How to Make Homemade Cooked and Fresh Salsa (with recipes!) - CuernaKitchen

Last Updated on February 24, 2024 by Catrina

Mmmmm, salsa! If you love Mexican food, then you probably love salsa too! Red, green, spicy, mild, chunky, or smooth, there is a salsa for everyone! But when you are choosing salsa for your next Mexican meal, how do you know whether to go with a cooked or fresh salsa? This article will explore the difference between cooked vs. fresh salsas and when each of these types of salsas is used. I have also included some cooked and fresh salsa recipes so that you can say goodbye to store-bought salsa for good! Ready to get started?

The basics of cooked salsa

Let’s talk first about cooked salsa and what methods Mexican home cooks use. Cooked salsa can be made by boiling, roasting, grilling, or frying the salsa ingredients.

My favorite way to make cooked salsa is to simply place fresh salsa ingredients in a dry skillet or griddle and let the veggies char and blacken. Once the ingredients are dry roasted, I simply pulse them in the blender until they reach my desired consistency…so delicious!

You could also place your salsa ingredients on a baking sheet and broil them in your oven until charred to get the same effect.

Need salsa for your next backyard barbeque? Place the fresh salsa ingredients on the grill and let the veggies cook up with your steaks! Once the veggies are softened and charred, you can grind them in a molcajete, a traditional Mexican pestle and mortar, or use a blender or food processor to achieve your desired salsa texture.

Need a smooth salsa for your enchiladas or chilaquiles? Boiling your ingredients is the traditional way to make salsa for these dishes. Often, after the ingredients are boiled and blended, the sauce will be fried in just a bit of hot oil to further deepen the flavor.

Chilaquiles with Charred Salsa Roja on a white plate — Chilaquiles rojos

Close up of Enchiladas Suizas on a white plate with a fork and knife — Chilaquiles rojos

Frying your raw salsa ingredients in a bit of oil is another way to make flavorful cooked salsa. I love to use this method for my super spicy creamy jalapeño salsa or my milder salsa made with chile pasillas.

Benefits of cooked salsa

Whatever method you decide to use for your salsa, know that cooking will tend to mellow out the ingredients and provide more depth of flavor than raw salsa. That’s one of the beauties of cooking salsa. Each cooking method will bring a unique flavor profile to the salsa and allow you to change the flavor of the raw ingredients. This makes cooked salsa more versatile than its raw counterpart.

Ingredients for cooked salsa

So what ingredients are best for cooked salsas? You can use tomatillos, tomatoes, fresh or dried chile peppers, onions, garlic, and salt! These basic salsa ingredients can create a whole range of different salsa flavors, simply by using different cooking techniques or swapping out or exchanging some of the ingredients. Different peppers will provide different flavors and levels of spice. Tomatoes are generally sweeter than the more tart tomatillos. Even different types of onions have different levels of sweetness. If you are looking for a couple of recipes to get you started, check out the ones below.

Cooked salsa recipes

Roasted Salsa Verde in a white bowl, sitting on top of a wooden cutting board with a colorful Mexican rebozo on the side — Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Salsa de Chile Pasilla in a clay bowl with wooden spoon. — Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Exploring fresh salsa

Fresh salsa or “salsa fresca” in Spanish is simply salsa that uses raw, fresh ingredients.

One example of fresh salsa is pico de gallo. This salsa is made by combining diced ripe Roma tomatoes, white onion, jalapeño or serrano peppers, fresh lime juice, fresh cilantro, and salt. This salsa is great for topping tacos, burritos, quesadillas, salads, eggs, and molletes.

I love a fresh tomatillo salsa verde for topping crispy tacos dorados. Simply combine ripe tomatillos, onions, chile pepper of choice, garlic, and salt in a blender and process the salsa until it reaches your desired texture.

Another one of my favorite salsas is a tropical mango salsa made with fresh diced mangoes, red onions, red bell peppers, jalapeño pepper, lime juice, and salt. This chunky salsa is great with your favorite tortilla chips, or for topping salads, or grilled fish or chicken. This salsa is amazing with my mini goat cheese quesadillas.

Fresh Salsa Verde, in a bowl with a colorful Mexican rebozo and a wooden spoon — Salsa verde

Advantages of fresh salsa

What’s great about fresh salsas is that they are fast to make since there is no cooking involved. So if you are pressed for time, making fresh salsa is the way to go. Simply dice the ingredients until they are roughly the same size. Or you can use a blender or food processor to get these salsas on the table even faster! If you are using a blender or food processor, pulse the ingredients a bit at a time to get your desired texture.

