This salsa ranchera recipe is definitely a crowd-pleaser and a favorite at parties and potlucks. Simple ingredients like canned tomatoes, serranos, garlic, and cilantro make it super easy to prepare with a few whirls of your food processor. Serve this easy ranchera salsa with chips, in a California Burrito, over your Carne Asada Fries, or Chicken Enchiladas.
This salsa ranchera (which translates to "ranch-style" salsa) is surprisingly flavorful despite only needing a few simple ingredients! It's acidic, spicy, boldly flavorful, with a satisfying, slightly chunky texture.
It's no secret that we love a good salsa, like Salsa Macha and Tomatillo Green Chili Salsa, but our favorite is this salsa ranchera "receta", or "recipe" - that's your Spanish lesson for the day!
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🧐 Why This Recipe Works
- This recipe calls for canned tomatoes, rather than fresh, which makes it so easy and convenient to prepare!
- Unlike most ranchera salsa recipes, this one doesn't require any cooking! Just put it all in a food processor, blend, and enjoy! So quick and easy.
- You can easily adjust the spiciness of this recipe by adding more (or less) serranos & chipotle peppers.
- The star of this salsa ranchera is definitely the avocado chunks! I like my salsa spicy, and the cool & creamy avocado perfectly balances out the heat!
- You can make this salsa up to 3 days ahead of time. The acidity of the lime juice will keep the avocado chunks from turning brown!
What Is Salsa Ranchera?
🛒 What You Need For This Recipe
🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Tomatoes: This recipe calls for canned plum tomatoes, but you can also use diced tomatoes or fresh tomatoes.
- Peppers: Serranos, jalapenos, and chipotle peppers in adobo are all great options!
- Lime: You can also use lemon, but whichever you choose, make sure it's freshly squeezed!
- Garlic: Fresh garlic is one of the hallmark flavors of this salsa, so I wouldn't recommend substituting it.
- Green Onion: Or a small white onion.
*See recipe card below for full list of ingredients!
🍅 How to Make Salsa Ranchera
Step 1: Pour canned tomatoes into a food processor. Add roughly chopped garlic, cilantro, scallions, and peppers. Next, add salt, cumin, and the juice of one lime.
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Step 2: Pulse ingredients until blended but still slightly chunky.
Step 3: Slice the avocado in half and remove the seed. While still in its skin, slice the avocado in small cubes and scoop out with a spoon. Stir into salsa.
Pro Tip: Store salsa in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
This salsa ranchera goes great with tortilla chips, but why stop there? Here are some other great ways to enjoy it!
- Spoon it over huevos rancheros (ranch-style eggs) or this Mexican breakfast burrito
- On top of beef like steak or carne asada, or other grilled meats like pork, chicken, and fish.
- With green chicken enchiladas or Mexican casserole
- Drizzle over tacos de adobada or chile relleno
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Most Mexican restaurants serve a variety of salsas with Pico de Gallo being the most common. Another popular salsa is a green salsa known as Salsa Verde or tomatillo salsa.
Occasionally, restaurants have spicier salsa options, including Roasted Salsa, which is reserved for those who request a spicier salsa. We always ask for it!
There are various ways to add spice to your homemade salsa. The most obvious way is to add more peppers. But what if the peppers you added weren't as spicy as you had hoped or you don't have any more to add?
One option is to stir your favorite hot sauce into the salsa. You can also use crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper, or chipotle pepper powder.
If you have dried peppers (for example Arbol chilis) you can hydrate them in boiling water and then blend them into the salsa.
Many salsa recipes call for white onions instead of green onions/scallions. White onions are more traditional and are widely used in various salsa recipes.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- If you don't have a food processor, a blender may be used. It might be a little harder to control the texture of the salsa if it doesn't have a pulse option. Alternatively, you can mash the tomatoes by hand and chop the remaining ingredients.
- Be aware that not all canned tomatoes are equal. My favorite brand to use is Hunt's. Although other tomato brands may be used, I've found over the years that some contain too much sugar and give the salsa a sweet taste.
- If you prefer the flavor of roasted tomatoes, you can find fire-roasted tomatoes in a can.
- Feel free to use diced tomatoes to make this salsa. I use whatever I have on hand, but I prefer to use whole tomatoes when possible. Diced tomatoes can get over-processed.
- If you like the flavor of chipotle peppers, you can add 2 or more canned chipotle peppers. This not only gives the salsa a smokey flavor but ups the heat too!
🧄Related Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Salsa Ranchera Recipe
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 28 oz can whole plum tomatoes (or two 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes)
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro
- 4 scallions (or 1 small white onion)
- 2 Serrano peppers (or jalapenos)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- 1 medium lime (or lemon)
- 1 large avocado (up to two can be used)
Instructions
- Pour canned tomatoes into a food processor. Add roughly chopped garlic, cilantro, scallions, and peppers. Next, add salt, cumin, and the juice of one lime.
- Pulse ingredients until blended but still slightly chunky.
- Slice the avocado in half and remove the seed. While still in its skin, slice the avocado in small cubes and scoop out with a spoon. Stir into salsa.
Notes
-
- If you don't have a food processor, a blender may be used. It might be a little harder to control the texture of the salsa if it doesn't have a pulse option. Alternatively, you can mash the tomatoes by hand and chop the remaining ingredients.
- Be aware that not all canned tomatoes are equal. My favorite brand to use is Hunt's. Although other tomato brands may be used, I've found over the years that some contain too much sugar and give the salsa a sweet taste.
- If you prefer the flavor of roasted tomatoes, you can find fire-roasted tomatoes in a can.
- Feel free to use diced tomatoes to make this salsa. I use whatever I have on hand, but I prefer to use whole tomatoes when possible. Diced tomatoes can get over-processed.
- If you like the flavor of chipotle peppers, you can add 2 or more canned chipotle peppers. This not only gives the salsa a smokey flavor but ups the heat too!
Kelly Methey says
Yummy and so easy!!!!
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks KellY, I sure appreciate your review!!
Vida says
This recipe is so easy and does not require boiling or roasting the vegetables! The flavor is incredible. I use this in my carne guisada recipe, too. Thank you for sharing your recipe. Subscribed.
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Vida, Thank you so much for the review. I agree with you, I just LOVE this salsa!
Kelly Methey says
Yum,Yum,Yum!!! I love salsa of any kind and this looks like a great recipe to make since you can have most of these items on hand at all times!
HildaSterner says
Thanks, Kelly! Looking forward to the day when we're hanging together having chips and salsa!