Hi, folks!
I realize I’ve not been writing much here this year – event wrap-ups and such. I really overdid it last year, and not blogging has been a way for me to keep the activities coming while staying somewhat sane.
I did want to share this, though: come instructions for making very large batches of salsa in a group. And here’s a pic of the group that made 79 pints in August!
The salsa recipe
We’ve used this recipe two years in a row at our salsa canning work days, and it’s worked out very well. It’s from the National Center for Home Food Preservation and has been tested to be safe for water-bath canning. You can use any combination of sweet and hot peppers to yield the quantities listed, and you can add more spices (garlic, cumin, salt, etc.) but don’t alter the basic proportions of tomatoes-peppers-onions-lemon juice.
Use paste-type tomatoes (romas, Amish paste, etc.) so you don’t have to cook it forever to get it to thicken up. I’ve also found it helps to bring half a cup of cayenne pepper to the workshop so you can adjust the heat without throwing off the rest of the recipe. Our peppers have not had much heat the last two years, and the cayenne really helped keep the spice lovers happy!
Paste tomato salsa | |||||||
Yield | Unit | 13 pints | x2 batches | x3 batches | x4 batches | x5 batches | x6 batches |
Tomatoes, chopped | Quart | 7 | 14 | 21 | 28 | 35 | 42 |
Onions, chopped | Cups | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 | 30 |
Jalapenos | Cups | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Sweet long chilis | Cups | 3.2 | 6.4 | 9.6 | 12.8 | 16 | 19.2 |
Garlic | Cups | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2 | 2.4 |
Lemon or lime juice | Cups | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
Salt | Tbl | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
Cumin, ground | Tbl | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
Oregano | Tbl | 2.4 | 4.8 | 7.2 | 9.6 | 12 | 14.4 |
Black pepper | Tbl | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Cilantro | Cups | 0.6 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 3 | 3.6 |
Finished pints | 13 | 26 | 39 | 52 | 65 | 78 |
This chart should be extremely helpful to figure out how much of each dry, uncut ingredient to bring to yield the quantities of chopped materials listed above. There’s always some uncertainty when changing between weight and volume, so take the measurements below with a grain of salt and be sure you measure your chopped ingredients as you stir things together. Don’t add those extra two onions just because you have them; you have to increase the recipe in correct proportion. The numbers below should err on the side of having too much of something. Chop some stuff, measure, and then chop more as needed so you don’t end up with 3 spare quarts of tomatoes but no extra onions.
Updated 8-28-13
What to bring (one 13pt batch) | By weight | By volume | By the piece | |||||
Tomatoes, whole | Pounds | 14-15 | Dry quarts | 9 (1 peck) | Small romas | 60? | ||
Onions, whole | Pounds | 2.5 | Dry quarts | 1 heaping | Medium | 6-7 | ||
Jalapenos, whole | Pounds | 0.5 | Dry pints | 1 | Peppers | 10 | ||
Sweet chilis, whole | Pounds | 2 | Dry quarts | 2 | Large Bell peppers | 5-6 | ||
Garlic, bulbs | Pounds | 0.25 | Dry pints | 0.25 | Bulbs | 2 |
When putting together your list of what to bring, you may end up dividing up shares like this:
- 5 pounds of onions
- Another 5 pounds of onions
- 4 pounds of jalapenos
- 3 pounds of sweet peppers
- Another 3 pounds of sweet peppers
- 4 large bulbs of garlic and a quart of lemon juice
- 4 large bunches of cilantro
- 2 more quarts of lemon juice
- All spices (usually easiest for the organizer to bring)
Tomato conversion chart (pounds, quarts, bushels, etc.)
Tomato conversions | Bushel | Gallon | Peck | Quart (dry) | Pounds | Quart (diced) | Pint (diced) |
One bushel | 1 | 8 | 4 | 32 | 53 | 17-20 | 35-40 |
One peck | 0.25 | 2 | 1 | 8-9 | 12 | 4-5 | 9-10 |
One canner load, or the recipe above (7qt) | 0.25 | 1 | 8-9 | 13-14 | 14 | 9 | |
One quart | 1.5-2 | 2-2.5 | 1 | 2 |
Organizing who’s bringing what
Here’s what I do:
- Ask for people to RSVP. My kitchen at the Grange can hold 10 people, max, so I set the limit at 12 because someone always has to miss at the last minute.
- Be sure to think about how much stove space you have. At the Grange, we have 2 electric stoves. Each stove holds one canner and one pot of salsa. We also have 2 portable butane burners that each hold a 10-qt pot for cooking down salsa. Cooking the salsa down is what takes the most time – 30-45 mins for each big 8qt batch.
- Once I know how many people are coming, I decide how much salsa we’re going to make. I usually aim for about 8 pints per person.
- Then I divide up the ingredients. Each person brings a share of tomatoes, plus one other share of other ingredients. I use Doodle to have people sign up for their shares online, but use whatever’s convenient for you.
