Mango Salsa Recipe For Canning

I love salsa.

Spicy salsa ~

Chunky salsa ~

Burn-your-tongue hot salsa!

I've even been known to go out to our favorite Mexican restaurant JUST to get some of their warm-from-the-oven-fresh chips and salsa. (Okay, so I probably had a margarita too.)

Store bought salsa is okay...but...homemade is so much better. And when you make it yourself you can cater to your own personal taste preferences. I like spicy, but I also like my salsa a tiny bit sweet, so that's where the Mango comes in.

Here's my "recipe"... you won't find exact measurements here because I literally throw it together and adjust as I go. Really, it's easy and you probably can't go wrong:

INGREDIENTS:

fresh tomatoes (mine came from my little garden - I got loads of them!)
onion
fresh cilantro
fresh lime juice
jalapenos
mango
salt to taste
fresh minced garlic
sugar or sweetener to taste (optional)

I canned this batch of salsa so I did a hot water/cold water bath to remove the tomato skins. *Immerse tomatoes in boiling hot water and then quickly in cold water and the skins peel right off amazingly easy. *Don't leave the tomatoes in hot water for more than a few seconds or you'll cook 'em!

After the skin is removed dice the tomatoes (I used a big mixing bowl full of tomatoes for this batch)...

...and the onions (about 1/2 large sweet white used)...

...chop the cilantro ~ it's not salsa without cilantro in my book...

(I used 1/2 a bunch)

...dice the jalapenos (use gloves please!!!) and leave some seeds if you like spicy hot or remove the seeds if you like mild...

...mince a clove or two of garlic (I used 2)...

...I said I like my salsa a little sweet, right? I added about a Tablespoon of sugar to up that sweet factor. Sometimes I just add a packet of zero calorie sweetener...it's up to you, it's your salsa, remember!?

Since I was canning this batch I submerged my canning jars in boiling hot water to sterilize.

I put my salsa ingredients into my big skillet/saute pan and simmered...including a couple pinches of salt, the juice of a lime or two, and see the added mango...that's the secret ingredient here! ;)

I simmered the salsa on med-low for a couple of hours to reduce the liquid and very important ~ since I was canning this batch I needed the ingredients to be cooked.

Once it was done simmering I ladled it into my jars, leaving about 1/2 inch of head space. I wiped the rims of the jars to make sure they were clean and followed this canning tutorial from Pamela the Canning Granny.

(I'm fairly new to canning so I just followed her expert advice!)