Canning salsa verde is the perfect way to preserve a bumper crop of tomatillos. Pull a jar out of the pantry for a tasty dip, use it as a tomatillo enchilada sauce, or add a jar to a hearty winter pork stew.
No matter how you use it, home-canned tomatillo sauce adds amazing flavor to dishes all year long.
Tomatillos are one of those garden vegetables that even brown thumb gardeners just can’t seem to kill. They’re known to produce 10 lbs or more per plant, meaning you’ll need to preserve most of your yields to keep them from spoiling before you can get to them.
The first year we planted tomatillos, the rest of our garden failed and we let the plot go to the weeds. It was actually a hayfield before we tilled it under, so back to hayfield it went.
Later that year, we were out walking in the high grass and we felt a crunch under our feet. Low and behold, a hearty crop of tomatillos waiting for us under chest-high grass.
We harvested 40 lbs of tomatillos from 8 plants completely untended and buried in the grass!
Harvesting tomatillos from volunteer plants growing at the edge of the woods.
Since that first year, we’ve had volunteer tomatillo plants pop up in the garden, on the lawn, and around the edge of the driveway every single year.
Those volunteer plants produce many pounds of fruit, even growing unwatered and unfertilized from gravel soil. If there was ever a plant for post-apocalyptic gardening, this is it!
More than once I’ve been given a trash bag full from neighbors or friends that wanted to try growing them but didn’t know what they were getting themselves into.
A volunteer tomatillo plant growing alongside a gravel driveway, in a patch of grass and weeds.
What is Salsa Verde?
Green sauce (Salsa Verde) is a spicy sauce traditionally made with tomatillos, onions, and lime juice.
The lime juice is added both for flavor, and to increase the acidity so that this recipe can be water bath canned.
Chili peppers, cilantro, and cumin provide the dominant flavors.
Try slow cooking a pork shoulder in the crockpot covered in salsa verde, or make a quick weeknight batch of green sauce enchiladas.
Tomatillo Sauce Recipe Variations
This recipe for canning tomatillo salsa is a safe tested recipe that comes from So Easy to Preserve, which is put out by the University of Georgia. There’s a very similar small batch recipe published in the book Preserving By the Pint which focuses on recipes using just small, farmer’s market quantities of fruits and vegetables.
Most tested tomatillo salsa recipes use white vinegar instead of lime juice, which results in a harsh flavor (in my opinion).
I was really happy when I found a tested recipe for canning tomatillo salsa without vinegar, and I think the lime works wonderfully in the finished green sauce.
I’ve had a number of people send me notes with questions about changing this recipe, and how it would affect canning safety. While it’s possible to change any canning recipe if you know the principles of safe canning, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you really understand what’s going on with the food chemistry.
It’s important to note that while some studies suggest that tomatillos are acidic enough for water bath canning, the other ingredients in this recipe are not. Both onions and peppers are low acid foods, and they require the lime juice in this recipe for safe water bath canning.
The ratios in this recipe are very specific, and you cannot skip the peppers and add more onions (or vice versa). You can, however, omit the peppers, onions, or spices.
You can also substitute one type of pepper for another, using all sweet peppers or hot peppers interchangeably.
Ingredients for Canning Tomatillo Sauce ~ Do not adjust proportions!
You can substitute citric acid dissolved in water for the lime juice, but you’d have to use quite a bit. One teaspoon of citric acid is equal to 1/4 cup citrus juice, so you’d need to add at least 4 teaspoons to this recipe.
If you’re really set on making this sauce without lime juice or another acid, for whatever reason, the salsa verde must be pressure canned. I couldn’t say how long, since there’s no tested recipe for pressure canning tomatillo sauce, but my best guess would be to follow instructions for pressure canning onions which require 40 minutes at 10 pounds pressure (under 1000 feet in elevation).
Again, there’s no tested recipe so use your best judgment and know it’s at your own risk.
We can plain whole tomatillos for pork stew in the wintertime.
In theory, if you omit the low acid ingredients (onions, garlic, chili, and spices) it’s possible to just can tomatillo puree with a water bath canner with no other ingredients. There are studies that show that tomatillos are acidic enough for canning on their own without added acidity.
The national center for food preservation still suggests adding citrus juice to pints of whole canned tomatillos at a rate of 1 tablespoon per pint or 2 tablespoons per quart. Growing conditions can impact the acidity of fruits, and they provide similar recommendations in tomato canning recipes.
I’d still suggest that you still add the acidity if you choose to can tomatillo puree.
Know that there’s no specific tested recipe for canning tomatillo puree, the only tested recipe is for canning whole tomatillos in water. If you do choose to try canning tomatillo puree, obviously it’s at your own risk, use your best judgment.
That said, tomatillo and lime go really well together and the spices/onion/salt are all really wonderful in this recipe.
