Homemade Cherry Salsa Recipe for Canning
A good homemade cherry salsa recipe is worth its weight in gold. Enjoy this summer salsa fresh or consider canning cherry salsa to preserve it for later consumption.
A Farm Girl in the Making participates in multiple affiliate programs and is also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program which is linked to Amazon.com and other affiliated sites. This allows for us to make a small amount of money on goods you purchase at no extra charge to you. For that we, thank you!
Homemade Cherry Salsa
Let me start by saying these two words, cherry salsa. Delicious, savory, sweet and spicy, homemade cherry salsa.
Let me be honest, when a friend suggested that I put up cherry salsa I may have called her crazy. Fruit salsa isn’t really my thing, but I accepted the challenge and promptly went to creating.
What did I discover? That homemade cherry salsa is absolutely amazing. It is in a class of its own and absolutely delicious. The sweet flavor of the Bing cherries mixed with cilantro, jalapeno peppers, red onions, lime juice and red wine vinegar knock this recipe out of the park.
Enjoy this recipe for homemade cherry salsa with tortilla chips, pork dishes, and as a side with chicken fajitas.
Living in Washington state allows us to enjoy cherries between the months of June through August. And luckily for us the NW Cherry Growers of WA state grow and provide the country the best tasting stone fruit around.
Additional Preserving Recipes
Because the growing season and availability is short it is best to preserve as much of this summertime fruit as possible. This allows you to enjoy the harvest throughout the year.
- Cherry chipotle BBQ sauce
- Chunky cherry jam
- Cherry Juice Concentrate
- Dehydrated cherries for baking
- Fruit leather
- Bourbon cherries
- Pie filling
- Cherry simple syrup
In addition to putting-up this homemade cherry salsa recipe consider preserving candied jalapenos, as well. A little spice with a little sweet partners well with brats, burgers, salad, in meatloaf, with pork and many tacos of all kinds.
The Sustainable Canning Course
Are you searching for canning classes near you? Look no further! The Sustainable Canning Course is a self-paced series of online classes designed to help you on the road to achieving food ownership.
The Sustainable Canning Course is an extension of my book, The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest. I wrote this book to help guide those who seek to own their food source the opportunity to do so. It is a comprehensive, easy to understand book covering all methods of home food preservation, canning, drying, fermenting, curing, freezing, and storing fresh foods.
- Understand why pressure canning is necessary to preserve foods.
- Confidently alter or create recipes to be canned.
- Preserve many tomato products utilizing scientific information with traditional tools.
- How modern canning tools, such as the steam canner and steam juicer, revolutionized preserving methods.
- Understanding how to decipher information shared by the National Center of Home Food Preservation.
- Discover how easy it is to can meat, fish, soups, and stews.
These topics and many more are available within The Sustainable Canning Course. Reserve your spot now, and begin gleaning the necessary information needed to preserve foods as a modern sustainable homesteader does.
Canning Cherry Salsa
This recipe is one which I created. This is not a tested recipe from the NCHFP’s website, however, it closely mimics the mango salsa from this government testing facility.
Test the acidity level of any home canned item using a digital pH reader. In addition to using a steam or hot water bath canner to process cherry salsa, a pressure canner may also be used.
Ingredients
Homemade cherry salsa is perfect when consumed fresh or preserved.
- 4 pounds Bing Cherries, roughly 12 cups washed, stemmed, pitted
- 1 bunch Cilantro, washed and coarsely chopped
- 3 Jalapeno Peppers, washed, seeds and stems removed OR 1-teaspoon crushed red peppers
- 1 1/2 cups Red Onion, coarsely diced
- 4 teaspoons Garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons Sea Salt, Kosher Salt or Pickling Salt
- 1/4 cup bottle Lime Juice
- 2 1/2 cups Red Wine Vinegar (5% acidity or higher)
Equipment
Before starting make sure to have a good cherry pitter on hand. The Progressive cherry pitter is, by far, the best pitting tool on the market. This pitter removes the pit without damaging the fruit.
