Smoked Salsa
On August 02, 2019 (Updated May 11, 2024)
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This Smoked Salsa is an amazing way to enjoy classic salsa infused with smoky flavor. Fresh tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, and garlic are smoked and then blended with herbs and spices to create a salsa that packs a punch.
Homemade Smoked Salsa
I love to make homemade salsa. Even better than homemade salsa is this homemade smoked salsa. Here at Hey Grill Hey we like to smoke just about everything, salsa included. It’s a great way to use up fresh tomatoes (especially when your crop is ripe from your garden!), and it is great as a appetizer, as well as topped high on breakfast burritos, tacos and so much more. I personally think it would taste killer on my Grilled Sweet Potato Nachos. If a recipe calls for salsa, I highly recommend trying this smoked version.
Smoking the tomatoes, garlic, onion, and jalapeno straight on the grill grates gives you a rich, smoky flavor that really rounds out your salsa. Believe me when I say smoking the vegetables first really takes this salsa to a crazy delicious level. Fresh salsa is delicious on its own, and this added smoke gives is that final kick of BBQ flavor that is definitely worth trying.
Ingredients for Smoked Salsa
This salsa only requires 7 ingredients. It’s incredibly tasty, and unlike any salsa you’ve ever had before. In my opinion, this salsa tastes amazing with fresh-picked tomatoes from your garden. In fact, I’m eyeing a few in my backyard that are just begging to be smoked and made into this salsa.
- Steak tomatoes
- Red onion
- Jalapeno
- Garlic cloves
- Fresh cilantro
- Lime juice
- Salt
How to Make Smoked Salsa
Smoked salsa takes a little bit of extra work and prep time vs. making fresh salsa, but I feel it is totally worth it. Follow these steps to make your own smoked salsa at home:
- Prep the veggies. Cut the tomatoes and onion into large wedges that won’t fall through your grill grates. Remove the seeds and ribs from your jalapeno if you want a milder salsa, and leave them in if you’re wanting some extra heat. If you are worried about your veggies slipping through the grates on your smoker, leave the big wedge slices of the tomato on the grates and put the rest of the veggies in a vegetable basket.
- Smoke! Place the veggies directly on the grill grates of your smoker (or in the vegetable basket) and smoke for 90 minutes at 225 degrees F.
- Blend and enjoy. Add the smoked tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, and whole garlic cloves to a blender jar or food processor. Add in the cilantro, lime juice, and salt and pulse until blended. I like to leave my salsa a bit chunky, but feel free to blend until it reaches your desired consistency.
This salsa can be eaten immediately if you like hot salsa, or you can allow it to cool for 24 hours in a lidded glass jar. This salsa tastes amazing when allowed to rest for a day to let the flavor mix and meld well, but I totally understand if you can’t wait a day before diving into this amazing treat.
More Fresh Salsa Recipes
I’m a big fan of salsa to add some spice and sweetness to my recipes. Check out these other recipes that use a fruit salsa to give them a kick of flavor:
Himalayan Salted Flank Steak with Grilled Pineapple Salsa
Cedar Plank Salmon with Mango Salsa
Smoked Salsa Recipe
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Smoked Salsa
Video
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees F.
- Place tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, and whole garlic cloves directly on the grill grates. Close the lid and smoke for 90 minutes.
- Add smoked tomatoes, onion, jalapeno and whole garlic to a blender jar or food processor. Add in the lime juice, cilantro, and salt and pulse until salsa reaches desired consistency.
- Add salt to taste. Eat immediately if you like hot salsa. For cold salsa, transfer to a lidded glass jar and refrigerate for 24 hours before serving. This salsa tastes great when allowed to sit for a bit of time to allow all the flavors to combine.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hey Susie,
After the tomatoes are smoked, does the skin peel off easily? I generally cook my salsa and freeze small containers of it. I planned to smoke all my different peppers (red bell, banana, jalapeño & serrano), onion and garlic but hadn’t considered tomatoes! I also thought I may crank up the grill after smoking to put a little char on the peppers. If the tomatoes are smoked, do you think they will retain that smokiness if cooked further?
Yes, the skin comes off easily and they will definitely keep the smoky flavor!
Hey Susie,
Your recipe sounds So Amazing!! I just have a couple of questions: Can this recipe be made without a smoker? Since I don’t have one & we are still sheltering at home, do you have any other suggestions/directions for making this recipe by a different method? Thank you in advance for your help!! You Rock!!! <3
If you have a grill and some decent wood around, you can chunk some up and throw it on the coals or in a foil packet and smoke them thy way. Otherwise, you could at least roast the veggies in the oven and give them a little flavor thy way.
Look into getting a smoking tube to use on your grill.
You can easily do hot or cold smokes with one!
1/4 cup of red onion doesn’t even make sense. Is that a typo? Should it be 1/4 of a whole red onion wedge?
It does make sense. It says right in the recipe at the bottom “1/4 cup red onion – cut into a wedge.” Just make sure you grill enough of a red onion to get a quarter cup out of it.
Its the Friday before The Superbowl and I just finished my shopping for my game muchies. I will be smoking a Boston Butt Saturday and might as well smoke up the veggies before I make salsa to go on the pulled pork tacos I will be eating Sunday
Who knew that something so easy to put together could be so good! This salsa is simply amazing. The different flavors of the ingredients roll in and out along with the smokiness. You really can’t go wrong. You’re going to want to double or triple the recipe to share with friends and family. I can’t wait to try it with tomatillos next. Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
What kind of wood did you smoke the veggies with ?
Does the recipe use wood chips?
It depends on how your smoker runs! I used a pellet smoker for this recipe.
Would your smoked salsa be abled to be preserved and stored for long time
You could if you water bath canned it! Google has some great information on that.
This sounds great. Any tips on storage in fridge and /or freezer? Thinking of making a bigger batch to use when needed for tacos, nachos etc.
Just make sure you put it in an airtight container!
This sounds so good. I will be BBQ’ing a duck this weekend and I will be definitely doing this salsa and the smoked deviled eggs. Thanks so much for the recipes.
Oh now that sounds amazing!