If you want a great restaurant-style salsa, look no further! This blender salsa recipe has all the same components as your favorite date night place, and it’s ready in minutes.

I love taco night, and it’s simply not complete without some type of salsa. Whether you lean towards a fresh pico de gallo salsa, avocado and corn, or blended, it all comes down to the star: tomatoes! I love picking up fresh tomatoes at the farmer’s market when they are in season and coming home to make a delicious blender salsa.
Homemade salsa just tastes so much fresher than cracking open a jar. It’s also a fun challenge to myself to see just how much of the meal I can make from scratch. There are definitely busy nights where opening jars or boxes from the store is much easier, but then other nights you can slow down and enjoy the process. This would be a fun recipe to make when guests arrive for a party and get them in on the action!
Ingredients for Blender Salsa
You’ll notice that these are essentially the same ingredients as Pico de Gallo. Most salsa contains the same basic ingredients, and you simply vary things like the type of onion or how much heat.
- Tomatoes: Obviously, tomatoes are the star of most salsa. Make sure they are super ripe for the best flavor.
- Jalapeno: I cut out the ribs and seeds so it isn’t too spicy, but you do you! More seeds = more spice!
- Red Onion: This adds some zing. If you aren’t a fan, feel free to use white or yellow onion.
- Garlic: Round out those tasty flavors with a few cloves of garlic.
- Cilantro: This is the key element in my book. It adds the perfect flavor and a bit of color.
- Lime, Salt, and Sugar: These balance out the other ingredients with acid and sugar playing nicely with each other and salt tying everything together.
Ingredient tip
What variety of tomatoes should you use? Roma are generally the best choice as they have a lower moisture content! But really, any will work, and you want to make sure they are a deep red and fully ripened.
How to make This Blender Salsa Recipe
This blender salsa couldn’t be easier! You need to do a little bit of prep with a knife to get things into chunks, but then the blender does the rest of the work.
Step 1: Layer
Layer the ingredients in your blender jar according to their order in the recipe card (see the photo, too). This puts the firmest ingredients right on the blades, giving them the best chance at being chopped. They will move out of the way as the blender runs so the remaining, softer ingredients, also hit the blades.
Step 2: Blend
Blend in pulses. In this way, you can check to make sure everything keeps moving towards the blades. Carefully use a spoon or spatula to stir things around if necessary to get everything nicely blended. Blend until it’s your desired consistency.
Step 3: Taste
Now the best part – the taste test! Give it a taste and adjust the lime, sugar, and salt to your liking. The tomatoes will always be different so each batch will likely need a different amount of these ingredients.
Recipe tips
Immersive Experience: This is also a great immersion blender salsa recipe. Feel free to use a stick-type blender as you can easily control how much each ingredient gets chopped up.
Blend Baby, Blend: What is the best blender for salsa? The one that you have! I show my Vitamix here, which is a high-powered blender. It will definitely chop the onions with ease. If you have a regular blender, it should still work fine! You will just want to make sure your blender is large enough for this batch or make it in two batches.
Spice It Up: Leave the seeds and ribs in your jalapeno for more spice, or even reach for a spicier pepper. You can also stir in some ground cumin as well if you want a different type of heat.
Chips ‘n Dip and more!
You will obviously want to go all out and make some Tempeh Taco Meat to enjoy with this blender salsa recipe. This fresh tomato salsa will get you in the mood for tacos any day of the week.
- Homemade Tortilla Chips, as the perfect vehicle for this restaurant-style salsa.
- Spinach Guacamole, so you can get a dose of green in!
- Creamy Cashew Queso, for the true restaurant experience.
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 jalapeno seeds and ribs removed
- ½ red onion roughly chopped
- 6 tomatoes any variety, about 2 lbs
- ½ cup loosely packed cilantro stems removed
- 1 Tbsp lime juice 15 mL
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ to 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Layer: Layer your ingredients in the blender so that garlic, jalapeno, and onion are closest to the blades, followed by tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and lime.
- Blend: Blitz in spurts just until combined, pushing items into the blades as needed. For a smoother salsa, blend for more time.
- Taste: Taste and adjust lime, salt, or sugar as needed.
W Tanner says
Love this recipe. Easy and delicious. Made with fresh tomatoes from garden. Exchanged jalapeño peppers with banana peppers.
Sarah Bond says
So happy to hear it! Don’t you just love garden tomato season? 😀