Chipotle Tomato & Red Pepper Salsa
This chipotle tomato and red pepper salsa is a smoky, shelf-stable recipe designed for water bath canning. Made with tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, and warm spices, it’s preserved safely in jars for long-term storage and full of bold flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 kg Tomatoes (just over 4 cups after chopping)
- 325 g Red bell pepper (about 2 fist-sized peppers)
- 100 g Red onion (1 small)
- 5.5 tbsp Vinegar (at least 5% acidity) (80 g)
- 2 tbsp Garlic (minced)
- 2 tbsp Tomato paste
- 2 tbsp Salt
- 3 tbsp Sugar (adjust if you prefer more or less sweet)
- 1 tbsp Lime juice
- 1 tbsp Coriander seeds (course ground)
- 1 tsp Chipotle chili powder
- 2 Hot peppers of your choice (to taste)
Instructions
Make the salsa
- Chop the tomatoes into small pieces.Note: If you prefer a thicker salsa, you have two options. First, before cooking, toss the chopped tomatoes with a little salt, mix, and drain them through a sieve to remove excess juice. Or, simply cook the salsa longer until it reaches the thickness you like. You can also skip both – the salsa will just be a bit runnier, which some people like.
- Chop the peppers and onion into small pieces.
- Prepare the coriander. For this recipe, I used fresh, green coriander seeds from my garden. I mixed them with the salt and then crushed them with a mortar and pestle. You can also use ground, dried coriander or fresh, chopped cilantro leaves.
- In a large pot, combine all vegetables with vinegar, tomato paste, salt, sugar, lime juice, minced garlic, coriander, and chili powder.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer.
- Cook until the salsa reaches your desired consistency, stirring regularly to prevent sticking.
Canning instructions
- Ladle the hot salsa into clean jars, leaving 2 cm headspace.
- Wipe rims and apply lids, seals, and clamps.
- Process in a water bath canner at 100°C for 30 minutes.
