Fresh Salsa made with tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro is a perfect summertime snack. Served with tortilla chips, it is the perfect treat for a hot summer afternoon.
Salsa…fresh tomatoes, peppers and cilantro! What a great summer time snack! And, so easy to make. If you have never made fresh salsa, you really should give it a try. We make this during the summer and early fall when we can get fresh tomatoes and peppers from our local farmers market.
This recipe is one that you can make in a snap. It will probably take you less than half an hour to have your peppers, onion, and tomatoes cut up and mixed all together. Not too bad, right?!

Ingredients in Fresh Salsa:
- Tomatoes, medium-sized
- Green Pepper
- Banana Pepper
- Onion
- Jalapeno Pepper
- Fresh Cilantro
- Lime Juice
How to Make Homemade Salsa:
Finely dice the tomatoes, green pepper, banana pepper and onion and place them in a medium sized bowl. Dice up the jalapeno a bit smaller than the other veggies so it blends in better and also so that you don't get too much flavor in one bite.
Mix it in with the other veggies. Add in the chopped cilantro and drizzle with the lime juice. Gently mix all the ingredients together. And that's it!
Not a fan of dicing up the peppers, tomatoes and onion so small? Then grab your blender and let the blender do the work. I happen to have a husband that likes to cut up veggies so to him it is not that bad. But I know not everyone is like that so that is where a nice blender comes in handy.
So, if you're using your blender, cut up the tomatoes, peppers and onion into small pieces. Place the tomatoes in a medium sized bowl and set them aside. I would suggest pulsing the jalapeno pepper first on its own so that there are no big chunks and it blends more into the salsa.
Then add in the rest of the peppers and the chopped cilantro. Squeeze some juice from the lime until you have one tablespoon of the juice and drizzle that over the veggies.
Pulse everything until desired consistency. That is everything that goes into the blender.
Once that is mixed well, pour the pepper mixture into the bowl with the tomatoes. Gently stir everything together. And…there is your delicious fresh salsa!
I would recommend chilling the salsa so the flavors can mix together more. Chilling is not necessary but if you decide to chill the salsa, I would suggest covering the salsa tightly to chill it for a couple of hours.
Sometimes you just don't want to wait to chill it and that is okay...that has happened with my family...just too good to wait.
Now the best part, get your salsa and chips ready, grab a cold drink and park yourself in a favorite place (mine happens to be by our pool) and enjoy! :o)
Did you make this recipe? If so, please leave a comment and rating below. I love hearing from you.
Fresh Salsa
Ingredients
- 2-3 tomatoes medium sized
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1 banana pepper diced
- ¼ cup onion diced
- ½ jalapeno pepper diced, about 1 tablespoon
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
Instructions
- Finely dice up the tomatoes, peppers and onion. Dice up the jalapeno pepper a bit smaller.2-3 tomatoes, 1 green pepper, 1 banana pepper, ¼ cup onion, ½ jalapeno pepper
- Chop up the cilantro.¼ cup fresh cilantro
- Drizzle in the lime juice and gently mix all ingredients together.1 tablespoon lime juice
- Chill for two hours, optional.
Directions if you prefer to use a blender
- Dice up the tomato and onion.
- Cut up the peppers, removing the seeds.
- Chop up the fresh cilantro.
- Using a blender, pulse the peppers, onion and cilantro.
- Add the lime juice to the mix.
- Once the ingredients are mixed well, pour into a medium size bowl.
- Add in the tomatoes and gently mix together.
- If making without a blender, just finely dice the peppers, onion and tomatoes. Add in the cilantro and drizzle with the lime juice. Gently mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
- Chill, if desired, for two hours before serving.
Liv
I love this fresh homemade salsa with fresh tomatoes and peppers from the local farmers market. The fresh cilantro makes a HUGE difference. Thanks for sharing Jeannie.
Jeannie Z
Hi Liv,
I agree on the fresh cilantro! It really makes a difference in the flavor of the salsa.
Jeannie