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Home > Meal Type > Appetizers and Starters > Restaurant Style Mild Salsa (5 minutes)

Restaurant Style Mild Salsa (5 minutes)

Updated: Jul 29th 2019 • Published: Jan 6th 2019 • 19 Comments

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split picture showing salsa in a bowl and being scooped up with a chip
home-made salsa in a bowl on a blue table with text at the top

This restaurant-style mild salsa recipe takes under 5 minutes to make and is a great healthy, fresh homemade appetizer perfect for game day! Plus it can be made all year round as it uses canned tomatoes! With cilantro, lime juice, onion and a few spices you can have this easy salsa on the table in minutes. Serve it with flour tortillas or with corn chips for a naturally gluten-free snack.

bright blue table with a bowl of salsa and corn chips

Who doesn’t love chips and dip!!! Put a bowl of fresh salsa on the table and people will be happy. Serve a few beers and people will be laughing. Serve a few margaritas and you have yourselves a party!

Restaurant salsa is so much better than anything you can buy in a can or jar. It is fresher, overflowing with flavor and doesn’t have that slightly metallic taste that some jars/cans can have.

And now with this easy recipe you can make the same restaurant salsa at home.

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  • How do you make restaurant style salsa at home?
  • Is this salsa suitable for kids?
  • Can this salsa be made ahead of time?
  • Restaurant Style Mild Salsa

How do you make restaurant style salsa at home?

The ingredient lists looks quite long but the process is so simple. You just add the ingredients to the food processor and blitz them for about two minutes.

If you add them in the following order the food processor will break down the larger items before it gets to the cilantro, so you will still get attractive green flecks in your salsa rather than a brown colored salsa.

  • tomatoes
  • onions
  • garlic
  • cumin
  • coriander
  • salt
  • sugar
  • lime juice
  • cilantro
9 small photos showing the ingredients being added to the food processor

Is this salsa suitable for kids?

Definitely!!!!
My kids will be the first at the table if they know this is on offer.
This is a mild salsa, so there are no jalapeños in the mixture. Obviously feel free to add them if you like your salsa spicy or if your kids are exploring spicy foods.

I would add them after the onions, to ensure it gets thoroughly chopped up.

This salsa makes a great lunchbox idea! Spoon some into an airtight pot, add a few corn chips and enjoy dipping at lunch!

corn chip being dipped into a fresh homemade salsa

Can this salsa be made ahead of time?

It sure can!!!

In fact it is better made at least 3 hours before you need it. It gives the flavors time to meld together, making everything taste smoother.

How long will homemade salsa keep?

Okay, so it should last for up to 4 days in the refrigerator, BUT I have never had it last that long. We struggle to leave it the 3 hours 😉 let alone 3 days!

What to dip in your restaurant style salsa

Are you a soft tortilla or a hard tortilla kind of person??

We are mixed. So I like to serve both and also a selection of crunchy veggies for those avoiding carbs.

Get the recipe for my favorite homemade soft tortillas here.

bright blue table with a bowl of salsa, bowl of chips, lime and fresh cilantro, on it.

Why not pin this recipe for Restaurant Style Mild Salsa. Pin it here.

close up on the homage salsa in a small white bowl with chips behind it
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4.12 from 17 votes

Restaurant Style Mild Salsa

This restaurant style mild salsa recipe takes under 5 minutes to make and is a great healthy fresh homemade appetizer perfect for game day! It can be made all year round as it uses canned tomatoes! With cilantro, lime juice, onion and a few spices you can have this easy salsa on the table in minutes. Serve it with flour tortillas or with corn chips for a naturally gluten free snack.
Prep Time5 mins
Total Time5 mins
Course: Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine: Mexican
Servings: 10
Calories: 24kcal
Author: Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts
For more great recipes follow me on PinterestFollow @sprinklessprout
Need Metric Measurements?Use the options below to toggle between cups and grams (if relevant)

Ingredients

US Customary – Grams
  • 28 oz can whole plum tomatoes including juice
  • 1 small onion (see note 1)
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp granulated sugar
  • 3 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 cup cilantro tightly packed

Instructions

  • Pour the canned tomatoes and their juice into a food processor (or blender).
  • Peel and roughly chop the onion then add it to the tomatoes
  • Peel the garlic and add them to the processor
  • Add the spices, salt, sugar and lime juice. Then add the cilantro to the top.
  • Pulse chop your salsa until you have the desired consistency.
  • Transfer the salsa to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 4 days.

