Make Your Own Salsa

By Mrs. Accountability on September 19th, 2008

One of my favorite quick meals are tacos. I can’t eat tacos without hot sauce but we always keep the ingredients on hand to make it. We try to buy all staple ingredients when they are on sale, so of course that lowers the cost of the recipe being made. Here are some cost comparisons:

Pickled Jalapenos $0.79 to $1.39+
Diced Tomatoes $0.50 to $1.29+
Tomato Sauce $0.10 to $0.39+
Onions 3#/$1 to $0.99/$1
Garlic – $0.25/head to $0.79/head+

There are about twenty jalapenos in a can, and I only use two. So the cost for the jalapenos (sale price) comes to ~$0.04 each.

Jalapenos = $0.08 (for two)
Diced Tomatoes = $0.50
Tomato Sauce = $0.10
Onion = $0.15
Garlic $0.05

Eighty-eight cents for almost a full quart of salsa (if you get all your ingredients on sale).

The recipe I use is one my mom has had since I was a young child. If you buy hot sauce or salsa from the store, you know it can be a costly condiment. On sale we can find 16 ounces of salsa for $1.29. This recipe makes almost one quart for right under a dollar. The “cast of characters” pickled jalapenos, one 16 ounce can of petite cut tomatoes, 1 eight ounce can of tomato sauce, 3 cloves of garlic and 1 small onion.

Open and pour the cans of diced tomato and tomato sauce into your blender. Drop in two jalapenos (less or more according to your taste for heat). Remove the skins from three cloves of garlic. Crush the garlic with a knife (lay the garlic on its side, place the knife on the garlic clove and smack with the palm of your hand). Cut the onion into quarters.