Roasted Tomato Salsa Recipe

This Roasted Tomato Salsa is easy to make and it’s loaded with roasted tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapenos, bell pepper and cilantro. Roasting tomatoes in the oven brings out their best flavor and the little bit of charring on the roasted veggies adds a fire-roasted layer of flavor. P.S. Roasted salsa is also freezer-friendly!

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Roasted Salsa Recipe

When tomatoes are plentiful, we’re all about tomato recipes, from classic Tomato Caprese to Panzanella and Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad. It’s also great to be able to preserve those sweet summer tomatoes. That’s why we are obsessed with this Roasted Tomato Salsa. It’s been on our regular rotation for years.

We make batch after batch of roasted salsa and stash it away in the freezer so we can enjoy it year-round. It keeps really well and when you thaw, it’s just as good as a batch of freshly prepared salsa.

Roasted Tomato Salsa Ingredients

• Tomatoes – you can use Roma tomatoes or whatever you have on hand.
• Jalapeno peppers – you can add these to taste or use serrano peppers if you want a spicier salsa.
• Bell pepper – use red or green. The bell pepper is optional and we add it if we have one on hand.
• Onions – yellow onions work great, but white onion is a great substitute as well.
• Garlic – use the cloves from one full head of garlic which is about 10 peeled cloves.
• Cilantro – use 1 medium bunch of cilantro, rinsed and chopped.
• Salt – add the salt to taste. We add about 1 Tbsp of fine sea salt.

How to Make Roasted Salsa

1. Arrange cut tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and garlic cloves on rimmed baking sheets.
2. Bake at 375˚F for 25 minutes or until tomatoes are soft.
3. Broil – move the baking sheet to the highest position in the oven and broil for 5 minutes until veggies are slightly charred (check periodically to make sure they don’t burn).
4. Cool and Process – let the veggies cool for about 20 minutes then transfer in batches to the food processor along with the cilantro and salt. Using a 13-cup food processor, we are able to process in 2 batches, adding half of the ingredients, cilantro, and salt with each batch. Blend to your desired consistency (we like to make sure the onions are finely chopped). Combine both batches in a bowl and season to taste with salt if needed.
5. Store – Once cooled to room temperature, you can refrigerate or freeze (see make-ahead tips below)

Common Questions

To Serve

There are so many great ways to serve roasted salsa. Here are some of our favorites:

• Appetizer – serve as a starter or snack with tortilla chips for dipping.
• Topping – on burritos, Chicken Fajitas, tacos, Nachos, or Tostadas.
• Breakfast – roasted salsa pairs so well with Scrambled Eggs or any egg-based breakfast such as Breakfast Burritos, on a Breakfast Sandwich or with Breakfast Quesadillas.

Make-Ahead

We have tons of garden tomatoes every year and they’re growing faster than we can eat them, this freezer-friendly salsa is our favorite way to preserve tomatoes.

• Refrigerator – Once the salsa is at room temperature, transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
• Freezer – Transfer to a freezer-safe zip-top bag or freezer container (do not overfill, leave a little room for expansion), and squeeze out any excess air which can cause freezer burn. Lay flat and freeze for up to 3 months or longer in a deep freezer.
• To Thaw – You can thaw in the refrigerator overnight. To speed thaw: set freezer bag in a bowl of cool water for about 2 hours. If you replace the water a couple of times, it will thaw faster.

More Salsa Recipes

If you love homemade salsa, you will find many new favorites here. Salsa is big in our home. Sometimes my husband and I just make a big batch of Cowboy Caviar or this Roasted Tomato Salsa and munch on that instead of dinner.

• Pico De Gallo
• Fresh Homemade Salsa (Restaurant-Style)
• Mango Salsa
• Spicy Guacamole
• Ceviche (shrimp salsa)

This recipe was updated with new photos Sept 2022. Here are the previous photos (we used lighter-colored homegrown tomatoes which gave the salsa a lighter color).