Cherry Tomato Salsa is naturally sweet with tons of fresh garden flavors. Made with only six ingredients and no tedious chopping – it couldn’t be easier to make.
Our garden is currently giving us buckets of cherry tomatoes, and I am running out of things to make with them. (As I mentioned in my 5 Minute Salsa post, my husband is a tough critic when it comes to homemade salsa, so I have been hesitant to use these tomatoes for salsa.)
I finally decided to make cherry tomato salsa for myself for lunch, and my husband snuck a taste. I was expecting some critique, but this recipe got a “WOW! That’s REALLY good. It doesn’t need tweaking or anything!” I felt like the “random garden things” salsa master.
This recipe is also super healthy as most of the ingredients actually came from our garden – it is Paleo, Whole30 friendly, and has no added sugar, though it tastes sweet from the cherry tomatoes.
Table of Contents
🥘 Ingredients Needed
- A Small Sweet or Yellow Onion
- 3 – 4 Cloves of Garlic
- A Small or Medium Jalapeño
- Fresh Cherry Tomatoes (I used a mix of little Juliet Tomatoes – they are like baby Roma tomatoes – and some kind of perfectly round, cherry tomato hybrid that I have been growing for years)
- Cilantro – Leaves and Stems
- Kosher Salt
- The Juice of a Lime
🍽 Equipment Needed
- A Food Processor or Blender
- A Sharp Knife
- A Cutting Board
- A Rubber Spatula
- A Metal Strainer
🥣 How to Make It
This salsa is such a great way to make use of a summer abundance of cherry tomatoes, and it is easy to make. It comes together so quickly.
First, peel the onion and cut it in half. Then, add the onion and garlic cloves to the bowl of a food processor.
Chop the onion and garlic, then roughly chop one jalapeño and add it to the food processor. (Exclude the membrane and seeds to reduce the heat.)
Chop the jalapeño with the onions/garlic.
Next, add tomatoes then cilantro to the food processor. Chop the tomatoes and cilantro to your desired consistency.
This next step is optional, but I like to do it – pour the salsa into a fine metal strainer over a bowl to get rid of any excess moisture. (The tomatoes and onions release a lot of liquid when you chop them up.) You want to do this BEFORE adding the salt and lime juice because you will strain out the salt and lime otherwise.
Return the strained salsa to a bowl, then add salt and the juice of a lime. Mix well, then taste. Adjust with more salt, lime, and cilantro if needed. Serve with tortilla chips.
🍳 Serving Suggestions & Uses
Serve with your favorite tortilla chips, quesadillas, plantain chips, or tacos!
🙋♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Nope! That is one of the perks of using cherry tomatoes – the tomatoes can just be thrown in and used as-is.
To make this salsa spicier, add some of the membrane and seeds from your jalapeño or another seeded jalapeño. Do this gradually – once it is too spicy, it is very hard to reduce the heat.
To cool down salsa, you need to balance the heat with salt, acid, and sweet. If your salsa is too spicy, you can add more salt, more lime juice, and a little bit of sugar. If that doesn’t help, you can always add more tomatoes, onion, and cilantro.
For fresh tomatoes, you can use Campari, Roma, or Plum tomatoes. (You can use other kinds as well, but the consistency/flavor will be a little different.) You can also use canned tomatoes (diced or whole) without their juices.
Unfortunately, no. Cherry tomatoes cannot really be canned because they will pretty much disintegrate in a water bath or pressure canning process. I have seen recipes where they have been pickled, but I have not tested this. I prefer to use cherry tomatoes to make fresh meals, things I intend to freeze(sauce, roasted cherry tomato paste), or I dehydrate them to later make “sun-dried” cherry tomato pesto.
✏️ Helpful Tips
- Strain the liquid out of your salsa before you add salt and lime – otherwise, you will pour out the salt and lime when you strain it!
- If you don’t like spicy salsa, remove the seeds and membrane from the jalapeño before dicing. If you really don’t like spice, start with only half of the jalapeño.
- Try roasting the cherry tomatoes under the broiler until they are blistered before making salsa to get a fire-roasted/charred flavor.
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🥫 Storage/Shelf Life/Reheating
Serve your salsa immediately or save it for later. It will keep in the refrigerator for about a week, but it is best eaten within a few days.
🍴Recipe Variations
- If you don’t have a lime, you can replace it with a small amount of lemon or lime juice.
- You can add different kinds of peppers to make your salsa really spicy.
- Cumin or chipotle powder adds a different flavor to salsa – adding just a pinch can completely change this recipe.
- Blister the cherry tomatoes under a broiler before serving to give the salsa a “fire-roasted” taste.
🥫Other Great Seasonings and Sauces
- Easy 5 Minute Salsa
- Taco Seasoning
- Copycat Chick-fil-A Sauce
- Copycat Raising Cane’s Sauce
- Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please rate it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you think!
Quick and Easy, Cherry Tomato Salsa
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups cherry tomatoes I used little Juliet tomatoes (small Roma tomatoes) and regular cherry tomatoes
- ½ white or yellow onion
- 1 – 2 cloves fresh garlic
- 1 jalapeño Seeded and membrane removed
- ½ cup cilantro More if desired. You can use a mix of leaves and stems.
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt Add more to taste if desired.
- 1 lime, juiced
Instructions
- First, peel the onion and cut it in half. Then, add the onion and garlic cloves to the bowl of a food processor.½ white or yellow onion, 1 – 2 cloves fresh garlic
- Chop the onion and garlic, then roughly chop one jalapeño and add it to the food processor. (Exclude the membrane and seeds to reduce the heat.)1 jalapeño
- Chop the jalapeño with the onions/garlic.
- Next, add tomatoes then cilantro to the food processor.3 cups cherry tomatoes, ½ cup cilantro
- Chop the tomatoes and cilantro to your desired consistency.
- This next step is optional, but I like to do it – pour the salsa into a fine metal strainer over a bowl to get rid of any excess moisture. (The tomatoes and onions release a lot of liquid when you chop them up.) You want to do this BEFORE adding the salt and lime juice because you will strain out the salt and lime otherwise.
- Return the strained salsa to a bowl (or the food processor), then add salt and the juice of a lime.½ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 lime, juiced
- Mix well, then taste. Adjust with more salt, lime, and cilantro if needed. Serve with tortilla chips.
Notes
Tips
- Strain the liquid out of your salsa before you add salt and lime – otherwise, you will pour out the salt and lime when you strain it!
- If you don’t like spicy salsa, remove the seeds and membrane from the jalapeño before dicing. If you really don’t like spice, start with only half of the jalapeño.
- Try roasting the cherry tomatoes under the broiler until they are blistered before making salsa to get a fire-roasted/charred flavor.
- If you don’t have a lime, you can replace it with a small amount of lemon or lime juice.
- You can add different kinds of peppers to make your salsa really spicy.
- Cumin or chipotle powder add a different flavor to salsa – adding just a pinch can completely change this recipe.
- Blister the cherry tomatoes under a broiler before serving to give the salsa a “fire-roasted” taste.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
Super easy! I used the lemon substitute because I didn’t have a lime. I added the 2nd jalapeno because we like the spice, plus some cumin as suggested & chili powder for some extra heat! Also broiled my tomatoes for a few minutes. I made this all in my Vitamix.
Easy & so delicious!! Thanks for a great recipe!