I first discovered the Mrs. Wages line of canning products last year and I’ve used them with some frequency since then. In April, I became a contributor to their monthly newsletter. My little column includes some chatty articles and recipes (much like what you find here). Now, I’m pleased to be giving away a basket of their mixes, pectins and other products. If you’re interested in entering to win, click here and leave a comment. Now, on to the salsa.
Last summer, I canned peach, tomatillo, tomato and pineapple salsas (all were recipes I was working on for the book). They were delicious, but after all the peeling, chopping and general prepping, an incredible amount of work. Since I’m not writing a canning book this summer, I’m looking to make my preserving decidedly less intense (to be honest, I’m still a bit burnt out). One of the ways I’m planning to do this is by cheating, ever so slightly.
This Mrs. Wages salsa mix is one of the ways I’m making my life easier. It uses six pounds of fresh, ripe tomatoes, 1/2 cup of vinegar and the packet of salsa mix. That’s it. No major chopping sessions, long simmering times or running out to the store when I realize I forgot the cilantro. By taking a little help from Mrs. Wages, I can bang out five pints of salsa (as well as a half full jar for the fridge) in half an hour and move on to something else while it processes.
You do need to blanch and peel the tomatoes, but once the pot of blanching water comes to a boil, it takes all of six minutes to move the cored and prepped (don’t skip the little cross on the bottom of the tomato, it makes it far easier to slip those skins off) through the boiling water and into a cool bath. Once the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, you should be able to pull the skins away easily.
The instructions on the packet say to roughly chop the tomatoes, but because I was lazy (and in a bit of a hurry as I also did five pints of dilly beans that morning), I used the Vitamix to break down the peeled tomatoes (imagine a very chunky puree). Once they were all peeled, pureed and in the pot, it was just a matter adding the vinegar and spice mix.
As soon as the salsa mix went in, my kitchen filled with the smells of garlic, onion, peppers and other spices. I was impressed by how quickly it transformed my pot of plain tomatoes into a flavorful, aromatic condiment. Later that afternoon, I served the finished salsa to some friends and they complimented me on my perfectly balanced, homemade salsa. I’m sure they thought I was crazy, but I ran excitedly to the trash can and fished out the empty packet so that I could show them how easy it had been to make.
I am so happy to already have a stash of salsa on the shelf for our winter tacos, dinners of chips and breakfast burritos (it normally takes me until September to start thinking tomatoes). This isn’t to say that I won’t try my hand a fully from-scratch salsa later in the summer, but the ease with which this came together was balm for my canning-focused but over-committed brain. And it tastes so bright and fresh (though it’s not very spicy. If you like a lot of heat in your salsa, I recommend boosting it with a few red hot chili flakes or a dab of cayenne).
There you have it. If you’ve been eying one of these salsa mixes, I say go for it. Particularly if you’re swimming in ripe tomatoes and are decidedly short on time.
And don’t forget to click over to the Mrs. Wages giveaway and leave a comment (preferably featuring a story about your apron-wearing habits) to enter. And keep you eyes peeled, I’ll be posting about my first experience making freezer jam tomorrow.
I am curious as to why Mrs Wages Salsa mix is 40 minutes in a water bath canner. Most recipes are 15 to 20 minutes for pints.
Its makes great salsa.
That is the processing time that the package calls for. I don’t know why it is so much longer.
Can I use quart jars instead of pints?
In this case, I would not recommend it.
I LOVE Mrs. Wages packaged mix! On vacation, we bought some raspberry salsa- I want to know if I can make raspberry salsa to can with the mild salsa mix- thank you
Hmm, I’ve never tried making raspberry salsa with those package mixes. I don’t see why you couldn’t do that, particularly since raspberries are typically more acidic than tomatoes.
I wonder what to do with the quart and a half of excess juice?
If you drink alcohol, you could always use it in a Bloody Mary or a Michelada. Otherwise, perhaps as the base of a tortilla soup?
im gon to do my tomatoes tomaro
thank you
I used one package of mix and six 14..5 ounce cans of Petite diced tomatoes in it. No vinegar. The salsa is absolutely the best salsa I have ever had. Mexican restaurants would kill for this recipe. I hope you try it because it is much easier and just as good as using Fresh tomatoes.
Thanks for the suggestion!