The lime juice really does add wonderful flavor, in my opinion, it just wouldn’t be as good without it!
I’ve been using this recipe for years and it’s really good as it is. The lime juice adds wonderful flavor to the finished salsa verde, and the onions and peppers are essential as well, in my opinion.
Salsa Verde Recipe for Canning
Canning salsa verde is the perfect way to preserve a bumper crop of tomatillos. Pull a jar out of the pantry for a tasty dip, use it as a tomatillo enchilada sauce, or add a jar to a hearty winter pork stew.
Ingredients
- 5 cups tomatillos, husked & chopped
- 1 1/2 cups bell pepper or other sweet pepper, chopped
- 1/2 cup hot peppers, chopped (such as jalapeno)
- 4 cups onion, diced
- 1 cup lime juice (or lemon juice)
- 1 whole garlic bulb, peeled and minced
- 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
- 3 Tbsp. dried oregano leaves
- 1 Tbsp. salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
Instructions
1. Combine all ingredients in a large stockpot and bring to a simmer on the stove. Simmer for 20 minutes to an hour to allow the tomatillos to break down and flavors to meld. Taste and adjust salt accordingly.
2. Ladle sauce into prepared pint mason jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace, and process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes for pints. (Adjust for altitude)
3. Remove from the canner and allow to cool at room temperature before checking seals to make sure all jars have properly sealed. Place any unsealed jars in the refrigerator for immediate use.
Notes
This canning recipe is adapted from So Easy to Preserve by the University of Georgia. Do not adjust the proportions of ingredients in the recipe if you intend on canning green sauce.
Water Bath Canning Recipes
Looking for more easy canning recipes? Look no further…
- Canning Oranges
- Canning Peaches
- Classic Dill Pickles Canning Recipe
- Old Fashioned Grape Jam
- Canning Lemon Curd
- Canning Apple Pie Filling
- Pickled Peppers
And if you want to keep all the heat and steam out of your house, consider setting up an outdoor canning kitchen!
Food Preservation Tutorials
Canning food at home is just the beginning…
- How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar
- Beginners Guide to Cheesemaking
- Beginners Guide to Lacto-Fermentation
- How to Make Mead (Honey Wine)
Chloe
This is our first year at our garden. The squirrels broke in and ate everything except the tomatillo plants. I had really given up and was ready to write the whole year off but these five plants fooled me. I’ve already harvested 40lbs with more to come!
Thanks for this recipe that’s measured in pounds not cups. It’s very difficult converting 40lbs of tomatillos into salsa using recipes that call for 2 or 4 cups.
Natalie
Hello,
I would love to make this recipe, but was wondering if you can recommend how long to process half pints?
Thank you!
Natalie
Ashley Adamant
Good question! I should add that to the article. The process time for half pints is 15 minutes, same as pints. Thanks for asking.
Julie
Can I half this recipe?
Ashley Adamant
Yes.
Elide
Hi there! I have been making my own salsa for a while but never canned it. I have a question, I hate putting lemon or vinegar in my salsa, Could I pressure can it instead of water bath and leave out the vinegar/lemon juice? If so, I wonder how to pressure can salsa, I guess you can say I’m a beginner who purchased a very expensive pressure canner about 5 years ago and used it once. I’d love to pressure can salsa but still not sure how. Thanks in advance!
Ashley Adamant
Good question! The main reason this recipe needs to much vinegar is because of all the low acid onions. Tomatillos are high acid, can be water bath canned without added acid (method here). If you remove the onions and garlic, you can just can the tomatillos as a puree in a water bath canner. That may not be what you’re hoping for though.
If you want to make this recipe but without any vinegar or citrus juice for added acidity, know that there’s no safe tested recipe specifically for pressure canning tomatillo sauce that I can find. If I were doing it, I’d follow the instructions for canning the least acidic ingredient (onions in this case). You can find that here: https://www.clemson.edu/extension/food/canning/canning-tips/31preserving-onions-garlic.html
It says can in quarts of pints at 10 pounds pressure for 40 minutes, adjusting for altitude.
Barclay
I have never followed anyone on any social media platform.myour tomatillo recipe and other ones on your site encouraged me to do. There was a local restaurant owner called Ninfa here. She started making tortillas, the started a restaurant that was wildly successful…the eventually was sold and began to collapse. Ninfa’s green sauce is not only famous but could be a good foundation use for your tomatillo sauce.
Donna
I am excited to make this! My question is: would roasting the ingredients on the grill enhance the flavor or detract from it?
Ashley Adamant
I’d say that would improve the flavor and sounds lovely. Enjoy!
Laurie
can I use mrs wages citric asid for this recipe
Ashley Adamant
Yes, you can use an alternate acid source, just make sure you use enough to equal the lime juice in the recipe. Onions are low acid, so you need to add quite a bit to make this acidic enough for water bath canning.
