Canning Recipe for Cilantro Lime Garden Salsa

Cilantro Lime Garden salsa for eating fresh or canning brings together all the garden’s best harvest! Tomatoes, jalapeños, garlic, cilantro, onion, lime, and a few extras!

Cilantro Lime Garden Salsa is one of my favorite foods to can as the summer winds down and the harvest is abundant. I always have a ton of tomatoes, so this is a great way to put them to use not only for enjoying fresh but also for canning and using throughout the year.

I’ve been making this salsa recipe ever since we planted our first garden 5 years ago, so it’s tried and true. The jalapenos give it a little bit of heat – but not too much. Our kids love it too.

The main ingredients – tomatoes, onions, garlic, jalapenos, and cilantro, are all easy to grow here in zone 6 and can be found in my garden every year. Sadly, our winters are too cold for citrus – so the lime I must purchase from the store. Oh well, maybe someday we will put in a conservatory big enough for some citrus trees!

Ingredients

• tomatoes (paste tomatoes like Roma work best)
• onions
• jalapenos
• garlic
• fresh cilantro
• fresh lime juice
• salt (use a quality non-iodized salt for all canning recipes, I use Redmond Real Salt)
• black pepper

Step-by-Step Instructions

A note before we get started: I’m well aware that most people prefer to peel the skins off of their tomatoes for salsa making. But I don’t do that and the texture of my salsa is great, IMO.

Wash fresh, whole tomatoes, then dice into 1/4″ pieces. Add everything into a large pot or dutch oven as you go.

Dice onions, mince garlic, and chop the jalapenos. The more seeds from the jalapenos you include, the hotter your salsa will be. I discard about half of my jalapeno seeds and the heat is what you’d probably call medium. As I mentioned, my kids love this salsa, so it’s definitely not too hot! Add everything into the pot with the tomatoes.

Finely chop cilantro and add it to the pot with salt and pepper. Add the lime juice as well. Use a large spoon to mix everything up a couple of times, and then heat the salsa on the stove until comes to a boil. Let it boil for 15 minutes or so.

Serve right away, store in the fridge for a week+, or prepare for water bath canning.

Water Bath Canning Cilantro Lime Garden Salsa

Prep

1. Fill a water bath canner with enough water to submerge jars with an extra inch of water covering them and turn on the heat
2. Preheat clean, empty jars by placing them on the rack in the canner and allowing them to heat up with the water.  Preheat jars for 10 minutes.
3. Remove hot jars from the canner with a jar lifter and set them on a towel on your work surface.  Do NOT set hot jars directly on your work surface, the temperature change can cause the glass to shock and break.  Always use a towel when transferring hot jars.  Keep the water in the canner right below a boil while you fill your jars.

Canning

1. Begin packing or filling your jars with the food you’ll be canning.  Use a wide-mouth funnel to keep the rims of the jars as clean as possible.  
2. Maintain the proper headspace (space between the top of the food and the rim of the jar) when filling jars.
3. Once the jars are full, wipe each rim with a damp cloth so the rims are clean and dry, which will ensure a proper seal.
4. Use a silicone spatula or non-metallic tool to remove any air bubbles from jars.  If you don’t have a suitable tool, just tap the jars gently on the towel on your work surface.
5. Center a new, clean lid on each jar and screw a ring on fingertip tight.  Do not use as much force as possible – just as tight as you can get using your fingertips.
6. Use the jar lifter to lower each jar into the canner onto the rack and then place the lid on your canner – make sure the jars are covered by at least an inch of water.  Bring to a rolling boil.
7. Once you reach a rolling boil, start the processing time. (for this salsa, process pints for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes)
8. When the processing time is up, turn off the heat.  Using the jar lifter, remove each jar and set it on a towel to cool for at least 8 hours.  Do NOT disturb the jars while they cool.  Don’t tap the lids or remove the rings, just let them rest.  You should hear each lid pop into place as the lid seals.

Storage

• After 8 hours, remove each ring and check for a proper seal by gently pulling up on the lid.  If the jar didn’t seal properly, the lid will come off easily.  You can also tap on the top of each jar.  If the lid stays in place the seal is good.  If it moves, the seal is compromised.
• Wipe the jars down if there’s any residue, then label with contents and date.   Store. jars out of direct sunlight in a cool, dark, dry place to maximize shelf life.