This Green Tomato Salsa Verde is a great way to use up all those green tomatoes from the vegetable garden at the end of the growing season.
At the end of every growing season, we will usually have a ton of green tomatoes. This is because our short growing season will not allow for all those tomatoes to ripen before the first frost. A lot of the green tomatoes will eventually ripen but it does take time. To use it up quickly so as not to take up counter space, make them into this piquant Green Tomato Salsa Verde.
Use Up All Those Green Tomatoes
When you start canning jars of salsa, you will be amazed at how much tomatoes harvested from the vegetable garden you are going to use. There will not be any tomatoes going to waste. In fact, I managed to use up all the green tomatoes I was forced to harvest before the first frost and that is a good thing. In return, I was rewarded with 7 pint jars of this Green Tomato Salsa Verde.
Salsa With Tortilla Chips
You can enjoy salsa straight out of the jar with tortilla chips and that is a common and favorite way to eat salsa. If you are new to this, you should give it a try. Fair warning though as this can be “addictive”.
Other Ways To Enjoy This Green Tomato Salsa Verde
Other ways to enjoy salsa include making it into a sauce or topping for roasted or grilled meats. I recently made these Pan Roasted Pork Loin Chops with a side of Whole Baked Sweet Potatoes for dinner. I heated up about a cup of this salsa with just a little bit more sugar to make this into a sauce. It was an easy way to make a sauce for these pork chops and it was delicious!
Refrigerator Salsa
If you are not into canning, you can still make a small batch of this salsa (and others I have shared on this blog) and enjoy it immediately or refrigerate it instead. You will notice that this recipe calls for the green tomatoes to be blended instead of peeled and chop. This is because the green tomatoes are small and firm. It will be too tedious to blanch and peel 5 pounds of small green tomatoes! Blending them is a lot easier and faster. If you are using larger tomatoes, you can use the method here to peel the tomatoes and then chopped them after that. This recipe was adapted from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (affiliate link).
Similar Tools Used in This Green Tomato Salsa Verde
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy here.
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
Green Tomato Salsa Verde
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 lbs green tomatoes (2.2 kg)
- 1 cup bottled lime juice (240 ml)
- 4 cups chopped onions (360g)
- 6 jalapeno peppers (seeded and chopped)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 7 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- 1½ tbsp pickling & canning salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp ground pepper
Instructions
- Blend green tomatoes in small batches to desired consistency. You should get about 13 cups of chopped green tomatoes.
- 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 blended green tomatoes on the stove over medium heat. Add bottled lime juice, chopped onions, and chopped jalapeno peppers. Stir to mix.
- Also, add ground cumin, dried oregano, minced garlic, and chopped cilantro.
- Stir in salt, sugar, and ground pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to let it boil gently, and stir 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 20 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
Canning – A Very Satisfying And Worthwhile Endeavor
This is my first year canning some of the produce from our vegetable garden. I managed to preserve 62 jars of food in total. For me, this has been a very satisfying and worthwhile endeavor. I look forward to doing more canning and preserving of the fruits of our labor from the vegetable garden in the coming years.
Leave a Reply