Salsa. The fresh side that can pair with breakfast, lunch & dinner. We snack on salsa with chips nonstop. One of the things I love about salsa is you can use various tomatoes such as tomatillos and different types of peppers to switch up the heat levels. Plus, we use salsa on everything from breakfast tacos to brisket tacos. In true Meat Church fashion, we are going to smoke the vegetables first to create a tasty smoked salsa. We use a pellet grill with hickory pellets in this how-to video. However, if you would prefer the salsa very smoky then you can smoke this in an offset smoker or use a heavier smoke wood such as mesquite or oak.
In this recipe & video I use 10 jalapeño peppers which will create a medium heat level. If you would prefer your salsa mild, use 5. If you want your salsa hot, go with 15 – 20 peppers or a hotter pepper such has habanero.
This recipe will yield approximately 7, 16-ounce jars of salsa. These make great gifts!
Meat Church How To YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/iEp4Q5cvFow
Ingredients:
- 25 medium roma tomatoes, halved
- 10 medium jalapeño peppers, halved
- 2 medium white onion, quartered
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 bunch cilantro, stems off
- 1 lime
- 3 T Meat Church Gourmet Season Salt
- 3 T Accent (MSG)
- You can sub all 6T above with 6T salt
Tools
- Blender or food processor
- Large bowl
- Mason jars to store
Prepare your Smoker
Prepare your smoker at a temperature of 225 with a medium smoking wood or pellet such as hickory or pecan. We used a Traeger Timberline XL with hickory pellets in this video.
Smoke the Veg
Place the tomatoes, onions and peppers on a wire rack and place in the smoker. Slice the end off the head of garlic, wrap in foil and also place it in the smoker.
Smoke for 90 – 120 minutes to get a good smoke flavor being sure not to overcook or shrivel the vegetables. We went 2 hours in this video.
Remove the vegetables from the smoker and allow to cool.
Blend the salsa
You may need to split this step into batches depending on the size of your food processor. I split the vegetables evenly amongst two batches in this video.
Place half of the tomatoes, onions & jalapeños into a food processor. Squeeze the roasted garlic out. Add half of it and half of the cilantro.
Add half of the seasoning.
Squeeze in the juice of half of one lime.
Pulse until desired consistency. Pour the salsa into a large bowl.
Blend another batch with remaining vegetables, seasoning and lime juice.
Add to the bowl and stir. Add more salt to taste if needed.
Pour the salsa into jars and place into the refrigerator. Much like chili, we think this Smoked Salsa is best the next day.
We love it with chips or in all sorts of tacos!
Enjoy!!