Restaurant Style Salsa is everyone’s favorite appetizer, and this fresh and simple recipe will have everyone snacking right into dinner!

Whether you serve it with chips, tacos, or over your favorite egg breakfast, everyone loves Restaurant Style Salsa! Blend tomatoes, Rotel, a little garlic, onion, jalapeno, and a few spices for an easy appetizer that is a huge crowd-pleaser!

tortilla chip that's been dipped in restaurant style salsa with recipe name at the bottom

It’s my favorite!

Whenever friends and family pop over and they see a big bowl of homemade Restaurant Style Salsa on the table, they always exclaim that it’s their favorite thing I make! I know it’s not strictly true, but I have to agree, whenever salsa is around it’s all I want to eat too! We go through so many bowls of chips sometimes that we don’t even bother making dinner. Breakfast, appetizers, or Taco Tuesdays are all of the best times to enjoy this amazing salsa!
We like to have an evening of appetizers sometimes and along with our amazing salsa we also whip up Roasted Tomatillo Salsa and 3 Ingredient Crock Pot Bean Dip!

Other Recipes to Serve with Restaurant-Style Salsa

Feed a crowd or just the family Super Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos– they’re incredibly flavorful and a perfect way to devour this salsa!
Pineapple Coconut Margaritas are easily held in one hand while dipping chips into delicious salsa with the other hand.

Ingredients

Pantry Items: Famous restaurants and home chefs agree that canned tomatoes are key to a great restaurant-style salsa! You’ll need a large can of whole tomatoes and a couple of cans of Rotel too.

Veggies: Head to the produce section to pick up onion, garlic, lime, jalapeno, and cilantro.

Seasoning: For this recipe, you will need salt, cumin, and a little sugar to balance the acid.

How to Make Restaurant-Style Salsa

STEP ONE: Add all ingredients to a food processor or make smaller batches in a blender.

restaurant style salsa ingredients in a food processor bowl

STEP TWO: Pulse the ingredients until everything is well chopped and has reached the consistency you like in salsa.

restaurant style salsa in a food processor bowl after being pureed

STEP THREE: Pour the salsa into a bowl or jar and cover. Refrigerate the salsa for at least an hour, and then enjoy with your favorite tortilla chips!

restaurant style salsa in a quart-size mason jar

Tips for Success

Everyone likes salsa a certain way, so don’t be shy about making this recipe your way! If you like chunky salsa, don’t pulse the ingredients for long, but if you prefer a smooth salsa, continue to blend the ingredients until smooth.
Let’s talk heat! After blending everything, taste the salsa and see if you like the heat level. If you need more, drop in more jalapeno or a serrano and crank the heat up! If you know, you’d prefer mild salsa, keep the jalapeno out completely or remember to cut out the seeds and membrane so that you still get that get jalapeno flavor without the heat.
Sugar may seem like an odd addition to salsa, but it helps to balance the acid from the tomatoes, which brings out their sweetness and helps all of the flavors of the ingredients to blend well, so don’t skip it.

close up of a spoonful of restaurant style salsa over the mouth of the jar

What is the difference between Restaurant style salsa and jarred salsa?

Restaurant-style salsa and jarred salsa that you purchase at the grocery store both contain tomatoes, onions, and green chilies, so there’s no difference in the ingredients. So what is the difference? The texture! Jarred salsa is chunky than restaurant-style salsa, which tends to be blended more.

bowl of restaurant style salsa surrounded by tortilla chips

What is restaurant salsa called?

There are many types of salsa and restaurant-style salsa, also known as Salsa Roja or red sauce. Any salsa made with the same ingredients as restaurant-style salsa is called Salsa Roja. Pico de Gallo, another popular salsa, consists of diced tomatoes, onions, and cilantro and is not saucy. Salsa Verde is made using tomatillos instead of tomatoes, giving the salsa a wonderful green color. These are the three most popular types of salsa but there is a huge variety of salsa’s out there for you to try!

two tortilla chips resting on the edge of a bowl of restaurant style salsa

More outstanding dips everyone loves!

*This post was originally posted on 08/03/2012.