Make this easy Cherry Tomato Salsa with your favorite varieties of vine-ripen cherry tomatoes. It is deliciously sweet and zesty.
We never ate salsa until we moved to the United States. Salsa and chips are snacking staples served when people mingle around the table. Enjoying tortilla chips and salsa can easily grow on you and over the years I have made several versions of my own. I have even added fruit to my salsa like these two refrigerator Strawberry Nectarine Salsa and Mango Peach Salsa.
Today’s Cherry Tomato Salsa is the first time I am using cherry tomatoes instead of the usual Roma tomatoes to make salsa. This is because I grew three varieties of cherry tomatoes over the summer and had a bountiful harvest towards the end of October, before we had the first frost. I needed a way to use up all those cherry tomatoes and I am glad I made them into these colorful jars of salsa.
Three Separate Batches Of This Cherry Tomato Salsa
As you can see from the pictures, I made three different batches of this Cherry Tomato Salsa. In my first and second batches, I used ¾ pint (12 oz/354ml) quilted jars. These jars are really pretty and just the perfect size. Unfortunately they are currently out of stock. Since I had more cherry tomatoes, I made another 6 pint (16 oz/473ml) jars the third time and added just a tad more spiciness to the salsa because I do like it spicy. If spicy is not for you, please use fewer peppers.
Different Varieties Of Cherry Tomatoes
Everyone in family has a personal favorite as the variety of cherry tomatoes used in the salsa do taste different. The sweetest of them is the one made with Honeycomb Hybrid cherry tomatoes which is orange in color. Orange Hat tomatoes (more yellow in color) is somewhere in the middle while Sweet Cocktail tomatoes is a little more tangy. I know, the Honeycomb Hybrid should be yellow, the Orange Hat should be orange, and the Sweet Cocktail should be the sweetest of them all but I guess predictability is not fun…haha!
Overall, these cherry tomatoes are all quite sweet when they are allowed to ripen on the vine. They make great snacking tomatoes and you can see me using them on my camping trips, here, here, and here. We absolutely love them.
Patio Cherry Tomatoes
Orange Hat and Sweet Cocktail are patio cherry tomatoes. They are determinate tomatoes perfect for growing in containers. I grew all these tomato plants from seeds I purchased online. The Sweet Cocktail tomato seeds were saved from last year’s harvest.
Honeycomb Hybrid tomatoes are indeterminate tomatoes. I grew them in our expanded Raised Bed Garden which has 14 new vegetable boxes with cattle panel arches. All three varieties are prolific growers.
These 4 plants – 2 Orange Hat and 2 Sweet Cocktail tomatoes are currently sitting in our sunroom for the winter. I transplanted the rest from our original raised beds into the greenhouse.
Similar Tools Used in This Cherry Tomato Salsa
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20 Quart Stainless Steel Canning Pot Set
8 Piece Enamelware Water Bath Canning Set
Ball Regular Mouth 16-Ounces Mason Jar with Lids and Bands, 12-Pack
Ball Regular Mouth Pint 16-oz Mason Jar with Lids and Bands (Pack of 24)
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
The Complete Book of Home Canning
Cherry Tomato Salsa
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 lbs cherry tomato (2.2 kg)
- 1½ cups apple cider vinegar (5% acidity) (360ml)
- 4 roasted Pueblo peppers (peeled and chopped)
- 3 medium jalapeno peppers (seeded and chopped)
- 2 cups chopped onions (180g)
- 6 cloves garlic (minced)
- 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1½ tbsp pickling & canning salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Chop all the cherry tomatoes yielding approximately 10 cups of chopped cherry tomatoes. Place them in a large stainless steel pot.
- Wash jars in warm, soapy water. Place a rack at the bottom of a boiling-water canner and washed jars on the rack. Fill the jars about 2/3rd full and the canner up to the same level as the jars with water. Cover the canner and bring water to a simmer (with small bubbles).
- Wash lids and bands with warm soapy water. Drop them into the canner together with the jars. When ready to use, take them out from the canner with a pair of tongs. Dry them with a clean towel.
- Place pot with chopped cherry tomatoes on the stove. Add apple cider vinegar, roasted peppers, and chopped peppers.
- Also, add onions, minced garlic, and cilantro. Stir to combine. Place on the stove and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Add salt and sugar. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently for 10 minutes. Turn off stove.
- Carefully remove jars from canner with jar lifter, pouring hot water from each jar back into canner and place them on a towel. You can also remove and fill them one at a time.
- Place a funnel in the jar. Ladle prepared hot salsa into the hot jar leaving ½ inch (1 cm) headspace. Slide a non-metallic utensil between the hot salsa and inside the jar to release any air bubbles. Adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding more hot salsa.
- Wipe the rim clean with a paper towel. Center a warm lid on jar and screw on the band until fingertip tight. Repeat with the remaining jars.
- Carefully lower jars with jar lifter back into the canner. Make sure jars are completely covered with about an inch of water above the lids. Bring water to a rolling boil and process jars for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. The water must remain at a rolling boil for the duration of the processing time.
- At the end of the processing time, turn off heat, and remove the canner lid. Allow the canner to cool for 5 minutes.
- Carefully remove the jars with jar lifter without tilting them. Place jars upright on a clean towel. Do not worry about the water on the lids. It will evaporate during the cooling period.
- Check lids after 24 hours. Remove the bands. Lids should not flex up and down when pressed. You can also grasp the edges of the lid and lift the jar while supporting the jar with your other hand. A sealed lid will stay firmly attached to the jar. Jars that have not sealed properly must be refrigerated and content consumed within a few days.
- Label and store sealed jars in a cool, dark place, and consume within 12 months.
Notes
| Feet | Meters | Increase in Processing Time |
| 1,001-3,000 | 306-915 | 5 minutes |
| 3,001-6,000 | 916-1,830 | 10 minutes |
| 6,001-8,000 | 1,831-2,440 | 15 minutes |
| 8,001-10,000 | 2,441-3,050 | 20 minutes |
Nutrition
Salsa and tortilla chips are such a perfect match that they can be a little “addictive”. Since there are 4 of us in this family, we go through them pretty fast. I seldom, if ever, buy store bought salsa. Thankfully, we can now make our own and will have enough jars for us to snack on in the months ahead.
DongXing says
Well done you! Such a labour of love! Love how prolific your tomatoes have grown.
Linda says
Thank you! I have been very busy canning all those tomatoes but it is well worth the effort. A bit distracted this year with garden infrastructure projects but still managed to prepare 62 jars of food. Looking forward to preparing more next year.