This is the of year that brings many of our favorite vegetables to harvest and especially those to make a delicious salsa. Whether you are growing your own vegetables, or purchasing at a farm market or the grocery, the flavor of home grown is incomparable. The most common ingredients such as tomatoes, onions, peppers and other fresh vegetables and herbs are abundant for you to test several recipes and find your favorite. 

If you are making fresh salsa to eat or store in the refrigerator you don’t have to worry about the recipe you use or the mixture of low-acid and high-acid foods. But if you intend on canning salsa for later use it is important to use a tested and approved recipe. There are several available at the National Center for Home Food Preservation or Ohioline.osu.edu.

More:Questions and answers for canning season

As you consider selecting Ingredients to make your favorite recipe remember these hints:

Experiment with ingredients adding onions, beans, corn and other favorites to your homemade salsa. Just remember that this homemade salsa must be eaten fresh or stored in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. In order to preserve salsa through home canning a research-tested recipe must be used for a safe product.

Here’s a little different recipe you might like to try that’s also from the Ohioline fact sheet.

Process this salsa as a hot pack in pint jars in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes (under 1,000 feet or 20 minutes over 1,000).

The only changes you can safely make in the salsa recipes are to substitute bottled lemon juice for the vinegar and to change the amount of pepper and salt. Do not alter the proportions of vegetables to acid and tomatoes because it might make the salsa unsafe.

If you have questions, please check out National Center for Home Food Preservation web site or give me a call at 330-264-8722.

Melinda Hill is an OSU Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Educator and may be reached at 330-264-8722 or hill.14@osu.edu

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