Sometimes, during the summer, our tomato plants decide to have a party on the vine, so to speak, and produce way more tomatoes than we can possibly eat, even if we are eating them every day, sliced, salted, and served with a little balsamic or mayo.
What do you do with your excess garden tomatoes?
Last week my dad made his favorite tomato juice. This week we made and canned some simple tomato and green chile salsa, which I expect will be great to pull out in the middle of winter and munch with some tortilla chips (if the jars last that long, we go through salsa pretty quickly around here.)
Note:that it is the vinegar in the salsa ingredients that make this salsa safe for canning using a water bath canning method. Tomatoes are already slightly acidic, and only need a little more acid to be safely canned using this method. But the chiles are not acidic, so they need more vinegar.
What do you do with your excess garden tomatoes?
Last week my dad made his favorite tomato juice. This week we made and canned some simple tomato and green chile salsa, which I expect will be great to pull out in the middle of winter and munch with some tortilla chips (if the jars last that long, we go through salsa pretty quickly around here.)
Note:that it is the vinegar in the salsa ingredients that make this salsa safe for canning using a water bath canning method. Tomatoes are already slightly acidic, and only need a little more acid to be safely canned using this method. But the chiles are not acidic, so they need more vinegar.
Canned Tomato Salsa Recipe
Before starting, prepare your workspace so that it is clean and uncluttered. If you don't want to roast your own green chiles, you can sub with about two 7-ounce cans of green chiles, chopped.
This recipe uses specific amounts of ingredients, balancing the non-acidic ingredients with the amount of added acid needed to make the recipe safe. Do not increase the amount of green chiles beyond 1 1/2 cups, or decrease the amount of tomatoes less than 7 cups.
This recipe uses specific amounts of ingredients, balancing the non-acidic ingredients with the amount of added acid needed to make the recipe safe. Do not increase the amount of green chiles beyond 1 1/2 cups, or decrease the amount of tomatoes less than 7 cups.
Ingredients:
- 5 lbs of tomatoes
- 1 lb large Anaheim green chiles (5-6 chiles)
- 3 jalapeno chilies, seeded and stems removed, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh chopped cilantro (including stems)
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 to 2 Tbsp sugar or more (to taste, depending on how sweet your tomatoes are)
- 5 to 6 pint-sized canning jars,
with rings and new lids
- A very large stockpot or canning pot (16-qt)
- A flat steamer rack on which to place the filled jar for the water bath canning, so that they don't touch the bottom of the pan and crack from excess heat
- Canning tongs to make it easy to lift the jars in and out of boiling water
- Rubber or latex coated gardening gloves
Read More: Canned Tomato Salsa
