Salsa Safety

When canning salsa use only recipes provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) or your county Cooperative Extension office. DO NOT use recipes printed before 1988.

To be safe, all water-bath canned salsa MUST include the addition of vinegar or lemon juice.

Use ONLY the amounts of each vegetable listed in the salsa recipe, however:

• You may change one variety or peppers for another to suit your taste.
• DO NOT increase the total amount of peppers.
• Spices, such as cilantro and oregano may be changed for milder or stronger flavors.
• DO NOT change the amount of onion or garlic.
• Tomatillos or green tomatoes may be subsituted for tomatoes in any recipe.

DO NOT water-bath peppers, they must be pressure canned.

If a USDA or Cooperative Extension salsa recipe has not bee used, a pressure canner MUST be used instead of water-bath canning. The salsa should be hot packed into pint or half-pint jars. DO NOT use quart jars. Process in a pressure canner 35 minutes at 10 pounds pressure, if using a weighted gauge or 11 pounds pressure with a dial gauge.

Untested salsa recipes may also be frozen or eaten fresh.

Pepper Hotness Scale

DO NOT increase the total amount of peppers in any canning recipe. However, you may substitute one variety of peppers for another to suit you taste.

Whatcom County Home Page | Whatcom County Families Page | Whatcom County Master Food Preserver Program