Although Habanero peppers rate high on the Scoville, you can still enjoy their flavor by making a mellower salsa using tomatoes, like in this Habanero Tomato Salsa. Habaneros have a unique flavor that deserves to be enjoyed – without feeling like you have a fire in your mouth!
Habanero Tomato Salsa Recipe
This is the very first salsa with Habaneros that I made many years ago when I was first introduced to them when I went to live in the south of Mexico. I remember that I didn’t know how hot they were, so I added 10 peppers to the salsa! That was certainly a lesson I’ll never forget. You can read more about that anecdote here.
This salsa is perfect to put on top of our Mexican “Antojitos”, like tostadas, sopes, crispy tacos, and the like. And since this salsa is fried, it will keep well in the fridge for at least 4 days.
How to make Habanero Tomato Salsa
NOTES:
- This will be a little mild for some, so if you’d like it spicier, add an extra habanero pepper.
DIRECTIONS:
- Place the tomatoes and the habanero pepper in a small saucepan and cover with water.
- Gently simmer the tomatoes and pepper until they are soft and cooked, about 15 minutes at medium heat.
- Place the cooked tomato, habanero pepper (stem removed), garlic clove, and ½ cup of the cooking water into a blender. Process until you have a smooth sauce.
- Heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion. Cook the onion until it becomes transparent, about 2-3 minutes. Pour the blended sauce in and keep cooking for 6-8 minutes.
Season with salt and serve.
Other recipes with Habanero pepper here on the blog are Chocolate habaneros Salsa, Creamy Habanero salsa, Habanero Tomatillo Salsa.
For recipes in Spanish, check this link HERE.
📖 Recipe
Habanero Tomato Salsa
Ingredients
- 2 plum tomatoes
- 1 Habanero pepper*
- 1 small garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Place the tomatoes and the habanero pepper in a small saucepan and cover with water.
- Gently simmer the tomatoes and pepper until they are soft and cooked, about 15 minutes at medium heat.
- Place the cooked tomato, habanero pepper (stem removed), garlic clove, and ½ cup of the cooking water into a blender. Process until you have a smooth sauce.
- Heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion. Cook the onion until it becomes transparent, about 2-3 minutes. Pour the blended sauce in and keep cooking for 6-8 minutes.
Erica Taylor
Can you do this and sub Tomatillos?
Mely Martínez
Hello erica,
Yes, you can use tomatillos instead of tomatoes.
Erica Taylor
Thank you so much, been scrolling and reading your recipes and I must buy the cook book. I’m a white girl from Orange County now, but I grew up in La Puente, Ca and fell in love with Mexican food immediately. I think I’m a salsa connoisseur because I refuse to buy any store brand. That is not salsa, when I get Mexican food from any where, my order is simply to justify the amount of salsa I take. Because I always want left overs. I use it on everything, literally everything (except sweet food) salad, become soup because that’s my dressing. You may have saved me, because now I can make it on my own. Please keep sharing all your amazing recipes.
Much love and respect
Cathy
I need to try this. We grow habanero’s and scotch bonnet peppers and my husband makes different kinds of hot sauces. Being in the Caribbean a lot of hot sauces have curry in them, so this will be a nice change for me. I can sometimes find dried peppers here for some Mexican recipes, except they have only had fresh Poblano’s here once in 14 years, and I do love them. We tried to grow some, but no success.
Pat
This is the best salsa I've ever tasted! It's nice to enjoy the habanero taste without overbearing heat. Do you have a recipe for canning with a water bath or pressure canning method?
Mely Martínez
Hello Pat,
You know, we usually made our salsas fresh several times a year. Canning is something I'm not very familiar with. If you can this Habanero salsa, please let me know how did it go.
Amber
I just made this and it's very good! Full of flavor, and with a strong spicy aftertaste.
Linda A Marquez
All your recipes are authentic and delicious! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful work with us.
Sandi
This is hands down the best salsa recipe I’ve found. Yay!
mmartinez
Hi Sandra,
Thank you fro trying the recipe. I'm so glad you like it!
Jamie
Looks delicious! I can’t wait to try this. Thanks!
Annika
So looking forward to trying this recipe!
Mimi
So good to know about your blog!
Joy
I made this for the first time today. I like my salsa HOT so I doubled the amount of peppers. It was easy to make and is just hot enough!! Thank you!!
Dillon Gondocs
I made this and it was delicious