- cherry pitter
- steam canner or hot waterbath canner
- non-reactive heavy bottom pot, copper jam pot, stainless steel, or enamel dutch oven
- air bubble remover
- jar funnel
- mini slow cooker for warming lids
- 6 pint size mason jars
Canning Cherry Salsa – Instructions
- First, prepare jars and lids for canning.
- Next, pit cherries.
- Coarsely chop pitted cherries, cilantro, red onions, jalapenos, and garlic.
- Place all ingredients into a copper jam pot, stainless steel pot or enamel dutch oven. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring often. Reduce to simmering, and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Ladle cherry salsa into warmed pint mason jars leaving a 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, add additional salsa if needed.
- Wipe the rim of jars with a clean dish towel, add warmed lids and rings to finger tight.
- Process pints in a water bath or steam canner for 15 minutes (for the altitude of 0 – 1000 feet), add additional time based on your altitude (see chart below).
Altitude and Processing Times
| Altitude | Increase Processing Time |
|---|---|
| 1,001 – 6,000 ft | 20 minutes |
| above 6,000 ft | 25 minutes |
Note
In addition to canning homemade cherry salsa in a hot water bath or steam canner, it can also be canned in a pressure canner. The processing time can be found below.
| Jar Size | Processing Time | 0 – 2,000 ft | 2,001 – 4,000 ft | 4,001 – 6,000 ft | above 6,000 ft |
| Pint | 20 mins | 11 PSI | 12 PSI | 13 PSI | 14 PSI |
| Quart | 25 mins | 11 PSI | 12 PSI | 13 PSI | 14 PSI |
My Book
The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest is a comprehensive book covering multiple methods for preserving foods in the comfort of your home. Learn how to safely can, dry, ferment, cure, freeze, and store foods fresh as a sustainable homesteader would. The tips, tricks, and recipes within this book will provide you the confidence and knowledge needed to own your food source.
Printable Recipe Card
To make things easier, enjoy this printable recipe card for your convenience!
Canning Cherry Salsa
An excellent fruit salsa made from Washington state Bing cherries.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds Bing Cherries, roughly 12 cups washed, stemmed, pitted
- 1 bunch Cilantro, washed and coarsely chopped
- 3 Jalapeno Peppers, washed, seeds and stems removed OR 1-teaspoon crushed red peppers
- 1 1/2 cups Red Onion, coarsely diced
- 4 teaspoons Garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons Sea Salt, Kosher Salt or Pickling Salt
- 1/4 cup bottle Lime Juice
- 2 1/2 cups Red Wine Vinegar, 5% acidity or higher
Instructions
- First, prepare jars and lids for canning.
- Next, pit cherries.
- Coarsely chop pitted cherries, cilantro, red onions, jalapenos, and garlic.
- Place all ingredients into a copper jam pot, stainless steel pot or enamel dutch oven. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring often. Reduce to simmering, and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Ladle cherry salsa into warmed pint mason jars leaving a 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, add additional salsa if needed.
- Wipe the rim of jars with a clean dish towel, add warmed lids and rings to finger tight.
- Process pints in a water bath or steam canner for 15 minutes (for the altitude of 0 - 1000 feet), add additional time based on your altitude (see chart in the article).
Notes
Canning cherry salsa using a pressure canner:
- Select the correct processing time based on your altitude. For those who reside between 0 - 2,000 feet, 11 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes pint jars, 25 minutes for quart jars.
- Increase the PSI based on your altitude, see the chart in the article.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
224Serving Size:
1 tablespoonAmount Per Serving: Calories: 6Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 61mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 0g
Enjoy this recipe fresh throughout the summer or preserve it for the winter months.
Hi. I love cherry salsa and an excited there may be a safe canning recipe for it! If I use tart (sour) cherries instead of sweet Bing cherries, do I have to do anything different to make sure the acidity is safe to can? Thanks!
The acidity level with 1/4 cup of lime juice will hold nicely for tart cherries.
So, that’s gorgeous and you’re a genius. And where did you get that rockin cherry pitter?!!
Thank you! The cherry pitter is from Amazon!
How many cups of cherries is 3pounds?