The little town we live in is known for their abundance of tomatoes. We celebrate “Tomato Days” here every year, it’s such a fun tradition and we love our little community so much!
Needless to say, we plant a lot of tomatoes around here. We usually have a wonderful crop of beautiful red tomatoes. I use them up and can as much as I can (pun intended), but I always feel so sad at the end of the season to see those green tomatoes hanging there knowing they won’t get their chance to shine before the hard freeze hits.
Until I found this recipe…..
I stumbled upon several similar recipes, including one from the Ball Website. But I changed things up and made it my own and WOW! Not to toot my own horn or anything but… Nailed it!
We use this green tomato salsa verde in so many ways! I use it in chicken enchiladas, chicken enchilada soup (I’ll share soon!), in the crockpot over chicken or a pork roast, on top of a block of cream cheese with chips, and probably our most favorite is to eat it in a breakfast burrito! YUM! Any recipe that calls for “green sauce” I swap out with this!
I haven’t been canning for too long so I am definitely not a pro so please do your own research and do what you feel is best for you in terms of how to can this and how much acidity to add. I like to error on the side of caution because I prefer the water bath canning method, but use your own judgement.
I feel so much satisfaction using up those green tomatoes that would otherwise just go to waste! Your house is gonna smell AMAZING!
Feel free to spice this up if you want to! My kids are still little so they don’t really like anything too spicy, but this would be awesome with a nice kick to it!
How do you use up the green tomatoes in your garden? Comment below!
Green Tomato Salsa Verde
Alright, let’s get started with this green goodness. Make sure you pick your green tomatoes BEFORE the frost hits. I picked all of mine the day we tilled the garden under and kept them in the garage for a few days until I was ready to can. A few turned yellow and some even red while in there and I threw a few in the sauce no biggie!
Wash all your tomatoes really good. I fill up the sink with water and give them all a good scrub. Remove all the stems and quarter them. While you’re at it, wash up those peppers and brace yourself to chop onions! (They make me cry so bad!)
I quarter all my veggies and then throw them in the food processor. We don’t mind a smooth sauce here, but if you like yours a little more chunky go for it!
Combine all your veggies, lime juice, and seasonings in a large stock pot. Simmer until the onions are soft. (Around 30 min)
In the meantime, fill up your water bath canner about half full and bring to a boil. This is the one that I use and I love it!
When it comes to sterilizing jars and lids I do it 1 of 2 ways:
- I run them in my dishwasher on the sanitize or high temp wash cycle in the morning and leave the door closed until I’m ready to use the jars.
- I wash all my jars, rings, and lids, in hot soapy water . Then, I put them all on a large cookie sheet and put them in a 225* oven for 10 min. Then, I shut the oven off and leave the jars until I’m ready. One benefit of this is that when I pull the jars out of the oven, I leave them on the cookie sheet while I fill the jars and it makes for a little bit easier clean up.
Green Tomato Salsa Verde
Equipment
- Canning equipment
Ingredients
- 3-4 Gallons Green tomatoes
- 3 Large Onions
- 3 Large Bell peppers
- 4 tbsp Minced garlic
- 1/2 cup Lime juice
- 4 tbsp Cumin
- 4 tbsp Salt
- 2-4 Peppers of choice (heat preference)
- 1-2 small cans diced green chilis (I have made this without them as well and haven't noticed much of a difference)
Instructions
- Wash and core all green tomatoes ( I leave the skins on)
- Process in food processor
- Wash and chop (process) onion, bell pepper, other peppers
- Combine in large stock pot
- Add green chilis (optional), salt, cumin, lime juice, and minced garlic
- Cook over med-low heat until onions are soft
- Add 1 tbsp of lime juice to each jar to insure safe acidity level
- Ladle into pint jars (can do quarts too, just add 2 tbsp of lime juice in each jar and increase processing time)
- Process jars for 20-30 min.
Notes
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Amanda,
This sounds like a yummy recipe. I only wish I had my green tomatoes. We threw them out before I read this because I didn’t know what to do with them. But there is always next year. I know that Jeff and Jill’s cousin Katy had a recipe for green tomato jelly. I might ask her about it. It’s been a long long time since she told us about it.
Keep up the great job.
Oh darn it! Next year for sure! Green tomato jelly sounds yummy too! Thanks Lisa!