Homemade Salsa Ranchera Recipe

This salsa ranchera recipe is sure to be crowd pleaser and is extremely easy to make.  It’s great as a snack with tortilla chips or to spice up tacos, fajitas and more!

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What is Salsa Ranchera? 

Salsa ranchera is made from roasted tomatoes, onion, peppers, garlic and other seasonings.  Its roasted flavor sets it apart from other salsas making it a very popular salsa recipe in Mexican and Tex Mex cuisines.  The ingredients are mixed in a food processor to make a smooth salsa that is often served warm with tortilla chips or to top other dishes like tacos, enchiladas, eggs and more.

Salsa Ranchera Ingredients 

• 4 medium tomatoes
• 1 Onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 Jalapeno (can also substitute serrano, ancho or poblano)
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 tsp Fresh oregano chopped
• 1/2 tsp Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Juice from 1 Lime
• Salt to taste

How to Make Salsa Ranchera

Equipment

To make salsa ranchera you’ll need either an oven or grill to roast the vegetables and you’ll also need a food processor.

Roast the vegetables

Since it was almost 100 degrees outside the day that I made this salsa recipe I didn’t want to turn on my oven.  I heated up my grill to around 450 degrees F and then roasted the vegetables for about 15 minutes.  My grill basket is from a local store but here is a similar one from Amazon.  I cut the onions in half before roasting but all other veggies were left whole.

If choose to roast your vegetables in the oven preheat it to 450 degrees F and then place the veggies on a cooking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes.

You’ll know that the vegetables are done roasting when the tomato skins have started to shrivel and peel away.

Mix the ingredients 

Get all of the ingredients ready to mix in the food processor.  I like to chop my tomatoes in half and also cut the onion into smaller pieces before putting them in the food processor. Cut the top off of the pepper.  If you want a milder salsa you may even want to remove the seeds in the pepper before adding it.

Now you just need to dump all of the ingredients into the food processor and pulse until the salsa is the consistency that you are looking for.  Be sure to use the pulse setting and not the constant setting on your food processor.  Since the vegetables are roasted and soft it doesn’t take much to chop them up into small pieces.  I like my salsa to have a little chunkiness to it so I probably only pulsed 8-10 times total.

Now pour the salsa into a serving dish and enjoy!  This recipe makes 2.5-3 cups of salsa depending on the size of the tomatoes and onion.

Salsa Ranchera Recipe

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Salsa Ranchera

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Servings 10

Ingredients

• 4 Medium tomatoes
• 1 Medium onion
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 1/2 tsp Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Juice from 1 lime
• 1 Jalepeno Pepper
• 1 tsp Fresh Oregano Chopped
• 1/2 tsp Salt salt to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven or grill to 450 degrees F.

2. Cut the onion in half and place it on an oiled roasting sheet with the whole tomatoes, pepper and garlic.

3. Roast the vegetables in an oven or on the grill for 15-20 minutes at 450 degrees F. The vegetables are finished roasting when the skin on the tomatoes starts to pull away.

   

4. Cut the top off of the pepper and remove the seeds if you want the salsa to be milder. Cut the tomatoes in half and the onion into smaller chunks.

   

5. Add all ingredients into a food processor and then pulse until you have reached your desired consistency.

   

6. Pour the salsa into your favorite dish and enjoy!

   

Recipe Notes

• Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.  
• The recipe makes 10 servings which is about 2.5-3 cups depending on how large the tomatoes and onion are.
• Heat level is mild to medium.  

How to Adjust the Spice Level

How to make salsa spicier

Adding more heat is very simple.  Just add more peppers!  The base recipe calls for a whole roasted jalapeno (top cut off only).  If that doesn’t meet your spice needs add more.  You can also use different peppers such as serrano, ancho or poblano.

How to make salsa less spicy

If you’re more of a mild salsa fan be sure to remove the seeds from the pepper before adding it to the food processor.  I would classify the base recipe as a medium salsa but you never know how spicy a pepper may be so you’ll want to add it in small portions if you’re sensitive to spicy foods.  If it’s still too spicy for you, add more tomato.

How to Use Salsa Ranchera

It’s delicious on just about everything but here are some suggestions to get you thinking.

• Eat it as an appetizer or snack with tortilla chips
• Add it to your tacos, burrito, quesadilla or fajitas
• It’s great with eggs in the morning whether than be Huevos Rancheros, a southwest style omelet or however you like your eggs.

I hope that you enjoy this salsa ranchera recipe.  I know that I’ll be making it often.  My husband said that I should jar it and sell it but I don’t have time for that!  It is great with tortilla chips and adds a ton of flavor to just about any dish.  I put it on fajitas the other night and it was perfect.  Let me know how you use it in the comments!

Check out my recipes page for more inspiration.

Thanks so much for stopping by!