Norma Jean’s Homemade Salsa

Salsa is a staple here in South Texas. It’s perfect for parties, breakfast, lunch, or dinner. If you’ve only had that “chunky” salsa in a jar from the grocery store, you’re definitely missing out! Homemade salsa is easy to make and seriously delicious.

But this isn’t any ordinary salsa recipe. Here at Gulf Coast Smoke, we know that the best salsa can only come from one person: Mom! We went straight to the source for this week’s recipe to bring you Norma Jean’s Homemade Salsa!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 28 oz. can Whole Peeled Tomatoes
• White onion
• Jalapeño
• Garlic
• Cilantro
• Food Processor

The Process:

Start by prepping the ingredients. You’ll only need ¼ of the onion, so cut the onion into fourths and set ¼ aside. Peel two cloves of garlic. If the cloves are very small, you can add a third. For the jalapeño, you can add as much or as little as you like depending on how spicy you like your salsa. For this recipe, I added a whole jalapeño but removed the seeds from half of the jalapeño. This still resulted in a pretty mild salsa, so if you like it spicy add more of the seeds. If you don’t like any sort of spice, just remove the seeds from the whole jalapeño. For the cilantro, simply tear a small handful (About 2 tablespoons) from the bunch.

Since this is going into the food processor, you don’t have to worry about chopping the ingredients, but you can cut the onion and jalapeño into large chunks just so they’ll fit in the food processor. 

Add the can of tomatoes, ¼ onion, jalapeno, garlic, cilantro, and 2 teaspoons of salt into the food processor. Blend the salsa by pulsing the food processor for about 15-20 seconds or until the salsa is finely blended together.

*If you’re like me and have a small food processor, just do 2 batches and add them together in a bowl.

This recipe is definitely something that tastes better as it sits. When you first taste it, it will have a strong tomato flavor, so let it sit for at least an hour in the refrigerator to let all those flavors come together. Eat this salsa with tortilla chips, over fajitas, or on top of an omelet and enjoy!