July 22, 2024

Fire Grilled Tomato and Red Pepper Salsa

This post was originally published here August 3, 2015. I’ve since adjusted the recipe slightly. And updated the photographs and text to reflect those changes.

This Fire Grilled Tomato and Red Pepper Salsa is a must-make for Summer entertaining. Or for those days when it’s way too hot for a “proper dinner” and you just want to eat appetizers instead. Which has essentially been my situation for the past three weeks now!

Almost every ingredient in this restaurant-style salsa is cooked directly on the grill. Which gives it an amazing smoky undertone. But it’s also still super fresh tasting. The ingredients aren’t overly cooked down, which can sometimes happen in stovetop salsa recipes or salsas that use canned tomatoes. Instead, they are heated just enough to take the raw edge off. But still maintain all that sweet, sun-ripened Summer goodness!

This Fire Grilled Tomato and Red Pepper Salsa contains tomatoes (any medium-sized variety works), red pepper, jalapeño peppers and red onion. These are the ingredients that will go directly onto your grill. It also has garlic, lime juice, cilantro, agave nectar and salt. It’s a relatively short list. But I promise you that this salsa delivers big on flavor!

One of the key features of restaurant-style salsa is that all the ingredients have a uniform size and consistency. There are no big chunks here! But don’t worry. There is minimal chopping. Your food processor or blender will do all the work to finely mince the ingredients.

The preparation time for this salsa is just about 20 minutes. But note that it does need at least 1-2 hours to fully chill before serving. This is an important step because it gives the flavors time to mingle. I usually wait to do the final taste test until it’s fully chilled. Then stir in more salt, lime juice, etc. if necessary.

You can control the heat level of this Fire Grilled Tomato and Red Pepper Salsa by adjusting the number of jalapeño peppers in the recipe. You can also remove the seeds from the jalapeño peppers after they’ve been grilled, which will result in a milder salsa. But I like to leave mine it. It’s totally up to you!

Cheers,

Liz

Get the Recipe:

Fire Grilled Tomato and Red Pepper Salsa

At a Glance:

Yield: Makes about 4 cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1-1 1/4 lbs tomatoes
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1-2 jalapeño peppers, depending on your preferred heat level
• 1/2 red onion, peeled but layers left intact
• About 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• Juice from 2 limes
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Pre-heat your grill to medium-high.
2. Place the tomatoes, red pepper, jalapeño pepper(s) and red onion on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables and use a brush to coat them on all sides. 
3. Add all the vegetables directly to your grill grates. Cook the red pepper and jalapeño peppers until the skin is well blistered on all sides, about 6-7 minutes. Cook the red onion until well charred, about 5-6 minutes. Cook the tomatoes until the skin starts to split and they have a light char, about 3-5 minutes. 
4. As the vegetable finish cooking, remove them from the grill and place them back on the rimmed baking sheet. Set aside until they are cool enough to handle.
5. Remove and discard the stem and seeds from the red pepper and roughly chop the flesh. Remove and discard the stems from the jalapeño peppers and roughly chop the flesh. If you want less heat, you can discard the seeds from the jalapeño pepper. Roughly chop the red onion and tomatoes.
6. Add all the chopped vegetables to either your food processor fitted with the blade attachment or to your blender. Then add the cilantro, garlic, lime juice, agave nectar and salt. Pulse or blend until well combined and the ingredients have a uniform size and consistency. 
7. Transfer the salsa to a clean container and place in your refrigerator to completely chill, about 1-2 hours. Taste and add more salt, lime juice, etc. if needed.
8. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.
9. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in your refrigerator for 5-6 days.