Preserve Home Canned Salsa Safely

From Tammy Roberts, Nutrition and Health Education Specialist

It’s salsa time and many people are spending long hours in the kitchen skinning tomatoes and chopping peppers and onions all so they can enjoy garden-fresh salsa in the middle of winter. It is important to know the rules for keeping your home-canned salsa safe.

“Always use tested recipes when making home-canned salsa” said Tammy Roberts from University of Missouri Extension. “A tested recipe assures there is enough acidity for safe processing in a boiling water bath.”

You can find tested recipes at the National Center for Home Food Preservation website at www.nchfp.uga.edu. University of Missouri Extension’s guide sheet Tantalizing Tomatoes has a recipe for salsa. It can be found at www.extension.missouri.edu/publications. If you are using a family recipe that has not been tested, the recommendation for safe preservation is freezing.

When using a tested recipe, there are some things you can change and some things you cannot change.

Never change the amount of acid in a salsa recipe. Acid in salsas helps to preserve them. It usually comes in the form of lemon juice, lime juice or vinegar. Use only vinegar that has 5% acidity and only bottled lemon or lime juice. The acidity in fresh-squeezed lemon or lime juice varies so you can’t trust that the end product would have the needed amount of acidity for safety. It is OK to substitute an equal amount of bottled lemon juice for vinegar in salsa recipes but not OK to substitute vinegar for lemon juice. Substituting vinegar for lemon juice results in less acid and is potentially unsafe.

It is OK to substitute one type of pepper for another in a salsa recipe but not OK to increase the number of pounds or cups of peppers in the recipe. It is the same with onions. You can substitute red, yellow or white onions for each other but not increase the amount. Increasing the amount of peppers or onions can impact the acidity of the end product making it potentially unsafe.

Canned salsas should not be thickened with flour or cornstarch before canning. “Thickening makes is harder for the contents to reach the right temperature during processing and impacts safety” said Roberts. She recommends you thicken the salsa when you open the jar. Or, just pour off some of the liquid when you serve it.

Salsa can be a wonderful part of meals and snacks. Just be sure to follow safe guidelines for making a preserving salsa so you can safely enjoy yours throughout the year.