You guys know how I feel about condiments. I NEED ALL OF THEM. Salsa. Sauces. Guacamole. The works! And today this homemade chipotle salsa is what we all need!
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This is a safe place right? Somewhere where I can admit that I’m a bit of a salsa snob? I really can’t be blamed for this though. Growing up in Tucson basically made me this way. Salsa was everywhere and I sampled just about everything Arizona had to offer. I’ve kept my salsa eating habits since living in California the last 15+ years. And I don’t intend to give it up anytime soon. Which is why you all need this Homemade Chipotle Salsa recipe in your life immediately.
I want salsa that packs some serious flavor. Nothing too mellow. A little spice. Plenty of depth of flavor. Also, fire roasted tomatoes… yes! That really cranks it up a few notches. Cilantro is a must. Garlic and onions, obviously. And chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. It’s the icing on the cake. This salsa puts pretty much every store bought salsa to shame! Make it immediately.
Homemade Salsa Ingredients:
- Canned Fire Roasted Tomatoes – the fire roasted part of this is important as it add extra flavor!
- Yellow Onion – to be honest, yellow or red works. But you need the onion or a bit of a shallot
- Garlic – if I ever make a savory recipe without garlic, send help.
- Jalapeño – you can dial this back, omit it entirely, or add even more depending on your spice preference. But I’ve found that 1/2 of a jalapeño pepper is perfect for our family.
- Chipotles in Adobo – you can buy these in any market – and sometimes you’ll find them in a squeeze bottle pre-chopped! Either works
- Salt and Pepper – goes without saying
- Fresh cilantro – you’re welcome to omit this if you HATE cilantro! I’ve also found that some people swap with parsley and love it! Totally up to your personal perference.
- Fresh lime juice – this always just wakes everything up and brightens the whole recipe
How to Make Homemade Chipotle Salsa:
- The beauty to this recipe is that all ingredients go in the food processor or high powered blender and pureed until everything is evenly blended and smooth.
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Add more chipotle peppers if you like it extra spice.
- And then just remove from food processor or blender and refrigerate in an air tight container.
Variations + Substitutions:
- Canned Fire Roasted Tomatoes – you could swap this for regular canned tomatoes or homemade roasted tomatoes if you prefer!
- Jalapeño – if you’re into spice, feel free to swap this out with your favorite pepper – Serrano or Habanero if you’re really going for it
- Chipotles in Adobo – these are tough to substitute – but if you can’t find, I’ve sauteed a poblano pepper before and used that instead
What to serve with Homemade Chipotle Salsa
This Homemade Chipotle Salsa goes on just about everything I made.
- Mexican Style Chicken
- Breakfast Burritos
- Homemade Flautas
- Nachos
- Huevos Rancheros
- Cheese Crisps – my personal kryptonite
- Vegetarian Loaded Sweet Potatoes
- Chicken Taquitos
- Steak Tacos
This recipe makes me particularly happy for many reasons, but one giant one being there’s really no knife work involved. No chopping up tomatoes perfectly… none of that here. Instead it all goes into a blender and then you’re ready to eat! And obsessed. And cry because it’s the best salsa you’ll ever have in your entire life!
Homemade Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes 14 oz
- 1/2 cup yellow onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/2 jalapeño chopped
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo plus 1 teaspoon of the adobo sauce
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1 lime juiced
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in the food processor or high powered blender and pulse until everything is evenly blended.
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Add more chipotle peppers if you like it extra spice.
- Remove from food processor or blender and refrigerate.
I definitely make this weekly and keep it in my fridge! It’s my absolute favorite salsa recipe!!!
Best. Salsa. Ever. This never lasts long in my house.
Best salsa EVER!!!! Definitely my new favorite. I will be making this time and time again:)
I am also a salsa snob, and since Chevy’s went out of business here in Phoenix, there’s no one that makes that chipotle salsa, that’s so dark and rich and….awesome! BUT! Gaby’s recipe for this chipotle salsa is excellent. Made in a few minutes, easy easy. One time i used too many cherry tomatoes and it wasn’t good, so be careful not to just dump some in. Measure.
Thanks!
Carol B
OMG SO HAPPY
Gaby!!!!! This salsa is, as you would say…”EVERYTHING!” (Promptly proceeds to make it every day for the rest of her life). xx
YES DEB!!!! XX
In your book, eat what you want, you say one 28-oz can of fire roasted tomatoes, with all the rest the same measurements as this recipe. Please tell me which it is – 14 oz or 28? Thanks.
either works
Did this recipe used to have about 1 cup of halved grape tomatoes? I want to recreate what I made before…I loved it!
it did!
Thank you for responding so quickly. I made it today with the added 1 cup of halved grape tomatoes. Also drained the fire roasted tomatoes just a bit. It’s as delicious as I remember it being.
This is pure awesomeness! My daughter made it first and everyone sharing our Mexican dinner was totally wowed! We used a second batch for a layered Mexican dip that was gobbled up in 20 minutes. I just made it myself and since I already ate half of it – just to make sure it was perfect – I suppose I’ll just have to make some to share as well. There are lots of salsa recipes floating around, but this hits just the right balance of all the classic salsa ingredients. Thank you, Gaby!
10/10. Was v skeptical when I saw how easy this was and how it used canned tomatoes. But then looked at who made the recipe, and obviously put faith in it. This was great. Highly recommend doubling if you pour salsa over everything like I do. In a pinch, I used one can of fire roasted rotel in place of 1 fire roasted tomato because that’s I had and it worked well. This will 100% be snarfed ALL DOUBLE BATCH OF IT tonight at Cinco de Mayo. Thank you!
Excellent!! I doubled the chipotle peppers and sauce simply because I didn’t want to waste them. It’s a little spicy, which I love!
This truly is the best salsa ever! During the summer I made it about once a week! My family devours it so fast! I did a major stock up on fire roasted tomatoes and chipotle chilies. Super simple and super delicious! Great recipe!
Cilantro leaves or cilantro with stems?
no stems
OMG, this is so DELICIOUS!!! And was super easy to make, it’s going to be my go to recipe. I have quite a few adobe chili’s left from and I was wondering if this freezes well? I’d love to make a huge batch this weekend and freeze in individual containers. Thanks so much!
This salsa is fantastic! The flavors are still robust after a few days. Love that the ingredients are staples we’d normally have on hand so we can whip up a batch at any time.