5 Minute Rotel Salsa
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This 5 Minute Rotel Salsa recipe makes delicious, restaurant-style salsa with just a few simple ingredients. It will have you ditching the jarred stuff at the store. You can’t beat the bold, fresh flavors that come from making your own simple version at home!
Chips and a good salsa is my family’s go-to snack. Whether it’s movie night, game night, or just sitting around gossiping chips and salsa is probably on the table.
I have perfected this restaurant style salsa over the last few years and now you’ll always find a big jar of it in my refrigerator. And it’s not just for serving chips! I add it to my southwest chicken salad instead of (or along with) my creamy southwest salsa dressing, put a scoop on my air fryer potato skins or my Instant Pot baked potatoes, and top my oven chicken fajitas with it to finish them off.
Ingredients You’ll Need
When you make this salsa, you will need to have these ingredients on hand.
- Rotel – Rotel comes in a variety of heat levels and flavors, so you can choose your favorite. Sometimes I use a mix of original and habanero to make a HOT version, but usually I stick with 2 cans of Rotel Original and 1 can of Rotel diced tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro.
- Red onion – I love the bold flavor of raw red onion but you can substitute with a white onion if you prefer.
- Garlic – You’ll want to use freshly crushed or minced cloves.
- Jalapeno – I remove the ribs and seeds from the jalapeno to make it less spicy but a simple way to add a little more heat is to leave some of the seeds in when you add it to the salsa. You can also add more jalapeno or try other peppers like habanero for extra hot salsa. Just use it sparingly!
- Cilantro – This adds a bit of freshness to the salsa and I LOVE the taste but if you or someone you share your salsa with is one of those people that just can’t eat cilantro you can skip the ingredient.
- Lime juice – Along with the cilantro, lime helps to make the salsa taste fresh and light.
- Kosher salt – The salt helps to bring out the flavors of the salsa.
If you love a homemade salsa as much as we do make sure to try our mango avocado salsa, pineapple salsa, fresh pico de gallo, and even our cranberry salsa for the holidays!
Step-by-Step Instructions
This restaurant salsa recipe can’t be a 5 minute recipe with a bunch of steps. So here’s the simple two-step process for making the salsa.
Step 1 – Blend the ingredients. Place all of the ingredients in a blender and pulse until well mixed and no large chunks remain. If you really like it smooth, you can mix it a bit longer, but we find pulsing creates the best consistency.
Step 2 – Serve or store. Pour the salsa into a bowl and serve it immediately or pour it into a container with a lid and store in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Tip: The most important thing to remember is that there are no rules when it comes to salsa! If you like more lime then add it. If you like extra heat spice it up. We’ve given you a great base to start with but you can make this recipe your own.
What Does Restaurant Style Salsa Mean?
Restaurant style often means a couple of things in the United States. Typically, the salsa is not chunky, meaning you won’t find large pieces of tomatoes, onions, peppers, and so on. Instead, it is all pureed together like you might find at several popular Mexican restaurants.
Another reason it is restaurant style is that it uses minimal ingredients. It is also very quick to make and easy to store for future use.
How Do You Add Flavor to Salsa?
The key to salsa is using great ingredients. We use Rotel canned tomatoes and chiles, which has several varieties to choose from. We prefer to use the fire roasted tomatoes version for extra flavor. Since we use three cans, we often mix the original, fire roasted tomato, and cilantro and lime Rotels together for added flavor.
For more flavor, you can also increase the amount of any of the ingredients you like. Want more of a garlic flavor? Add a few more cloves. Want more heat? Add a few more jalapenos. You can increase whichever ingredients you want to make the salsa taste great to you.
If you want it spicier, don’t remove the ribs and seeds from your jalapeno before adding. These are what give the peppers its flavor. Just be careful! They can really heat up the salsa fast!
Should Salsa Be Cooked?
Salsa should not be cooked unless you are throwing it into a recipe that calls for it. The whole point of the salsa is to use raw ingredients for bold, bright flavors. Once you cook it, the flavors and consistency will change and create more of a sauce.
Though the sauce may be tasty and work well on top of tacos or burritos, it is not the same as a fresh salsa you scoop up with tortillas while enjoying a margarita. For added flair, place your chips and freshly made salsa on this chips and salsa serving plate.
How to Make it Ahead of Time
You can easily make this salsa a few days ahead of time. Just follow the instructions and then store in a sealed, airtight container in the fridge for about 5 to 7 days.
We DO NOT recommend freezing the salsa. Like cooking it, the salsa will lose some of its flavor and freshness when frozen.
What to Serve it With
First, let’s cover the most basic item here: good old fashioned tortilla chips. It’s especially good on a fresh batch of air fryer nachos!
Now that we have the obvious out of the way, let’s talk about some other recipes. We recommend adding this salsa into the Instant Pot Salsa Chicken recipe. Just substitute the salsa for this version.
You can also serve it right alongside some of our other Mexican-inspired favorites, like:
- Shredded Chicken Taco Bowl
- Pork Tacos
- Oven Chicken Fajitas
- Beef Enchilada Casserole
- Crock-Pot Chicken Enchiladas
- Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
- Chicken Tortilla Casserole
- Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Air Fryer Taquitos
- Air Fryer Nachos
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5 Minute Rotel Salsa
Ingredients
- 30 ounces Rotel, whatever flavor and heat level you prefer
- 4 ounces Red onion
- 2 cloves Garlic
- ½ Jalapeno
- ¼ cup Cilantro
- 2 tablespoons Lime juice
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender and pulse until well mixed and there are no large chunks.
- Pour into a container with a lid and store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Nutrition
