Delicious and Easy Tomato Salsa Canning Recipe
We should all find ways to incorporate foods or meals that we enjoy and are familiar with into our long-term stockpiles. Good food can go a long way to make the emotional and psychological toll of a disaster less severe, and there are no rules that tell us that we need to rely on things like survival bars or SPAM in order to “tough” things out. Let’s look at a delicious salsa recipe that can be stored for a long time, is very nutritious, and illustrates how easy it is to add a variety of foods into our survival diets.
Ingredients:
35-40 medium tomatoes
4 green peppers
1 red sweet pepper
3 large onions
2 cans of tomato paste
1 stalk of celery
12-16 cloves of garlic
4-6 jalapeno peppers
½ – 1 teaspoon of hot pepper sauce
¼ cup of canning salt
Getting Started
The first step is to blanch the tomatoes in order to prepare them for processing. Place them in large stockpot, bring up to a simmer, and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Drain the water and let the tomatoes cool until they can be handled. Peel off the skin and cut the tomatoes into smaller pieces (the size is up to you). Return the tomatoes to the stockpot, fill with water and allow to simmer for 20 more minutes.
While the tomatoes are stewing, rinse and dice up the green and red peppers along with the onions and celery. Peel and mince the garlic cloves and dice the jalapenos into small pieces and set the veggies aside.
When the tomatoes are finished, dump out all but 2 cups of water. You will need this for the recipe. Add all of the vegetables to the stockpot along with the tomato paste, pepper sauce and canning salt. Stir to mix the ingredients and bring to a low boil for about an hour, cooking with the stockpot uncovered. Stir occasionally to prevent the items from scorching.
Preparing for Canning
Clean, sterilize and warm 10 pint canning jars and their lid assemblies. Pints work well because you can control portions and reduce food waste later. Keep in mind that you can store the salsa in quart jars, but it will need to be consumed right away after they are opened. It’s important that the jars are heated prior to adding the hot salsa because the glass can crack if the temperatures are not equalized.
Ladle the salsa into each jar and fill until there is a ½ inch of headspace remaining. Use a spoon or the stem from a spatula to press out any air bubbles and add more product as necessary. Once you have ½ inch of headspace, wipe down the rims until they are clean and attach the lid assemblies.
Put the jars in a hot water bath canner and let cook for about 20 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove the jars from the canner when finished and allow them to cool on the counter overnight or until they reach room temperature. Check the seals on the lids to ensure that they are intact before labeling, dating and storing the salsa in a cool and dry place.
There are differing opinions on the shelf life of salsa, but you can expect it to remain fresh for anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. Try and consume and rotate out the product within 6 months to a year to be on the safe side. Feel free to add your own spices, chilis or other ingredients to this recipe in order to give it the flavor and level of “heat” that you and your family enjoys.
At the end of the day, you should have a good supply of healthy and fresh salsa that lacks preservatives and additives commonly found in commercial products. Making your own salsa is also cheaper if you can prepare a batch in bulk, and this makes for a wonderful enhancement to any long-term food storage stockpile.
