Easy Honey Roasted Tomato Salsa for Fresh Eating

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This small batch salsa recipe is ready to eat in under an hour and boasts all of the best flavors of the summer harvest. Seasoned with a handful of fresh herbs, this recipe is great for using up small garden harvests and impressing your family and guests with your bounty. 

This salsa recipe combines the sweet taste of honey and the rich and savory flavor of garden fresh tomatoes for the perfect topping to all of your favorite tex-mex dishes or a delicious midday snack!  

Why This is the Best Fresh Salsa Recipe: 

The best part of this honey roasted salsa recipe is definitely it’s ability to be customized to suit a variety of tastes. The base of this recipe is oven roasted tomatoes and peppers that have been sweetened with a touch of honey. 

These base flavors of smoky and sweet pair perfectly with a wide variety of herbs, alliums and peppers. If you like a strong onion flavor in your salsa, use red onion in place of a white onion. 

If you don’t enjoy spicy salsa, leave out the jalapeño peppers completely or swap for bell peppers. If you are like me and enjoy spicy food, consider swapping out some or all of the jalapeño peppers for Serrano peppers for a delightful kick of flavor! 

You can use whatever fresh tomatoes you have available at the Farmers Market or growing in your garden from Roma tomatoes, slicer tomatoes, less acidic yellow tomatoes or even cherry tomatoes. I strongly prefer homegrown or Farmer’s Market heirloom tomatoes in all of my tomato recipes instead of grocery store tomatoes. 

No matter where you purchase your produce, always choose vine-ripened tomatoes over hot house tomatoes for optimal flavor. 

While this recipe was crafted with cilantro haters in mind, this salsa recipe is highly adaptable to your family’s taste! If you love fresh cilantro feel free to add a handful of cilantro in place of the other herbs listed in the recipe. 

Since this is a fresh salsa recipe that is not meant for canning, therefore there are no strict guidelines for maintaining the perfect acidity level, the possibilities are truly endless! 

Why Roasting Tomatoes for Salsa is Best: 

It’s pretty much a fact that roasting any type of vegetable enhances the flavor. The roasting process caramelizes the natural sugars found in the vegetables adding a depth of buttery, rich sweet flavor that you just can’t get otherwise.

If you are a novice cook, don’t be intimidated by the thought of roasting vegetables. If you can toss vegetables in olive oil and put them on a pan, you can roast vegetables.

For this recipe, I recommend you roast tomatoes, peppers, sweet onions and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet for a truly impeccable flavor. 

How to Decide What Tomato Varieties to Use for Salsa: 

Every home gardener or food connoisseur knows that different varieties of tomatoes have different flavor profiles, water content and meatiness.

Roma style tomatoes are generally less watery and more meaty. Slicer tomatoes are juicier with a higher water content.

I like my salsa to be a little juicy, so I tend to use large slicer tomatoes for my salsa recipes and save roma style tomatoes for thicker tomato products like pizza sauce. However, any kind of tomato will work for this recipe.

Purple tomatoes generally have a complex smoky flavor. Yellow tomatoes tend to be sweeter and less acidic. Some red tomatoes boast a fruity sweet profile while others are much more subdued. 

Due to the wide range of flavor profiles found in tomatoes, I love to mix different types of tomatoes together to bring a beautiful complexity to this salsa. My favorite combination for this sweet and spicy salsa recipe is a bold red variety such as a Wild Boar Farm’s Large Barred Boar or Granny Cantrell tomato and a fruity yellow tomato variety such as Kellog’s Breakfast tomato or a  Dr. Wyche’s tomato. 

Cilantro or No Cilantro: 

This recipe works well with or without fresh cilantro. If you are firmly in the “cilantro tastes like soap” camp like I am, use the herbs as listed in the recipe. If you love cilantro feel free to swap out all of the other herbs for a large handful of garden cilantro. 

I like to use fresh herbs for this recipe for optimal flavor and nutrition, however you can used dried herbs too. If you use dried you will need to adjust amounts. Remember dried herbs are stronger than fresh, so adjust accordingly.

