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I promise you this is the easiest homemade salsa you will ever make. My partner learned this recipe from a friend and brought it home to me and I was shocked that it was this easy to make restaurant style spicy homemade salsa that tasted this good at home! And in less than 5 minutes.

It pairs great with a frozen mango margarita mocktail or a non-alcoholic Mexican style beer. Serve this spicy, tangy salsa with tortilla chips or over your favorite tacos or southwest bowls.

How Do I Make my Salsa Spicy?

What can i add to salsa to make it hotter? My answer is simple— a jalapeño pepper. There are lots of spices and hot sauces that can add heat to homemade salsa, but I prefer the fresh flavor of a jalapeño. I use half of one to create this spicy homemade salsa recipe, but if you like more or less spice just add as much as you like.

What is the Secret Ingredient You Add to Your Homemade Salsa that Makes it Delicious?

Why does Mexican restaurant salsa taste so good? This is going to sound weird, but hear me out, the secret ingredient to make homemade salsa taste like the salsa at your favorite Mexican restaurant isn’t actually an ingredient at all. It’s the METHOD. Store-bought salsa always disappoints me. And even though I do think the flavors play a part in that, I thin it’s mainly the texture. Store bought salsas usually have a few onions and tomatoes coated in a tomato sauce. There’s no cohesion. So when I make homemade salsa, I add everything to the blender and it creates perfectly cohesive salsa sauce to dip my favorite chips in or pour over my favorite Mexican dish.

What are the Key Ingredients to Make Homemade Salsa?

Ingredients are still really important though. The key ingredients to making homemade salsa are whole tomatoes from a can, Rotel, fresh onion, fresh cilantro, garlic salt, and half of a fresh jalapeño. These are the base ingredients, but don’t be afraid to add things to your personal preferences. I love squeezing juice from a lime over the salsa just before eating it for an extra citrus burst. Green or red peppers add some fun variety too. Substituting the tomatoes with canned green tomatillos makes a yummy salsa verde, but I prefer just subbing out half of the tomatoes so it’s a blend of both. Get creative and make it your own!

How to Make Spicy Homemade Salsa

Making homemade spicy salsa is so easy. To a high powered blender add the 2 cans of whole tomatoes (drained, we just want the tomatoes), the can of Rotel, the 1/4 cup of onion, the bunch of cilantro, and the half of a jalapeño. Blend it until it creates the consistency you like. I like mine well blended, but you can keep it a little chunkier if you like. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge and eat it within 3 days for the best quality and flavor.

Tips for Making Homemade Salsa:

Eat it within 3 days
- There are lots of recipes for how to can homemade salsa for long term storage, but this is not one of them. I always eat this one within 3 days to make sure it’s at its freshest.
Don’t use fresh tomatoes
- Can you make salsa with fresh tomatoes? Yes, but one of two things will happen. You will keep it more of a chunky mixture like pico de gallo, so at that point I say just make pico de gallo. Or secondly, you will need to blanch and peel the skins off the tomatoes, then remove the seeds. Can this be done? Sure, but I think you will always get a better texture in this particular recipe if you use canned whole tomatoes.
Don’t add salt or pepper
- The garlic salt in this recipe adds enough salt for my taste, however if you want to add in more salt, just do it in very small increments and taste as you add it. And when it comes to pepper, I find this recipe gets all the pepper it needs from the jalapeño.

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Find my mocktail recipes in my e-book Hydrating Mocktails: 31 drink recipes to leave you hydrated instead of hungover.

All photos & recipes Ⓒ Jessica Furniss