I too switched over to Mrs Wages and constantly get requests for’my’ recipe. I’m only too happy to share this delicious shortcut. I just googled spicing up Mrs Wages and landed on your site. I’m about to make a dozen quarts to take to my sibling reunion and a few of my brothers like to blow flames, well they like it hot so jalapeños and cumin and red pepper flakes?
You can definitely add some additional dried red pepper flakes to up the spice.
I have use this mix to make my salsa for years and have people begging for a jar and my reclepe I even added watermelon to my tomato salsa and can’t make enough for everyone that wants it
It is really delicious!
Can I double up and make two packages of Mrs wages at once?
If you have a pot large enough to do it, yes.
I made salsa with mrs wages mix. It was suppose to make 14 pints but I put too many tomatoes and it made 20. Will this batch be ok. I canned them all. I didn’t know if it would be a bad thing to be a bigger batch or not
It’s not ideal because the salsa mix includes the citric acid that ensures it is safe. But increasing the batch size so much, you’ve diluted the amount of acid in each jar.
I’m making quarts of tomatoes. i have the large container of mix but I’m not making that much. I have 9 cups of tomatoes how much vinegar do I add
Are you using the salsa mix or just canning tomatoes? Typically, regular preserved tomatoes are acidified with either bottled lemon juice or citric acid.
Everyone loves this salsa, going to make more
Hooray!
I purchased the 11.2 oz box of the salsa mix. What is the measurement I need to use for the 5 pints of salsa. I guess I am asking the equivalent measurement for one packet.
All the information you need should be on the package.
Most recipes I see for canning salsa say to remove the seeds because they make the salsa runny. Mrs. Wages doesn’t say to do that. I remixed my seeds. I only got three pints. I wish the recipe gave an ideas of how many cups of prepared tomatoes is used.
I typically estimate getting around 2 cups for every pound of chopped product. So if you started with 6 pounds of tomatoes, you should have somewhere between 10 and 12 cups of chopped tomatoes. I’m a little surprised that you only got three pints, but perhaps your tomatoes were very watery?
Can you put crushed pineapple in with the salsa mix?
You should contact Mrs. Wages customer service to determine whether that would be safe for not.
I wanted to use my electric pressure cooker to process Mrs wages salsa mix. Will it really not process properly if I do?
It will be overcooked. You can use your pressure canner, but I don’t recommend it.
Hi,
I’ve made 35 pints of Mrs Wages salsa so far–yay, I’m ahead of schedule.
quick question- could I add peaches to the salsa mix?
thank you for all your great inspiration.
Diana V.
I don’t see why you couldn’t add peaches. They are more acidic than tomatoes.
This will be my first time using any of Mrs.Wages seasonings. I’m really excited to see how this salsa turns out 😊
I hope you like it!
Can the skins be safely left on instead?
It’s not dangerous to leave on the skins, but their texture isn’t great in the finished product.
Is it ok to add peaches to this recipe?
I’ve not tried it, but it should be okay from a safety perspective. Yellow peaches are typically more acidic than tomatoes.
I hate when I see people improperly canning anything.. This is risk for botulism. Tomatoes must be skinned and salsa water bathed. Canning is all about science and killing bacteria.. Tomato skins are full of bacteria.
Anna, you don’t have your details exactly right. Botulism spores are not the same thing as bacteria and should not be used interchangeably. As long as you do your boiling water bath canning process properly, all bacteria present is killed. It is true that botulism spores can exist on tomato skins. However, as long as the product is properly acidified, any botulism spores present are inhibited. Botulism spores cannot germinate into a toxin if the pH is below 4.6. And so as long as you are canning a sufficiently acidified product, there is no botulism risk.
All that said, did you actually read this blog post? The tomatoes were peeled for this product.
I don’t think I used the water bath method last year, just boiled the salsa mix and put in canning jars while hot, everything seemed fine and no problems with the salsa, should I have used the water bath method, I noticed the pkg calls for that processing method?
Water bath canning is definitely the way to go with salsa.
I’ve been using Mrs. Wages Salsa mix for years. It’s the best! Sometimes I use fresh tomatoes but when I get lazy I use canned. Either way this salsa comes out great.
Hello, no one mentioned the spiciness, which of the 3 mixes they picked. when buying salsa i normally go with mild. I accidentally picked the medium packet, wondering if that will be too spicy? can it be “toned down” or maybe i should just exchange it.
Also can I roast the tomatoes and can I add fresh cilantro?
I really can’t speak to the spice level of the different packages. You can roast the tomatoes (no oil, though), but I would not add cilantro to ensure safety.