Green tomato salsa verde
The frost-night answer for a counter full of green tomatoes: a sharp, cumin-scented salsa verde in small jars.
Makes
About 6 × 250 ml (half-pint) jars
Active time
1 hour
Total
1¾ hours, plus 12–24 hours cooling
Photo naturalflow on Flickr · CC BY-SA 2.0
Before you start
What keeps this jar safe
- Measure everything in metric or everything in US cups — never mix the two, or the acid ratio shifts.
- The 125 ml of bottled lime juice against 7 cups of green tomato and 2 cups of onion is the tested ratio; use bottled juice, never fresh, and never less.
- Use between 5 and 10 hot peppers as written — never more than 10 — and do not add other vegetables; onion and garlic are already at their tested amounts.
- Half-pint (250 ml) jars only — the 20 minutes was established for that size.
- Green tomatoes from frost-killed plants are fine to eat but should not be canned; pick them before the frost.
- Wear gloves for hot peppers and keep children away from the pepper board.
This follows Ball: Green Tomato Salsa Verde. Quantities, acid and times are theirs; do not scale the vegetables without scaling everything, and do not change the vinegar, lemon juice or processing time.
Ingredients
- 1.75 L (7 cups) chopped, cored, peeled green tomatoes — about 12 medium
- 5–10 jalapeño, habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers, seeded and finely chopped
- 500 ml (2 cups) chopped red onion — about 2 large
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 125 ml (½ cup) bottled lime juice
- 125 ml (½ cup) loosely packed finely chopped cilantro
- 10 ml (2 teaspoons) ground cumin
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) dried oregano
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) salt
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) freshly ground black pepper
Processing
- Jars
- 250 ml (half-pint)
- Headspace
- 1.25 cm (½ inch)
- Time at 0–300 m (0–1,000 ft)
- 20 min
- Higher up
- Ball’s altitude chart: add 5 min at 300–900 m (1,001–3,000 ft), 10 min at 900–1,800 m (3,001–6,000 ft), 15 min at 1,800–2,400 m (6,001–8,000 ft), 20 min at 2,400–3,000 m (8,001–10,000 ft).
Method
- 1
Set 6 washed 250 ml jars to heat in simmering water in the canner — do not boil them — and wash the lids in warm soapy water.
- 2
Wash the green tomatoes (a child’s job) and dip them in boiling water about a minute, then into cold water. Green skins do not always slip; peel with a paring knife where they cling. Core and chop, and measure 7 cups.
- 3
Gloves on for the peppers: stem, seed and finely chop as many as you want between 5 and 10. Chop the onion, garlic and cilantro.
- 4
Combine the tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic and lime juice in a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir in the cilantro, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, lower the heat and simmer 5 minutes.
- 5
Ladle the hot salsa into a hot jar, leaving 1.25 cm (½ inch) headspace. Free bubbles with a chopstick, wipe the rim, centre the lid and screw the band on fingertip-tight. Repeat.
- 6
Lower the jars into the canner with at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) of water over the lids, cover, bring to a full rolling boil and process 20 minutes at 0–300 m.
- 7
Turn off the heat, uncover and wait 5 minutes. Lift the jars onto a towel, leave 12–24 hours without touching the bands, and check the seals.
Keeps: 12–18 months in a cool dark cupboard. Refrigerate after opening and use within a week.
Variations: Five jalapeños makes a salsa most of the family can eat; ten habaneros is a different animal. The cilantro cooks out somewhat — add a fresh handful when you open a jar.
Tested source: Ball: Green Tomato Salsa Verde. Checked October 2026. If a jar did not seal, refrigerate it and use it within a few days. Never taste anything from a jar that is bulging, leaking, spurting or smells wrong — when in doubt, throw it out without tasting.
The crop
Tomatoes: when to pick, how to store, what else to make →
Tomatoes are the home canner’s classic, but they sit right on the acidity line: every tested canned-tomato recipe adds bottled lemon juice or citric acid to each jar, and that is not optional whether you water-bath or pressure can. Whole tomatoes freeze well with no blanching — the skins slip off under the tap as they thaw — which is the fastest way to deal with a glut on a weeknight. Cherry and paste tomatoes dry beautifully. What does not work is a sauce you have thickened with flour or loaded with extra peppers, onions and oil to taste: the added low-acid vegetables change the safety of the recipe, so follow a tested salsa or sauce recipe exactly. Green tomatoes are more acidic than ripe ones and can be canned by the same recipes, with the same added acid.
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