How to Grow the Best Salsa Garden (2023)

Salsa gardens are easy to grow and produce ingredients early in the season to enjoy.

I will list the vegetables you need to make your own salsa and the best way to grow these vegetables.

Growing Salsa Vegetables

Tomatoes- Roma and Bloody Butcher are a favorite to grow they produce tomatoes early and are abundant. Plant tomatoes in the sunniest part of your garden to get the best results.

Peppers should be planted on the east side of the Tomatoes which will allow them to be shaded from the late afternoon heat by the tomatoes.

Throughout the garden plant cilantro and plant at intervals to give you cilantro all summer long.

Rows of onions can be planted in the spring to allow you to harvest early, this is also a good vegetable to plant at intervals to give you onions throughout the season.

See my tips for growing the best Tomatoes.

Vegetable for Salsa

Tomatoes

I prefer to use a meaty tomato for salsa to make it rich and a little on the thick side. A good early tomato for this is a Roma or Bloody Butcher.

Onions

To get the correct spice for salsa I prefer Walla Walla Sweet onions or Candy Sweet onions. These are both large onions and mild to add just the right amount of spice.

Jalapenos

There are many types of Jalapenos so I will leave this up to you to select the correct amount of heat to add to your salsa. For a hotter salsa, you can add more of the seeds which will bring the heat to the salsa.

Peppers

I like to add other peppers in the salsa that do not bring the heat but add color and flavor, such as a bell or sweet Pepper.

Cilantro

This is a great herb to add to your salsa that brings incredible flavor and a nice bright green color.

Recipe

The fun of making salsa is you can make as much as you like and refrigerate what you do not use to have the next day.

I start with a bowl of tomatoes that are washed in cool water and quartered. Later in the season, I will mix several varieties of tomatoes to get a mix of tomato flavors and colors for my salsa
1 medium sweet onion peeled and quartered
3 Jalapeno peppers are cored and I remove most of the seeds for a mild salsa that kids enjoy if it is all adults I will leave more seeds to increase the heat
1 large sweet pepper cored and seeds removed
4-6 stems of cilantro washed removing the main stems and chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon or 1 or 2 limes cut in half and squeezed for the juice, I prefer to use limes

This is where you can either blend tomatoes, onions and peppers in a blender or chop using kitchen scissors or a knife, tasting as you go to get the flavor and heat you prefer. If you want a thicker salsa remove seeds and liquid from tomatoes before blending or chopping.

hand chop the cilantro and add at the end with the salt and lime or lemon juice.

The only ingredients you will not have access to from your garden are salt and lime or lemon juice other than these you can grow everything you need to make the best tasting salsa that is fresh from your garden.

Now sit back with your favorite chips and cool refreshment to enjoy your fresh garden salsa.

You can store this in the refrigerator a few hours ahead to allow flavors to blend.