Bulk Buy: Canning Salsa Tomatoes

I belong to an email group about preparedness. We frequently have group buys of produce items and the prices are always exceptional. This time of year, with produce ripening, the email notification come rapidly. Last weeks bulk buy was tomatoes – 25 pounds at .52 cents! – so I took the time and spent my day canning salsa.

The description from Deer Island Farms was too good to pass up:

Salsa Tomatoes. (New crop) These are a grab bag that can be a mixture of Roma and regular tomatoes of all sizes that are ripe and ready to be used. There may be a few green ones.  They are sold mostly to restaurants who use them immediately to make fresh salsa. You can expect minor to moderate bruising. They would also be good for canning. – 25 lb box for $13 ($0.52/lb)

They were right about one thing, these tomatoes needed to be used immediately! I like being able to get a good deal  and put some summer goodness away for the cold winter months. Plus this box of 25 pounds of tomatoes made 21 pints of salsa, more than enough to last us until next tomato season. So away we go with the canning salsa recipe.

For one batch (7 pints) of salsa you will need:

15 medium tomatoes, washed and roughly cut (skins on if you want) (cost $4.33)
6 medium bell peppers, washed, seeded and chopped (cost $3.00)
5 medium onions, diced  (cost $3.75)
1 bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped (cost minimal – from my garden)
2 large Anaheim chili (or other chili depending on your spiciness preference), washed, seeded and chopped – Wear gloves and don’t touch your eyes when you do this (cost $1.50)
3 heaping tablespoons chopped garlic (cost minimal – from my garden)
3 teaspoons salt (cost minimal – from food storage)
spices to taste
1 and 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar (cost $.15 cents)
2 6-oz cans of tomato paste (cost minimal – from food storage)

For a list of canning equipment, view the Canning 101 post from Tyra.

1. Combine all ingredients except the tomato paste into a large pot and simmer until it reaches the desired thickness.
2. Stir in the tomato paste.
3. If desired, use a stick blender to make your salsa pieces smaller.  NOTE: My husband hates tomatoes, but will eat finely chopped salsa and ketchup. Go figure!
4. Ladle into pint jars and process at a full rolling boil for 15 minutes in a water-bath canner.
5. Remove from canner and let the jars completely cool.
6. Once they have sealed, you can remove the bands or keep them on the jar.
7. Label the jars with the date processed and the contents.

This salsa recipe is considered short term food storage – it will last up to 5 years with proper storage. The bonus – it only cost me $1.82 per pint.

Check out our other Bulk Buy posts:

25 Uses for Oranges – Never waste an orange again and Sweet Potato 101 

If you live in the Portland Oregon or Vancouver Washington area and want to be put on Dale’s email list for future purchases, contact him at : graffrd@yahoo.com. Tell him PreparednessMama sent you!

Shared with: Everything Food Prep, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways,