Recipe beginnings
I discovered a version of this recipe when I was serving in the Young Women organization at church when I lived in Florida sometime between 2010 and 2014. We had planned an activity with a salsa theme, and each leader was assigned to teach the girls how to make a different type of salsa. I researched and found a great recipe from Erin @ One Particular Kitchen, but the amount of peppers was more than our low spice tolerance could handle. We’ve adjusted it to fit our liking! Even though we’ve adjusted the recipe, I’d still recommend reading the original blog post linked above. It’s really delightful! And much respect to Erin — she can handle a lot of heat! So impressive!
Nutrition
Salsa on its own is very nutritious! What might be in question is the amount of tortilla chips consumed with said salsa. Our family could eat this salsa all day! Which means we would also be eating tortilla chips all day! Tortilla chips aren’t the worst thing in the world, though, so no worries. But let’s focus on all the nutrition that comes from the salsa ingredients, shall we? See this great graphic below for an overview of the benefits of fruits and vegetables. 
Tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables can help lower the risk of cancer and improve heart health (see page 10 of this great background article from the Food and Agriculture Organization). Here is a screenshot of the great information:
Onions and other brown and white fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals with antiviral and antibacterial properties as well as potassium (see page 10 again of this great background article from the Food and Agriculture Organization).
Shopping
Sometimes I decide that I’m in the mood for this salsa when I’m at the store. You can look up this recipe on the blog while you’re in the store, but here are some tips to make it even easier to remember what to buy.
I always just remember that I need six ingredients for this salsa. Four of them are roasted. Two of them are not. For roasting, you need a plastic bag full of Roma tomatoes, 3 onions, 3 Serrano peppers, and a garlic bulb. The last two things you need is one bunch of cilantro and some table salt. I don’t know if that will help you remember what to buy or not, but that’s how I remember. I’m literally in the grocery store counting 6 ingredients on my fingers. It works for me. And don’t get too hung up about getting the exact right amount of each ingredient. If you add more or less of something, it will still taste great.
I guess the 7th thing you’d need is chips.
Serving
Of course, the immediate first thought for how to enjoy salsa is with tortilla chips! But it can also be eaten with:
•fried or scrambled eggs for huevos rancheros
•breakfast burritos
•topping for tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas or any other Mexican dish
•added to rice
•or eaten as a main dish, as seen below by Kensie when she was little!
Salsa Roja
Equipment
- 1 Food processor (or blender, or potato masher)
Ingredients
- 12-15 Roma tomatoes, sliced if desired but not necessary (see notes)
- 3 onions, skins removed, then cut into quarters
- 3 Serrano peppers, caps and seeds removed using a spoon or wearing gloves (see notes)
- 10-15 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 cilantro bunch, washed, lower half of stems removed
- 1 Tablespoon iodized table salt, more or less or to taste
- Tortilla chips to dip with! Nothing is worse than making this wonderful salsa and then realizing you forgot to buy chips!
Optional Ingredient
- lime juice (I prefer this salsa without lime juice, but if you love it, go for it! Add it when you add the cilantro and salt.)
Instructions
- Turn oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup, if desired.
- Prepare the first 4 ingredients as directed: wash tomatoes, remove onion skins and cut into quarters, remove caps and seeds from Serrano peppers (see note below about burning), and peel the garlic cloves.
- Set the tomatoes, onions, peppers, and garlic on the baking sheet and bake until fragrant, about 1 hour. One sign that roasting is complete is the onions will be translucent and they will char nicely on the tips.
- During roasting, wash cilantro and cut off lower portion of stems. Discard stems. See notes below.
- When roasting is complete, remove the baking sheet from oven. Using a large spoon, transfer the roasted vegetables into a large food processor, leaving room for the cilantro. (Smaller batches may be necessary for small food processors. If you don’t have a food processor, do the best you can with a blender or potato masher.)
- Add the cilantro on top of the roasted vegetables. Add about 1/2 of a tablespoon of salt. Blend all ingredients together until desired consistency is achieved.
- Using a tortilla chip, taste the salsa. If it is lacking in flavor, add more salt and taste again. I usually need about 1 Tablespoon. You’ll know when you have added the right amount of salt because it will taste amazing. But go slowly about it. You can’t really remove salt once it’s blended in. I recommend tasting with a tortilla chip because the saltiness of the chips should be considered when adjusting the salsa for the right amount of saltiness overall.
- Salsa leftovers should stay fresh in the fridge for 3-5 days. Or you may freeze the salsa in small portions in a freezer-safe container or zipper bag for up to one year. Generally the texture of tomatoes isn’t great after freezing, but because this salsa is run through the food processor, the texture really isn’t adversely affected after freezing.
Notes
If the skin on your hands starts to burn from the Serrano pepper oil, you can try to alleviate it with rubbing alcohol or with vegetable oil. You may want to use rubbing alcohol or vegetable oil after you wash your hands regardless of whether or not your skin burns, just to remove traces of the pepper oil. Some of us in the family have eczema, so we need to think ahead about how to prevent unnecessary discomfort! Using 3 Serrano peppers makes this salsa spicy enough for my family, but not overly spicy for our children. Feel free to roast additional peppers and add them to achieve more spiciness. Or blend the seeds into the salsa instead of discarding them to increase spiciness. The cilantro stems attached to the leaves are fine to use in the salsa. No need to remove every individual leaf. I position the leaves pointing toward the left of my cutting board, and the stems pointing to the right on the board. Holding the leaves in place with one hand, I cut off the main part of the stems all in one cut and discard. Easy. Some people like to add lime juice to their salsa, so feel free to do that! I like this salsa without lime juice, so it’s all about personal preference.
This looks so great! I love your version, AND I love that your info helps me justify eating more of it. 😉
Erin! So awesome to read your comment! Thank you! This salsa is a classic in our household! Thank you so much for posting it so many years ago. And yes, with all the nutrition in tomatoes and onions, we can feel GREAT about eating it with reckless abandon!
Thanks again!