Ivan Radic
May i use green tomatoes instead of tomatillos?
Ashley Adamant
I did a bit of research, and it looks like you can (Though I’ve never done it). I assumed they’d be less acidic green, and develop acidity as they ripened. It’s just the opposite, apparently, green tomtatoes are much more acidic than ripe ones, and they lose acidity as they ripen. I’m not sure if the canning time would be the same for whole green tomatoes, and you’d have to look into that a bit to be sure. More information on canning green tomatoes here: https://www.healthycanning.com/green-tomato-canning-recipes/
Maria Cristina Cuerda
Hi. Thanks for this recipe. If I want to use your recipe but pressure can it, will it taste weird? I want to make a salsa with lime juice and onions and peppers and pressure can it. If I include the lime juice will it taste weird if I pressure can it?
Thanks!
Ashley Adamant
I think it should do just fine pressure canned. Good luck!
Erik Harding
Thank you so much for a recipe in pounds!! I’m excited to try this today.
For tomatillo pH, I found this article last year and I wanted to share it.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9839810/
I’m still adding the lime juice for the flavor, but this indicates it may not be needed for pH.
Lynne
Thanks for posting this recipe. Sorry if I missed this above, but can you say how many pints this recipe makes?
Administrator
No worries, it’s 12 pints.
Ashley Adamant
I’ve recently adjusted the recipe to be a bit smaller, now it makes 5 pints. You can double the recipe though, to make 10 pints at a time if you’d like.
Annie
It looks like you also adjusted it away from using pounds to using cups. Can you please include the weight measurements too? They are so helpful for scaling the recipe. Thank you!
Administrator
It looks like the recipe was altered to make it smaller and in the process needed to change the measurements from pounds to cups. If you are wanting to measure in pounds instead, you can weigh out the ingredients as they are listed and adjust the recipe accordingly.
Nicole
Would omitting the cilantro have an effect on the safe water bath canning of this recipe? Not a fan of cilantro so I was looking to make my own verde without it 🙂
Administrator
You can absolutely leave the cilantro out and not affect the safety of the recipe.
Nancy Welliver
I am allergic to onions. Could I use Shallots or leeks instead?
Ashley Adamant
I’d assume so?
Robert E. RAMSEY-LEWIS
May I substitute lime juice with lemon juice?
Administrator
Yes you can. Lime juice is slightly more acidic than lemon juice so you may not be able to substitute lemon for lime but you can substitute lime for lemon.
Lisa
Your recipe sounds yummy, much less acidic than many I’ve seen. Can’t wait to make it. My question is can you decrease the amount of onions used and increase the amount of peppers as long as you don’t increase the total amount of them? For example, use 2 cups less onions and 2 more cups peppers? Thanks!
Ashley Adamant
Unfortunately, no. The onions are actually a good bit more acidic than the peppers naturally, so it’d impact the pH of the final recipe. Onions also cook a bit differently, so it’d impact the texture too, which may affect how heat travels through the jars during canning.
There may be enough acidity in the recipe to make that work, but there’s no way to know for sure since it’s not a tested recipe.
Robin
This made really delicious green salsa! I am going to make my third batch today. We really love to use this for chips and salsa and to make green chicken enchiladas. The whole website is cool and I’m going to be using it for other recipes.
Ashley Adamant
Wonderful, so glad you’re enjoying it!
Michelle
I made this an its very good however I am concerned about canning it as you stated it would make 12 pints and I ended up with 3pints. I am unsure if it will be safe to eat in 6 months. I’m perplexed! I am water bath canning!
Administrator
The original recipe made 12 pints but the recipe was adjusted for 5 pints. Did you follow the recipe using the pound measurement or the 5 cups?
BobB
Cilantro??? I actually had cilantro in my prep for this recipe. …When I finished canning I tried the salsa and …though good …something was missing. I then noticed a bag of cilantro left on my counter …the missing ingredient.
HAVEN’T YOU NOTICED CILANTRO, though you talk about it, IS not INCLUDED IN YOUR WRITTEN RECIPE ???
I was disappointed after an entire evening of busy work preparing this recipe. I believe my 6 pints would have been a whole lot better with the cilantro!
Please correct this problem (either include the cilantro in the recipe or leave it out of your narrative.)
BobB
Administrator
Looking at some of the comments, it seems as though cilantro was probably included in the original recipe but may have been accidentally omitted when the recipe was re-sized for a smaller batch. We will try to get that corrected as soon as we can. Thanks so much for catching that.
BobB
And …its 12 1/2 pints or 6 full pints not 12 pints.
BobB
Nicole
Loved the recipe and actually omitted the cilantro as I am one of those people who despises the chemical taste of cilantro. So for folks who cannot handle the taste of cilantro omitting it in this recipe is okay and it still turns out great!