Spicy Oven Roasted Tomato Salsa With Cilantro

If you love hot restaurant-style salsa, this spicy roasted tomato salsa will knock your socks off! The heat is from the jalapeno seeds, as a deseeded jalapeno doesn’t have much heat. The Roma tomatoes offer lots of substance to the tomato base of this easy-to-make from scratch salsa recipe. It’s such a simple recipe that finishes in the food processor. This flavorful salsa has a depth of flavor from the fresh ingredients that go great with tortilla chips!

Before we make this salsa, making things at home doesn’t have to be overly complicated. New cooks often hear the words ” from scratch ” and get scared to try them. From-scratch cooking isn’t much more complex than ordering from a fast-food drive-through, and the results will always be fresher and taste better. So, if you are new to cooking, feel free to dive in. 

If you’re a busy mom like myself, I promise you this isn’t a complicated recipe. In fact, it’s so simple you will love making it over and over again, knowing you are saving valuable grocery money on the store-bought version, which isn’t as flavorful and definitely not as healthy. You can make this roasted tomato salsa with other ingredients and switch up how much it’s blended for a different consistency. I love that! 

Looking for a great way to enjoy this spicy roasted tomato salsa? Try our easy taco salad!

Why You Will Love This Oven Roasted Tomato Salsa

It’s low-prep. Just wash the vegetables, chop the ingredients, and roll in olive oil before roasting. 

The flavor is fantastic! You can’t beat fresh homemade salsa. Its flavor is out of this world, and it beats restaurant salsa. 

This salsa is great to make ahead. If you have a party or event and need handy snacking, you can make it ahead and keep it jarred in the fridge for up to one month!

So, how is this spicy roasted tomato salsa made?

First, you will want to wash the outside of the Roma tomatoes. I chose Roma because they are less seedy than other varieties of tomatoes. Roma or plum tomatoes are regularly used for sauces, so using them in this fresh salsa made sense. If you don’t have Roma, it’s okay; you can use whatever tomatoes you have. Of course, the best salsa will be made with tomatoes fresh from the garden, but we can only sometimes get them that fresh, especially in the winter. So we make do with store-bought.

The first step is to get your baking sheet while preheating the oven to broil on HI. To broil, you would typically move the oven rack up in the oven. I, however, left my rack exactly where it was in the center of the oven. I hate moving it up or down because, inevitably, I will forget that I did that the next time I am baking something, it may be in the wrong place. To avoid that hassle, I left it centered. 

Once you have the rack where you want it and the oven is preheating, you will want to cover the baking tray with olive oil- not a pool, but enough to coat it thoroughly. Put the tomatoes, washed whole jalapenos, peeled garlic cloves, and onion chunks onto the tray. From there, you want to roll all the veggies in the olive oil on the baking tray with your hands. You are then ready to put the tray uncovered into the oven. 

You will roast the vegetables for 20 minutes or until the tomatoes have burst skins and the peppers blacken. Your garlic will look very cooked; that’s okay. Remove the baking tray from the oven halfway through the roasting process to flip things over. 

After roasting the veggies, remove them from the oven and let them cool for a little while. Again, I am using the Ninja blender and can’t say enough about its incredible power. If you have ever had a weak blender, you know just how important it is to have one with the strength that the Ninja offers. The three blades make short work of almost anything I have put in there, even ice!

Now that everything has cooled off, we can put it into the blender with the remaining ingredients: lemon juice and cilantro. (You can use lime juice if you prefer and reserve some cilantro to add in as whole leaves for more color) I use lemons in this recipe because the citrus juice is similar to limes, yet it is much more cost-effective. I can purchase a bag of lemons for $3, whereas a single lime is $1. Keeping grocery costs down is something everyone is very conscious of these days as prices continue to soar in the grocery store. 

Okay, so now we pulse the whole thing for a few seconds. In no time, the blender has pulverized the soft roast vegetables into a delicious salsa for you. Remove from the blender and mix in the rest of the cilantro for the whole fresh herb look. Alternatively, you can blend all the cilantro into the salsa. 

Store this delicious salsa with roasted tomatoes in a glass jar, as the acid in the tomatoes can react with metal. It can be kept in the fridge for up to two weeks. The key to keeping things like this safe to eat for longer is ensuring they’re in an airtight container. With that, it will also retain its nutritional value. 

For a variation on the smooth salsa, try making a chunkier salsa by chopping some tomatoes and white onions by hand right after roasting. Place tomatoes and onion on a cutting board and chop away. Once the spicy salsa has been put through the food processor, add the chopped chunks of tomato with fresh cilantro leaves. Either way, it’s sure to be a big hit with your family and friends.

Ingredients:

Roma Tomatoes: These fresh tomatoes are known for their meaty texture and fewer seeds, making them the best choice for this roasted salsa recipe.

Onions: I have used both white onion and red onions when making this roasted salsa. Either will give you a delicious flavor in the end result.

Jalapeno Peppers: These add moderate heat to the salsa, allowing for a balance that doesn’t overwhelm the other flavors. Jalapeños are also widely available in many regions, making them a convenient choice for adding heat to salsa. 

Garlic: Roasting brings out garlic’s natural sweetness and imparts a milder, more complex taste to the roasted tomato salsa recipe. 

Cilantro: You either love it or hate it, they say. In this instance, it’s one of the few times I love it. The fresh herbaceousness brings a depth of flavor that the salsa would lack without it. Fresh cilantro also adds a pop of green to the salsa, enhancing its visual appeal. 

Lemon Juice: This enhances the overall flavor profile by adding acidity, brightness, and a subtle citrusy undertone. 

Substitution and Add-Ins 

Roma Tomato: Consider sizes when making the salsa, though, as the Roma tomato is smaller than the average hot house tomato. So, if you use larger tomatoes, you should cut back on how many you use.

Jalapeno Peppers: You may add a little heat by adding other hot peppers. Remember that most hot peppers are spicy because of the jalapeño seeds, so it’s important to leave those in if you want more heat. Other popular peppers are Serrano or Chipotle peppers.

Cilantro: If you’re not a fan of cilantro, you can replace it with parsley or chervil. 

Onion: Instead of using roasted onion or in addition to try chopping fresh green onion into the salsa. 

Lemon Juice: Lemons can often be replaced with limes. In fact, we did the opposite for this recipe, as lemons are a more economical choice. We switched the traditional lime out. 

You can also add regular green pepper diced for a more chunky salsa with a bit of added crunch. Adding a pinch of salt at the end can increase the flavor by cutting through the tomato’s acidity. Be sure to use as much as needed to suit your own tastes. 

Expert Tips and Serving Suggestions:

Tips #1: The baking pan should have sides so that extra olive oil doesn’t drip into the oven. 

Tip #2: Be sure to blacken the jalapenos; they will have too much crunch, and your resulting salsa will have a different flavor. 

 Try our 15-minute air fryer pita chips with this homemade salsa, or use them in your following Taco Tuesday recipe! Pair it with our Queso Blanco for even more Mexican food flavor. You can also make a completely fresh tomato salsa from this list of simple ingredients by simply chopping them up instead of roasting them. Adjust how much onion, garlic, and peppers you use to suit your family’s taste.  

If you enjoyed this spicy oven roasted tomato salsa, we would love to hear about it. Leave a comment below the recipe card if you test this recipe. As always, we love hearing from you, our readers!