Fresh Tomato Salsa From The Garden For The Freezer

This has been a very abundant year for tomatoes from our garden. I have given away bags and bags to friends and neighbors. I even planted fewer plants this year and still have more tomatoes. I have canned several pints of salsa and ripe tomato ketchup but the thought of dragging out the canner with all of its heat and steam again was not appealing to me. I got the idea that maybe I could do a freezer version so I did a Google search and found out that yes...it is a thing. I looked at a few recipes and came up with my own version.

Most recipes recommended that you peel the tomatoes first which is a major hassle. I decided to just chop them in chunks and blend them in my Vitamix. A food processor or regular blender would probably work as well. The key is to not blend it until it is like smooth tomato soup. Stop when it looks like salsa that you buy in the store.

This is a large batch, but you can make smaller batch if you don't have tomatoes running out of your ears like we do. This was four blenders full. I dumped each batch into a large bowl so that I could add other ingredients.

I used:
About 4-5 lbs. of tomatoes chopped in chunks
3-4 chopped cloves of garlic
1 medium onion
1 cup of chopped sweet peppers
2 large jalapeños

Add these to the blender in batches with some of everything. The liquid of the tomatoes helps the other ingredients to blend more uniformly.

After dumping all of the batches into a large bowl, I add a few more ingredients. Some of these can be adjusted according to your taste buds.

1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup of raw sugar (could substitute stevia)
A couple of generous squirts of saracha hot sauce
2 chopped mangos (optional)

Have some chips on hand to sample as you go so that you can adjust the flavor.

Watch out! Once you get started it is hard to stop. I would have had 8 large containers to freeze but I ate more than half of one. OMG it is much better than any bought salsa that I've ever tried, if I do say so myself!

To thaw, set out the container in the fridge a few hours before you are ready to eat it. Consume within 2-3 days.

This is a very quick recipe to make. It probably would have taken me about 15-20 minutes but I had to keep stopping to take photos. If you don't have a garden, check out your local farmers market and support your local farmers...or just stalk your neighbor's garden and hint that you will take their overflow.