onion. (Pro-tip: Wearing gloves is a good idea when dicing hot peppers.)
If your tomatoes aren’t great, you might need more salt and lime juice than you planned on—if they’re truly bland, you might even want to roast them to give them more dimension and sweetness and switch to a blender salsa instead of a raw, diced style.
If you’re making our Mezcal Salsa Borracha recipe, one tablespoon of mezcal might not make enough of an impact for you, but taste before you decide to add any more.
3. Get Crazy with Your Add-Ins
Sure, a basic salsa has the usual suspects: tomatoes, lime, onions, peppers, cilantro, and garlic. But don’t feel constricted by that. We love getting creative with our salsa flavors, especially in the summer when produce abounds. It’s a great time to go heavy on the sweetest stone fruit specimens or most terrific tropical fruit you can find.
For a creamy element, try adding avocado. Or, for extra crunch, add diced jicama, celery, fresh corn kernels (they’re super sweet when raw and in season), cucumber, or even lettuce.
A sharp knife is a necessity in the kitchen, and you’ll really appreciate it for making raw salsa; a sharp blade makes it easy to chop, while a dull blade will crush, mash, and bruise ingredients. (It can even make you cry more when chopping onions!)
If you’re not ready to start experimenting on your own quite yet, these are some of our very favorite salsas for dipping chips and topping tacos:
Pico de Gallo
This is the one you’ll see in plastic tubs in the produce section, but it’s so simple to make yourself. Just make sure your tomatoes are really ripe—and remember to taste until you get the balance of acid, salt, and spice just right. Get our Pico de Gallo recipe.
Papalote-Inspired Taqueria Salsa
If you like a thin taqueria-style salsa, this is it. We used roasted Roma tomatoes, chiles de arbol, pasilla peppers, vinegar, scallions, and cilantro to recreate the taste of the elixir at Papalote in San Francisco. Then we blended it all with pumpkin seeds to make it smooth and creamy. Get our Taqueria Salsa recipe.
Roasted Tomato Salsa
For something a bit simpler, and a little thicker, our Roasted Tomato Salsa recipe is also fantastic.
Fresh Tomatillo Salsa
Tart green tomatillos are the star ingredient in salsa verde, and our five-ingredient Fresh Tomatillo Salsa recipe is barely any harder than picking up a jar at the store—but it tastes way better.
Chunky Tomatillo Salsa
If you prefer a chunky texture, though, the same ingredients are just as good roughly chopped. Get our Chunky Tomatillo Salsa recipe.
Avocado Corn Salsa
Sweet summer corn kernels add a fresh pop to this creamy-crispy mix of produce; ripe avocado cubes lend the rich contrasting element. Get our Avocado Corn Salsa recipe.
Peach, Tomato, and Sweet Onion Salsa
Another peak-summer produce star, peaches are perfect in a simple salsa with tomatoes and onions. Sweet onions like Maui or Vidalia are ideal. Get our Peach, Tomato, and Sweet Onion Salsa recipe.
Spicy Mango Salsa
A salsa that mixes mango and tomato is always delicious, but to really showcase the fruit’s flavor, it can also stand alone. Well, mostly—minced serranos, onion, and cilantro step in as supporting players. And the all-important salt and lime juice bring balance. Get our Spicy Mango Salsa recipe. (This also tastes great with ripe pineapple instead.)
Charred Corn Salsa
If you’re grilling Mexican food, char corn and jalapeños for a delicious salsa that tastes good on everything. No grill? Broil them a bit instead. Get our Charred Corn Salsa recipe.
Cucumber Melon Salsa
Ripe melons like cantaloupe and honeydew already make for a refreshing salsa, but adding crunchy cucumber boosts that aspect exponentially. We add fresh oregano here instead of cilantro, but it’s good with almost any fresh herb (and great with watermelon too). Get our Cucumber Melon Salsa recipe.
Guacamole Taquero
Is it salsa, or is it guac? If “salsa” is just sauce, this smooth avocado concoction definitely counts—but it can also be used as a traditional dip. It’s blended with tomatillos, onions, garlic, and epazote (a Mexican herb that can be replaced with a combo of cilantro and oregano if need be). Get our Guacamole Taquero recipe.