- Be sure you have canners, big measuring cups, bowls, and large cooking pots, spoons, etc. You can use quart or half-gallon canning jars to measure ingredients in a pinch. I like having restaurant-style ingredient tubs with cup/quart markings on the side. You may want to use Doodle to have people sign up to bring equipment as well as ingredients.
Running the workshop
- Sanitize all counters and sinks (1 gal water + 4 drops bleach; use new sponges)
- Rinse out all bowls, tubs, colanders, etc. if they are new or have been in storage.
- Finalize quantities; determine if any additional ingredients are needed.
- Tape a copy of the recipe next to each cooking station. For example, a 10qt pot can hold one batch of the salsa listed above (makes 13 pints), so write out the recipe for one batch.
- Wash tomatoes.
- Start chopping ingredients. As ingredients are chopped, whoever dumps that ingredient into the pot marks off what they’ve just added on the recipe sheet. So, if I add 4 quarts of tomatoes, I put 4 hash marks next to the “7qt chopped tomatoes” line on the recipe. That way, everyone knows when a particular pot contains all its required ingredients.
- Start heating water in canners.
- Start cooking the salsa as soon as there are a couple quarts of tomatoes in the pot. Add the fresh herbs in the last 15 mins of cooking. Aim to get one batch of salsa cooking before all ingredients are chopped.
- Wash jars and place in canners or oven to warm.
- Warm lids in saucepan.
- Continue to cook salsas until they are thick.
- Start cleanup as soon as all ingredients are chopped. You’ll be done chopping long before the salsa is done cooking.
- Can salsa – water bath 15 mins per pint/20 mins per quart.
- Finish cleanup.
- Listen for the “ping”!
09/18/2010 at 4:46 pm
Have read quite a bit about only processing salsa in pints – I really want o do quarts as I use it as a base for chili.
Thanks for the recipe and conversions!
09/22/2010 at 6:14 pm
Thanks, Emily! I wasn’t able to make it to the canning workshop, so I changed your quantities to make about 3 quarts. I jiggered a bit with the ingredients anyway though, and probably added more hot peppers than I should have (was I supposed to remove the seeds?). The result is pretty darn tasty and HOT. It’ll be great to have these available all winter.
10/02/2010 at 6:47 pm
Yep, the seeds control the heat. Sometimes salsa and pickles with hot peppers in will get hotter in storage…you could always mix with some plain tomatoes to cut the heat, if necessary.
09/03/2011 at 12:03 am
This is what I’ve been looking for – recipes by weight! After slogging through WB canned salsa recipes that call for “5 large onions, chopped” and thinking – uh….low acid! need more precision!…this recipe is a breath of fresh air. I’ll be making this tomorrow. Thanks bushels!
09/03/2011 at 9:57 am
Hiya-
Just FYI – the recipe was originally given in volumes: quarts of diced tomatoes, quays of chopped peppers, etc. The weights I list are rough approximations of how many pounds to buy or pick to yield the appropriate vole of chopped ingredients. Be sure your final measurements are in quarts and cups – don’t assume 15 lb of tomatoes is the right weight. (I’m thinking 15 lb is high, though it leaves room for seeding and cutting out cores and bad spots.)
09/03/2011 at 9:58 am
Hiya-
Just FYI – the recipe was originally given in volumes: quarts of diced tomatoes, quays of chopped peppers, etc. The weights I list are rough approximations of how many pounds to buy or pick to yield the appropriate vole of chopped ingredients. Be sure your final measurements are in quarts and cups – don’t assume 15 lb of tomatoes is the right weight. (I’m thinking 15 lb is high, though it leaves room for seeding and cutting out cores and bad spots.)
09/07/2011 at 4:29 pm
This is wonderful! Thank you for posting this.
09/25/2011 at 10:56 pm
What altitude are you? The process time will differ depending on where I am located.
10/20/2011 at 7:05 am
Really like the volume break down listed, not tried salsa recipe yet, Made 25 quarts in 09 we have ran out of salsa which was good so it’s time to make another batch ,but had to do a lot of adjustments do to such large amounts. I will be trying the 39 pint batch we will get back to give our thoughts. Thanks’ for your post,
02/19/2012 at 3:53 pm
Hi
Can I canned tomatoes with other vegetables and spices and use canned tomatoes instead of fresh ones; hope to hear from you.
david
grd_student@yahoo.com
08/27/2012 at 1:37 pm
This recipe is really easy to use, read, and make. It also makes DELICIOUS salsa. My friends and neighbors love it, and there isn’t ever leftovers. Last year, we went through 150 quarts, so I am just starting this year. Thanks a ton for such an amazing recipe! 🙂
08/27/2012 at 2:35 pm
So glad to have found your salsa recipe and site. Yes, I can! But had never found a salsa recipe we really liked. Our search is over. We put up a double batch yesterday and will do more as soon as tomatoes are ready to pick again. Also used our own hot and sweet peppers, onions and cilantro. Thanks for sharing! Also plan to bookmark your site in consideration of starting an education group in my area.
05/28/2013 at 8:43 pm
I love your site~~~I want to know if I can make this recipe useing canned tomatoes such as Del Monte or Libbys rather than useing fresh tomatoes?