You also have the advantage of vibrant, fresh flavors and more textural variety than with cooked salsa.

How to source ingredients for fresh salsa

But since fresh salsas aren’t cooked, you will need to find high-quality, fresh produce. If you are making raw salsa with a tomato base, using vine-ripened tomatoes from your home garden or farmer’s market will give you the best flavor. Of course, not everyone has access to garden-fresh tomatoes. So if you are making this salsa with tomatoes from your grocery store, look for firm, evenly red-colored ripe tomatoes for your salsa. Here in central Mexico, Roma or plum tomatoes are common, but I have made great salsa with heirloom tomatoes too!

If you are making salsa with a tomatillo base, then peel back the husks to ensure the tomatillos are firm in texture and a vibrant green color.

Fresh homemade salsa recipes

Ready to try some easy homemade salsa recipes? These recipes will have you making salsa at home in no time. So the next time you are making your favorite Mexican meal, skip the store-bought salsa and opt for an easy homemade salsa instead!

Close up of smooth, creamy avocado salsa in a blue-patterned bowl, with a wooden spoon and yellow and blue napkin on the side — Creamy avocado salsa

Close up Pico de Gallo in a blue pottery bowl with tortilla chips on the side — Creamy avocado salsa

When to use fresh vs. cooked salsa

So, now that you know the difference between fresh vs. cooked salsa, how do you know which dishes work best with each kind of salsa? I think there are two important factors to consider: application and preference.

Let’s talk about the application first. There are certain Mexican dishes where only cooked salsa will do. These dishes are ones where salsa is a major component of the dish and is intended to be served warm. Chilaquiles, enchiladas, and huevos rancheros are examples of dishes where the salsa must be cooked. You wouldn’t (I hope) make enchiladas and then cover them with a fresh salsa. That would be strange, unappetizing, and simply wrong! So, before you decide what kind of salsa to make, first determine whether the salsa is a major component of a dish that is intended to be served warm.

Enchiladas Suizas Rojas on a white plate with beans, rice, and avocado slices — Enchiladas suizas rojas

Chilaquiles with Roasted Salsa Verde on a white plate served with black beans, a fried egg, and sliced avocado — Enchiladas suizas rojas

If your salsa is meant to be a condiment, like for topping tacos, or dipping your corn tortilla chips, then the salsa can be either cooked or raw. This is where preference comes into play. Once you start experimenting with making salsas at home, you might find that you like the taste of fresh salsas or cooked salsas better with certain dishes. I love a fresh salsa verde for crispy potato taquitos. But charred and roasted red salsa is a favorite of ours for carne asadas or on grilled meats. Really, the best salsa is whichever one you like best!

Mini goat cheese quesadilla with mango salsa, 1 piece on a blue plate — Mini Goat Cheese Quesadillas

Is raw salsa healthier than cooked salsa?

The short answer is, it depends! A recent article published by Scientific American states that some vegetables have more vitamins and minerals in their raw state, while others have increased quantities after being cooked. Tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, an antioxidant that is believed to reduce cancer. The study shows that lycopene increases when tomatoes are cooked. Other vegetables and fruits, may contain more vitamins and minerals in their raw state. So, the bottom line is that comparing the health benefits of cooked vs fresh fruits and vegetables is tricky and more studies are needed to really understand how cooking these foods impacts the amounts of vitamins and minerals.

Table with cooked vs. fresh salsa pros and cons

Storing homemade salsa

If you make salsa at home, you may wonder how long your leftover salsa will last. Salsa made at home will last between 5-7 days in an airtight container stored in the fridge. Generally, cooked salsa lasts a bit longer for me than fresh salsa. To tell if your salsa has gone bad, look for signs of mold, or any off-putting tastes or smells.

Canning is a great way to preserve your homemade salsa for even longer. I have fond memories of my Mexican host mother making huge batches of salsa verde and canning the salsa to use throughout the year. I don’t can my salsa, but if you want to try canning at home, you can check out this guide: https://www.ballmasonjars.com/canning-preserving-guides.html

Now that you have the basics of cooked vs. fresh salsa, I hope you try your hand at making your next salsa at home!

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments!