A garden fresh salsa just sounds good, doesn't it? Have you ever tried using banana peppers in your salsa recipes before? Banana peppers offer a new and interesting ingredient to traditional salsas.
It's that ingredient your guests will be asking about. Questions like, "why is this salsa recipe so freaking wonderful?" #bananapeppers
⬇️ Table of Contents
What are banana peppers, how would you describe them?
The banana pepper (also known as the yellow wax pepper or banana chili) is a medium-sized member of the chili pepper family that has a mild, tangy taste. While typically bright yellow, it is possible for them to change to green, red, or orange as they ripen. It is often pickled, stuffed, or used as a raw ingredient in foods. It is a cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum. Its flavor is not very hot (0–500 Scoville units) and, as is the case with most peppers, its heat depends on the maturity of the pepper, with the ripest being sweeter than younger ones.
Chef Tip: Chile peppers with curved stems are hotter than peppers that have straight stems
🥘 Ingredients
- Banana Peppers
- Jalapenos
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Hatch Chiles
- Bell Peppers
Uncle Bobby's Garden Fresh Banana Pepper Salsa
In all fairness to my Uncle Bobby, this post is an interpretation of his salsa.
One of the coolest things about garden fresh salsa is the creativity and all the possibilities. You do not need to have a garden to cook with garden-fresh ingredients.
The trick is to work with seasonal ingredients to maximize the flavor. Lucky for us, grocery stores are awesome nowadays. Shop seasonal...
At the time of writing this article, it is mid-summer, and grocery produce is pumping out some of the best stuff of the year.
Uncle Bobby Working In The Garden
Uncle Bobby in the kitchen with the freshest of fresh ingredients for today's garden fresh salsa.
Watch Our How-To Video Below
Fresh Garden ingredients my mother posted on Instagram the other day.
📖 Quick History of Salsa
The term "salsa" was indeed coined by the Spanish, the condiment is known as "salsa" has been around long before the Spanish were exposed to it. Going as far back as 3000 BC, the Aztecs took chilies with tomatoes or tomatillos and combined them to produce salsa.
When was the Spanish introduced to Salsa?
After they conquered the Aztecs (1519-1521), the Spanish only then came to know and love salsa.
Some say it was the conquistadores who first called it salsa.
Others say it was a Spanish priest and missionary named Alonso de Molina who named it in 1571.
💭 Faqs
The best time of year in the USA is in the latter part of the year. Other world regions have a slightly different growing season.
Learn all about tomatoes. Check out our article on 45 Types Of Tomatoes
Hatch chile season begins in late July and runs until early October on a long season.
You can grow banana peppers most of the year. Once germinated indoors you can plant them outside once the daytime temperatures reach above 60 F.
Banana pepper is five times milder than jalapeno peppers.
📖 Recipe Card
🌶️ Garden Fresh Banana Pepper Salsa
Suggested Equipment
Ingredients
The Peppers
- Banana Peppers 2 whole
- Hatch Peppers (sliced thin) 1 whole
- Fresno Peppers (sliced thin / remove the seed and rib) 1 whole
- Jalapenos (sliced thin / remove the seed and rib) 2 whole
- Red Bell Pepper 1 whole
Salsa Ingredients
- Red Onion ½ medium
- Greenhouse Tomatoes (/ Roma tomatoes work well) 6 medium
- Cherry Tomatoes 12
- Fresh Garlic 4 cloves
- Limes (taste, season & adjust) 1 whole
- Cilantro 1 ½ tablespoon
- Sea Salt ½ teaspoon
- Black Pepper to taste
Instructions
- To create an excellent salsa with multiple textures, take half of the peppers, tomatoes, and onion, give them a few chops with a knife. Next put them in a food processor. Pulse the ingredients 3, 4, 5 times. Make sure you do not over chop or puree. We want the texture.
- If you over pulse the salsa will turn pink.
- Remove from food processor and place in a strainer, over a bowl, to drain off excess water.
- Chop the other half of the ingredients to a nice mouthfeel size for salsa.
Cooking Salsa
- Yes, cooking the salsa, but only a small bit of it. You certainly could cook all of it. IE the food processed ingredients.
- Take half of the food processed chop mix from the strainer and add to a small pot and turn on the heat to med-high and cook for 4 to 6 minutes. Watch for the water to cook out a bit and tighten up. This develops the sugars in the peppers and tomatoes and creates a deeper richer flavor profile.
- Combine all the ingredients together, then add in your salt, pepper, garlic, lime juice, and cilantro. Add in a pinch of cumin and chili powder has been a hit in the past.
- Serve with tortilla chips. Best experience, cut and fry your own tortilla chips from corn tortillas. You get to control the size of the chips by cutting them into size. Fry on medium to medium-high heat
Video
🎥 How To Video
Notes
- Serranos
- Mangos
- Pineapple
Shawn Neubauer
Can you can this without vinegar? Is there enough acid?
Steven Pennington
You could easily skip the "Lime" if you like. The addition of Lime brings a touch of extra freshness/acid. If you don't like Lime you could try orange juice, or really any fresh juice that has acid. Hope you enjoy!
Sarah L Pelkey
This recipe sounds great! I have all the fresh ingredients from my garden. I want to make this salsa. Is it ok to freeze or can this, I plan on making a large amount?
Steven Pennington
Great question | Yes, freeze away. The trick to freezing for a few months is having enough fat to (encapsulate/preserve). Otherwise> the longer freeze times> you'll get freezer burn. (Overly frosty ice crystals) I would suggest making the salsa, puree the salsa, bag the salsa (ZipLock((-fill-pretty full) (2nd, using a larger(freeze bag) place the salsa in the larger bag and fill the remaining bag with water. Then into the freezer. The water will freeze and create a stronger protection environment around the garden salsa for longer storage.
jack burton
Try pineapple juice. I would suggest you hold a small batch back without vinegar or other citrus, and then add the pineapple juice. No need to waste a whole batch if you don't like it. For us, though, it gives a great balance between the hot/spicy and the sweet. Like being in the Caribbean Islands. I'd start with a table spoon of juice to about one cup of salsa and see where you go from there.
Arlene
How much cilantro? The recipe doesn't say.
Steven Pennington
Thank you for the information. Sorry about that. I suggest using 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons. The idea with the Cilantro is to add a pop of additional freshness. Enjoy!
Janet
Have you ever canned it for use later
If so how long in pressure canner
Steven Pennington
Cannot say I've tried that. I do know the texture would be much softer. There would be a small amount of fermentation in flavor development. Overall, canning would be creating a new product. Not salsa. I'm interested. If you do give it a go, please come back and share your findings/experiment.
Jennifer Cook
Thanks for the suggestion of cooking down the "juice". I'll try it. We have the ingredients coming in from the garden now.