05/28/2013 at 8:55 pm
Yes, you can.
08/03/2013 at 7:16 am
hello—Where are the instructions for cooking/canning this? All I see are detailed instructions for how to organize the workshop. I simply wish to can the recipe on my own, but can’t seem to locate the directions to do so within all the information about a workshop.
08/03/2013 at 9:44 pm
At the end of the post under “Running the Workshop”, steps 1-15
09/18/2013 at 7:02 pm
I am so excited to be trying your recipe. I am doing it by myself and trying a small twist I am cooking my tomatoes on the BBQ grill just long enough to loosen the skins and then it is giving them a smoky flavor. THANKS so much
09/08/2014 at 1:42 pm
Quick question: I like black beans & corn in my salsa. If I leave the ratios of onions, tomatoes & vinegar etc the same, is it possible to add the corn & beans with no further adjustments? Thanks!
09/08/2014 at 2:04 pm
NO! Absolutely not. Those are both low-acid ingredients and you put yourself at very high risk of botulism if you water-bath can them. Safe options include: Use the recipe you like, and either freeze or pressure can it (see http://creatingnirvanatoday.blogspot.com/2011/08/pressure-canning-black-bean-and-corn.html) OR make a regular salsa recipe and add black beans and corn after you open the jar and before you serve it.
09/08/2014 at 8:12 pm
thank-you for your prompt reply!
11/11/2014 at 3:51 am
thank you so much for putting this recipe up we are building a home and will be starting a garden and were trying to figure out how many plants we would need to make our own salsa and spaghetti sauce and this gives us at least a beginning idea. so thank you so much.
11/23/2015 at 3:41 pm
can i used canned tomatos?
08/24/2016 at 12:34 pm
Do you peel the tomatoes?
08/24/2016 at 12:43 pm
No, I never bother. It’s a chunky salsa; you’ll probably not even notice the skins.
08/31/2016 at 1:16 pm
Can you use apple cider vinegar rather than lemon or lime juice?
08/31/2016 at 1:25 pm
No. Vinegar is less acidic than lemon/lime juice, so the salsa would become unsafe. If you look at salsa recipes that use vinegar, you’ll see they use much more vinegar than this recipe uses of lemon juice. They also taste very, very strongly of vinegar.
08/31/2016 at 2:17 pm
Thanks!
09/18/2017 at 12:04 pm
A great resource. Thank you for posting. I’ll have to make 8 gallons of fresh salsa for a catering event, and this confirmed my calculations of about 1 pound of fresh tomatoes per 1 pint…and the math calculations go on.
09/21/2019 at 4:00 pm
Hmmm. So, One quart of tomatoes is 4 cups chopped? So 28 c chopped toms per batch? I have never measured in quarts before… Thank you!
09/21/2019 at 4:27 pm
Yep, you got it. You’ve already got canning jars around…you can use them as measuring cups!
08/24/2020 at 11:03 pm
Hello,
I am hoping you might be able to answer a question for me. I am wondering about the quantity of tomatoes ( 7 quarts) and the quantity of the peppers, and onions to the amount of lemon/lime juice (2 cups). I was looking at the recipe
for Salsa using slicing tomatoes on the NCHFP website and it call for 2 cups of vinegar to 4 cups of tomatoes, 2 cups peppers,3/4 cup onions, and 1/2 cup jalapenos. I am wondering why they are calling for so much vinegar to the amount of tomatoes ect. I would prefer to use your recipe but I just want to be sure to do it right, when it comes to the acid, but I don’t want to taste so much vinegar. I am using Purple Cherokee Tomatoes because that is what I have. They are lower acid than other tomatoes I have read. Please if you could help I would very much appreciate it! Thank you!
Michelle
08/25/2020 at 10:15 am
Hi, Michelle-
Lemon juice is more acidic than vinegar, so the volumes you need are different. This recipe is an approved one from NCHFP so it’s definitely safe. I chose it specifically because it doesn’t taste overly-vinegary like many home canned salsa do!
08/25/2020 at 12:45 pm
Hello Emily,
Thank you for the response! I don’t want to be a pest with so many questions, but I have one more for you, if you don’t mind? Do you know if it would change the acid in the recipe if I use the Purple Cherokee tomatoes and sieve the water out of them before putting them into the pot, and if the acid is different than the paste tomatoes? Thank you!
08/25/2020 at 1:09 pm
Hi, Michelle. Do not change the acid in recipes. Well – I suppose you could add more if you want! The big difference between Cherokees and Paste tomatoes is the amount of water in them. Sieving the water would help reduce the amount of cooking time, as would cutting the tomatoes in half and squeezing out the ‘gel’ and seeds. I’ve also heard of people oven roasting them for an hour first. As long as the consistency ends up the same (i.e., not too watery) you should be ok. I’ve done this recipe with mixed tomatoes before, and using heirlooms drastically increases the amount of cooking time needed.
08/25/2020 at 1:19 pm
Thank you so much for your help! I am flooded with Purple Cherokees and trying to use them up somehow, and I love salsa, so here we go! I probably have over 200 pounds and more coming.