You’ve made a batch of salsa, but how do you preserve it? The ideal way to preserve salsa for best flavor and long-term storage is by canning it. While salsa can be preserved in a water bath canner (see the differences between Pressure Canning and Water Bath Canning here), this specific post is all about How to Pressure Can Salsa.
Food preservation can be a bit overwhelming. You’ve done the work of planting, tending, and harvesting from your garden…but how does one put all of that produce to good use? Here are a few resources on food preservation: Easiest Way to Freeze Green Beans, How to Can Tomato Sauce, Pressure Canning vs. Water Bath Canning, and What to do With Roma Tomatoes.
How to Pressure Can Salsa
Keep in Mind:
- Following canning safety guides is extremely important!
- This is simply a tutorial for how to can salsa. A recipe for making salsa is not included here. I hope to have such a recipe available on the blog in the future!
- If the jars do not seal on the first try, they can be put through the process again. I recommend taking the lids off, ensuring that the rim is clean, headspace is good, and there are no issues with the lid. More times than not the jar will seal after a second processing.
- Only use a pressure canner that is approved for safe canning. Pressure cookers and Instantpots are not the same as pressure canners!
What You’ll Need:
- Pressure canner
- Mason jars
- Lids and rings
- Large pot(s)
- Salsa
Instructions:
- Prepare the Jars. Heat the jars, either by warming them in a hot water bath or by running them through the sanitizing cycle on your dishwasher. You will need to do this for your bands, too. You can reuse jars and bands for an infinite number of times – as long as there are no cracks, rust, or damages – but you will need to purchase new lids each and every time.
- Ladle the sauce into disinfected Mason jars. Be sure to leave 1/2 headspace in each jar. A canning funnel is a great tool for this! A DIY option is cutting the bottom out of a Solo cup and using it as a funnel.
- Remove air bubbles from the jar. You can do this either by tapping it on a flat surface or you can use a bubble remover tool.
- Wipe the rims the jars. Make sure you’ve removed any extra food particles. Such particles on the rims can prevent the lids from sealing.
- Fill the canner according to the manufacturer’s directions. It should tell you exactly how much water to put in the canner and how to position the jars inside.
- Bring your canner to the ideal pressure. You will need to process it at 10 to 11 pounds, about 10 minutes for pint jars and 15 minutes for quarts.
- Follow the manufacturer’s directions for instructions during the pressure canning phase. This will tell you exactly how and when to place the weight on the canner, how to bring the pressure down once the time is up, and tips on safely removing the weight and lid.
- After bringing the pressure down and removing the lid, take the jars out and place them on a towel to cool. The jars will be extremely hot at this point!
- Wait for the jars to seal. This can take up to 30 minutes, so be sure to give them plenty of time before assuming that they won’t seal!
- Store the sealed jars in a cool and dark place.
If you make this recipe and love how it turned out, feel free to come back and comment about your experience. I’d love to hear about your experience!
More on Food Preservation:
- How to Can Tomato Sauce
- Pressure Canning vs. Water Bath Canning
- Easiest Way to Freeze Green Beans
- What to do With Roma Tomatoes
Leave a Little Thought