If canned and stored properly, home canned items will last for years. Home canned salsa doesn't have preservatives that store bought has, and you can season it to taste.
I made salsa this summer and just finished my last jar recently. I think that if you can it correctly, it should last for about a year. I wouldn't try to make it last longer than that.
My friend found a bunch of jars of salsa in the boxes which she thought had empty canning jars. It was several years old. It looked and smelled fine but she emptied it all in the trash anyhow. Better safe than sorry.
Here is my friend's salsa recipe that I posted on ThriftyFun. I may make another batch before summer if I can get my hands on a bunch of tomatoes. Yum!
As far as cooking before hand or not, I think the tomatoes have to be cooked a bit to be canned. If you want fresh, you could freeze whole tomatoes and make up a quart or 2 as needed; yes the tomatoes were frozen but would probably make up satisfactorily.
I canned salsa with my sis in law and it was so good, and so nice to have all winter. It didn't last long.
The benefit of canning is: you have it when you need it, and provided you used the tomatoes when perfectly ripe [pick a lot, can as they ripen, ripen on cardboard under a sheet or old blanket] the flavor will be great, and the nutrition at it's peak. As for saving money, probably not much, but if you have canned foods and a large bill, you can buy the minimum groceries and take care of that bill that month.
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Request: Canning Fresh Salsa (01/19/2010)
I have a recipe for fresh salsa. Can I seal it up in canning jars without cooking the tomatoes beforehand or does it have to be cooked?
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Request: Canning Fresh Salsa
Archived on 01/19/2010
I have a recipe for fresh salsa. Can I seal it up in canning jars without cooking the tomatoes beforehand or does it have to be cooked?
Thanks. Wendy 23
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RE: Canning Fresh Salsa
If you want the jar with fresh salsa with uncooked tomatoes in it, it must be refrigerated and will stay good for a few days.
Sealing the jar will require heating the salsa (I simmer mine in a big pot on the stove for a hour to an hour and a half) and packing the hot salsa into a hot jar and placing a lid on it. This will seal the salsa and you will then be able to place this sealed jar on your pantry shelf.
Raw tomatoes in a salsa, left uncooked and in a jar on the shelf in the pantry will spoil and you will end up throwing it out. (09/01/2005)
I think canning fresh salsa defeats the whole purpose of making fresh salsa. If I want cooked salsa, there are many good ones in the grocery store. Right now is tomato season and I am making fresh salsa by the gallon. We are enjoying all we can eat freshly made.
I take leftovers each time I am ready to make a new batch, spoon it into ice cube trays and freeze. Empty each ice cube try into a sandwich size Ziplock. Expel as much air as possible and seal. Place as many packages as will fit into a gallon size Ziplock labeled "Fresh Salsa" and return to your freezer. You will be able to enjoy fresh salsa all winter. Just remove one small bag, empty into a container, thaw, and enjoy.