Helpful Kitchen Tools: 

• Sharp knife
• Roasting pan or rimmed sheet tray
• Aluminum foil
• Food Processor

Ingredients: 

• 4-6 pounds of fresh tomatoes
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 head of garlic
• 4-6 jalapeño peppers
• 2-3 sprigs of parsley
• 2-3 sprigs of basil
• 2-3 sprigs of oregano
• 2-3 splashes of lemon juice
• 1/4 cup honey

How to Make Simple Honey Roasted Salsa

1. Wash, core and quarter 4-6 pounds of tomatoes. Place tomatoes on an aluminum foil lined sheet pan. If you prefer to peel your tomatoes you can, I leave the skin on mine as they are softened during the roasting process and add nutrition. 

2. Halve the sweet onion and jalapeño peppers and add them to the tray. For a spicier salsa, leave in the jalapeño seeds. 

3. Peel garlic cloves and wrap in aluminum foil to roast alongside the other vegetables for an incredible depth of flavor. 

4. Gently toss all vegetables in a light drizzle of olive oil to prevent sticking. Sprinkle lightly with a pinch of salt. 

5. Roast at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes or until they are cooked down with crispy edges. 

6. Allow the vegetables to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, reserve half of the hot peppers in a small bowl and add the rest of the vegetables with any juices to a food processor with the remaining ingredients. 

Note: Avoid using a blender to make salsa as a blender creates foam by whipping too much air into the salsa mixture. 

7. Pulse the roasted tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, lemon juice and herbs in the food processor until roughly diced for a chunky salsa. Taste for spice and add peppers as needed. For a smoother restaurant-style salsa, continue pulsing until it reaches your desired consistency.

8. Store leftover salsa in the fridge in an airtight container. 

How to Store Fresh Salsa: 

Since this recipe has not been tested to ensure safe acidity levels for canning, this recipe should be consumed fresh. This salsa can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 weeks in an airtight container. For longer term storage, place in a freezer safe container or freezer safe Ziplock bag and store in the freezer for 3-4 months. 

How to Serve Honey Roasted Salsa: 

Serve this fresh salsa recipe any way you like salsa! This salsa is the best thing to top scrambled eggs, add to Huevos rancheros, alongside enchiladas, or simply with homemade tortilla chips and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. 

Different Ways to Make Roasted Salsa: 

In addition to the other variations discussed in this article, consider fire roasting your peppers over an open flame or on the stove top on medium heat until the skin is charred. Once you see charr marks you can finish roasting them in the oven to make a delicious fire roasted tomato salsa. 

Swap out the jalapeño pepper for chipotle peppers. The smokiness of the chipotles will add an even smokier, richer flavor.

Printable Recipe Card: 

Honey Roasted Salsa

Honey roasted salsa is a simple fresh salsa recipe made with tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, herbs, onions and garlic. Roasted and drizzled with honey this sweet and spicy salsa is sure to satisfy!

Print

Rate

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Additional Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Serving Size 1 Quart

Ingredients

• 4-6 lbs of tomatoes
• 1 sweet onion
• 4-6 jalapeno peppers
• 1 small head of garlic
• 2-3 sprigs of parsley
• 2-3 sprigs of basil
• 2-3 sprigs of oregano
• 2-3 splashes of lemon juice
• 1/4 cup honey

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400.
• 1. Roughly chop your tomatoes, peppers and peeled onion. No need to dice, just chop them into big chunks. Make sure to remove the tough core of each tomato.
• 2. Peel garlic cloves.
• 3. Place tomatoes, peppers, onion, and garlic into a non-stick roasting pan. I used my Pampered Chef pan.
• 4. Roast your vegetables in the pan on 400 until lightly browned and edges become crispy. The roasting process will begin to caramelize the sugars in the vegetables providing maximum flavor. The time this takes will vary based on your oven. I usually roast mine for about 25-30 minutes.
• Let items cool for about 10 minutes while you gather your honey and herbs.
• 5. Using a food processor (NOT a blender–this will ruin the texture by creating foam) carefully ladle in hot tomatoes, onion, garlic and about half the peppers. Pulse until you reach a rough chop. Taste and determine how many more peppers you would like to add.
• 6. Once you have added the desired amount of peppers, add in the honey, lemon juice and herbs.
• 7. Taste and adjust accordingly.
• 8. Let cool and store in the fridge. Enjoy!

Notes

This recipe is highly adaptable! Scale up or down as needed.

I love to use a mix of yellow and red tomatoes in this recipe. Yellow tomatoes tend to be a little sweeter, so they are perfect for this recipe.

This is NOT a recipe that has been tested for canning, so opt to freeze this salsa if you would like to store long term. The salsa should last a week or two in the fridge–if it lasts that long!

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