Notes

  1. You can use a brown, white or red onion.

Nutrition

Calories: 24kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Sodium: 464mg | Potassium: 186mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 200IU | Vitamin C: 10.4mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @sprinklesandsprouts or tag #sprinklesandsprouts

Recipe adapted from Averie Cooks

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Filed Under: All Recipes, Appetizers and Starters, Cinco De Mayo, Game Day Food

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cynthia says

    Jan 8th 2021 at 9:56 pm

    Hi,
    Am I able to just use regular whole tomatoes instead of canned tomatoes?

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Jan 13th 2021 at 10:20 pm

      Hi Cynthia, I find with fresh tomatoes the flavor is quite different and not like the salsa you get in restaurants. But it does work. Hope that helps 🙂 Cx

      Reply
  2. Josephine B says

    Jan 24th 2020 at 6:18 pm

    Hi Claire, I forgot to ask if this can be frozen if I make a double batch and if so how long would it keep? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Jan 25th 2020 at 2:20 pm

      I have never frozen it so I can’t say for sure! But I think it should be okay. You might find the cilantro goes a little dark/black. But the flavor shouldn’t be affected.
      I keep it in the fridge for at least a week (probably more like 10 days) and it has been fine. BUT most food safety websites suggest only 5 days for fresh salsas, which is why I suggest 5 days as I don’t like to advise anything different.
      Hope that helps Cx

      Reply
  3. Josephine B says

    Jan 24th 2020 at 6:08 pm

    Hi Claire, I’m on the Keto plan and don’t have carbs, so would this salsa be OK without the sugar. I’d love to try your recipe as anything bought has the sugar in and since this is homemade I’m hoping you can help me out. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Jan 25th 2020 at 2:15 pm

      Hi Josephine,

      You can definitely leave out the sugar. I add it to counter balance any sourness from the tomatoes, but if you use a good brand/variety of canned tomato (Italian are very good) then they will be naturally sweeter.
      Hope that helps.
      Cx

      Reply
  4. Sydney says

    Jan 21st 2020 at 2:20 pm

    Hi! I’d love to make your recipe and wanted to see how much it made? Do you know about how many ounces one batch of it made?

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Jan 22nd 2020 at 5:50 am

      Hi Sydney,

      I haven’t weighed the finished salsa so I can’t be sure on the ounces. But as written the recipe makes around 4 cups of salsa.
      Hope that is some help 🙂
      Cx

      Reply
  5. Amanda says

    Nov 16th 2019 at 11:48 pm

    Can the salsa last more than 4 days in the fridge? One jar doesn’t last long in my house but I don’t always want to whip up a new batch every other day. So, can I double it and then store it in the fridge (in a mason jar) for longer than 4 days?

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Nov 17th 2019 at 11:22 am

      Hi Amanda,

      I’ve kept it for 6 days with no issues. We have kept it longer as well but I find it starts to get a bit wetter and the cilantro loses it color and freshness. But it is still delicious!

      Hope that helps 😀

      Reply
  6. Liz says

    Nov 12th 2019 at 1:14 am

    5 stars
    I made this and added jalapeños. It was awesome !!

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Nov 12th 2019 at 9:31 am

      Oh I am so pleased you enjoyed it Liz!

      Reply
  7. Eliana says

    Oct 15th 2019 at 5:19 am

    Deliciosa

    Reply
  8. Debbe says

    Sep 24th 2019 at 2:32 am

    5 stars
    Love this recipe. I like a lil bite to my salsa so I added some jalapeños! Yummmm best quick salsa to make and I almost always have all these ingredients on hand. This will be my go to.

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Oct 9th 2019 at 8:16 pm

      I am so pleased you enjoyed it Debbe, thank you 😀

      Reply
  9. Ava says

    Sep 20th 2019 at 9:36 am

    5 stars
    Okay, let me just say that this recipe is absolutely amazing! I had to make some homemade salsa for my spanish class, and my entire class loved it! My teacher even said this was one of the best homemade salsa recipes that she had ever had and she asked me for the recipe. It is super easy and super delicious. I have tried many salsa recipes, but this one is by far my favorite! One thing that I didn’t use though was the coriander. I didn’t have any, so I made my salsa without it and it was still delicious! This recipe is amazing and 100% recommended to all people who love salsa.

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Sep 21st 2019 at 7:21 am

      Oh Ava!! Thank you so much for coming back to comment! I am so pleased that the salsa was a hit in class.
      Your comment has made me grin from ear to ear. So thank you 😀

      Reply
  10. Evie says

    Mar 8th 2019 at 4:46 pm

    4 stars
    This dish is looking delicious.

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Mar 9th 2019 at 8:40 am

      Thank you Evie

      Reply

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Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts

I believe cooking for those you love should be stress free and simple.

Here on Sprinkles and Sprouts you will find delicious meals all made with easy to find grocery store ingredients. Family friendly mains, sensational sides and delicious desserts. Plus a great selection of party food and appetizers.

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