How to Make Canned Salsa

Canned salsa is easy to make at home with fresh tomatoes or frozen tomatoes. Ball® Salsa Mix makes this recipe easy. Give it a try and enjoy salsa straight from your own pantry shelf.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 4 pounds fresh or frozen tomatoes, diced
• 1 packet of Ball Salsa Mix
• Canning jars with lids and bands
• Deep pan for jars
• Water bath canner
• Jar lifter (utensil)
• Saucepan with water
• Dutch oven or deep pot
• Stirring utensil
• Ladle
• Wide mouth funnel
• Oven mitts

1. 

   Fill the canner with water until it’s roughly ¾ of the way full. Put the covered water bath canner on the stove and turn the burner onto the highest setting. It will take some time for this much water to boil. If you do this first, it should be ready pretty close to the time you have your tomato mixture ready to ladle into jars.

2. 

   Place your clean, dry canning jars into a deep pan.

3. 

   Put them into the oven and turn the temperature to 150 degrees. The jars will warm up along with the oven and be ready to receive the hot salsa mixture.

4. 

   Dice your tomatoes into the size you prefer for your salsa. Weigh out 4 pounds of tomatoes.

5. 

   Combine 4 pounds of diced tomatoes and the contents of the Ball® Salsa Mix packet in your deep cooking pot.

6. 

   Cook the salsa mixture on high until it is boiling. Stirring occasionally, allow the mixture to boil for 5 minutes. Your salsa is ready to go into your warm jars.

7. 

   Remove the jars from the oven. A wide mouthed funnel comes in handy to make sure the salsa gets into the jars neatly. Ladle the hot salsa mixture into the jars. Leave roughly a half-inch space at the top of the jar.

8. 

   Place a lid and band on top of the jar and seal it as tightly as possible by hand. Lower the jars into the boiling water inside the canner.

9. 

   The jars should be completely covered by boiling water. Place the lid back onto the canner (with a small area open to keep it from overflowing). Process the canned salsa for 35 minutes.

10. 

    At the end of the processing time, remove the canned salsa from the canner and place it on a cooling rack.

Tips & Warnings

• You should hear the lids popping down into place over the next few minutes to half an hour. If the lid pops down, that means the jar is sealed. If you can place your finger on top of the lid and push down (bubble), the jar is not sealed and should be refrigerated and used as soon as possible.
• Canned salsa can be stored in your pantry for about one year or refrigerated for about three weeks.
• This recipe yielded 3 pints of salsa per Ball® Salsa Mix packet and four pounds of frozen tomatoes.
• Red, yellow, or orange tomatoes all work well for canned salsa.
• For those who prefer chunky salsa, simply add some fresh tomatoes to the canned salsa prior to serving.
• If you use frozen tomatoes, drain off the excess water before measuring out your tomatoes.
• If you prefer to remove the skins from the tomatoes before processing, do so before dicing.
• Ball® Salsa Mix packets can usually be found right along with the canning supplies in your local grocery store.
• If you live in a warm climate, grow your own tomatillos and make some green salsa!
• Always use brand new lids for canning. Never use ones that have already been used to seal a jar.

Resources

• Canning Tools and Supplies
• Successfull Home Canning - Home Cooking
• How To Plant a Tomato Garden by Susang6
• How To Grow Tomatillo Plants by seedling

[Mindee94]

on 10/7/2009 Homemade Salsa... nothing better! Thanks for the great recipe! Mindee

[JoyNmyHeart]

on 10/7/2009 This would be a GREAT Christmas gift from a TX girl like me! Looks like a few friends are going to be getting Homemade canned salsa this year!

[writecornertips]

on 9/25/2009 Mmmm, sounds delicious!

[122602]

on 9/11/2009 This sounds great for giving to friends and family.

[ScarlettOHairy]

on 8/22/2009 Boy, this takes me back to when I canned like a maniac. Love that popping sound when the lid seals. Great instructions!