This particular salsa is popular in the north, or Sonoran part of Mexico, because of its use of Anaheim green chiles. Starting at age seven it was my job to make salsa for our family, which I did at least once a week for ten years. This is the recipe we used, the only difference between now and the mid-60s is that now you can get some very good canned “fire-roasted” tomatoes, perfect for salsa making.

Salsa Made with Canned Tomatoes

This salsa uses almost all pantry ingredients. You’ll need canned tomatoes, green chiles, olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, garlic or garlic powder, salt, pepper, green onions, and cilantro. Why used canned tomatoes? If you live where we do, and in most places in the U.S., you can only get great fresh tomatoes maybe 2 months out of the year. If you do have access to good tomatoes and want to make the effort to roast them yourself, go for it! Put several tomatoes under a broiler until the skin is blistered all over, remove from the oven, let cool, remove the skin. You can do the same with the Anaheim chiles.

Easy Enough for a Child to Make

Yet, the beauty of this recipe is that it is something a 7-year old can make in about 10 minutes — pretty useful when you are trying to get dinner on the table. And speaking of dinner, the way we usually serve our salsa? with steak and refried beans.

More Great Salsa Recipes

Like salsa? Check out these other terrific salsa recipes:

Canned Tomato Salsa Tomatillo salsa verde Fresh tomato salsa fresca Corn Salsa Mango Salsa

Add back in about 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce from the can of whole tomatoes. Sprinkle with about 1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano. Mix in and taste. Adjust if needed. Add cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate when not using. Will keep several days.