This Chili’s Salsa Copycat Recipe answers the question, “Can I make this at home?” Yes, you can and it’s so easy!
Combine all the ingredients with the ease of a food processor. Although it’s ready to eat in only 5 minutes, it tastes even better when you chill it overnight in the refrigerator.
- Is Chili’s Salsa Cooked?
- What Tortilla is Used for Chili’s Chips?
- How Much Juice is in One Lime?
- How to Serve Chili’s Salsa
- Recipe
Ingredients
With minimal ingredients and only five minutes, you can easily get your chips and salsa fix. It’s a long drive to our nearest Chili’s Restaurant for the chips and salsa so I needed to come up with my own version.
- Canned Tomatoes
- Canned Tomatoes with Green Chiles
- Onion
- Jalapeno
- Garlic
- Cumin
- Salt
- Lime Juice
Even though I used a 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes, I only used about half of the tomatoes. Our local grocery store doesn’t have the smaller cans.
Have a look at this Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System (aff link) at Amazon. It’s the one we use and includes the blender, a food processor bowl and two to-go cups.
Is Chili’s Salsa Cooked?
The salsa at Chili’s is cooked, or at least partially cooked. It has little bits and pieces of fresh onion and jalapeno for texture. The tomatoes are peeled and cooked.
Dicing the fresh vegetables is easily accomplished in a food processor. In fact, everything is made right in the food processor. You don’t need anything else.
If you prefer completely fresh, uncooked salsa, that’s actually something else. I have a recipe for Pico de Gallo as well.
How Much Juice is in One Lime?
A lime has about 2 tablespoons of juice. I prefer to use a fresh lime, but trying to get all the juice can be difficult especially when the limes aren’t super ripe.
This lime juicer from Mexico works so well. You should definitely see if you can get something like this.
If you want to use bottled juice, though, I promise not to send the food police to your door.
What Tortilla is Used for Chili’s Chips?
Chili’s uses extra thin corn tortillas. They’re fried in soybean oil.
If you’re going to make your own homemade salsa, why not make your chips as well? I used corn tortillas, each cut into 4 triangles. I fried them in vegetable oil. Make sure the oil is hot enough that the tortillas come out crispy instead of soggy.
If you want to go even further, you can make your tortilla chips from scratch. Make the tortillas first, then cut and fry them. I’ve made my own Air Fryer Blue Tortilla Chips. You can do anything once you set your mind to it!
How to Serve Chili’s Salsa
Naturally, you can serve this salsa with chips. I could have an entire meal with chips and salsa. Can’t you?
Here are some more ideas.
- Serve with your Mexican Migas Breakfast.
- Add some to your Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Burrito.
- Serve with Vegetarian Fajitas.
- On the side of any of our Mexican Recipes.
Recipe
Chili’s Salsa Copycat Recipe
Equipment
- Electric Food Processor
Ingredients
- ½ large Yellow Onion cut into 4 equal pieces
- 1 Jalapeno seeds and membranes removed, cut into 4 equal pieces
- 10 ounces Tomatoes with Green Chiles canned, mild or regular, like Ro-Tel
- 14 ounces Whole Peeled Tomatoes canned, drained, I used half 28-ounce can
- 1 Lime juice only
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- pinch Cumin Powder
Instructions
- Place onion and fresh Jalapeno in food processor. Pulse until they are diced. Don't pulverize them. You don't want a paste. Just diced.
- Add remaining ingredients to food processor bowl.
- Pulse lightly until everything is mixed well. You want a little chunky, so just a few taps should be all you need.
- Place in an air tight container.
Notes
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. All amounts are estimates and 24Bite® takes no responsibility for actual figures since calculations vary by packaging and supplier. Please calculate the amounts yourself based on package labeling if you have specific dietary requirements. 24Bite®, Kim Guzman or Christian Guzman shall not be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or recommendations on this website or actions you take as a result. 2019-2026 Kim Guzman and Christian Guzman. All rights reserved. 24Bite®
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This salsa tastes just like the restaurant salsa! I’m so happy that I can recreate it at home now.
I love trying new salsa recipes! We are a family of salsa lovers. Excited to give this one a try! Thanks for the recipe share!
Awesome! This chilis salsa looks like the original thing! Everything looks great and so yummy! A perfect dip for our chips and some snacks! Totally love it!
This look so easy and delicious!
I am so excited to make this at home!
can this salsa be canned?
This isn’t the salsa that we can since it has a fresh element. Once you can it, everything is cooked and it no longer has that bit of crispness. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with canning it. It will still work. It just won’t be the same.
IMO, doesn’t taste anything like Chili’s salsa but does have a similar texture. The lime juice was over-powering and left a very acidic final result. I had to simmer down with a little sugar and more salt. The final flavor is decent, but I will retry with less lime juice and maybe half of a jalapeño to reduce the heat.
I understand. I developed this recipe before Chili’s changed their salsa recipe in about 2018 or 2019. Once they changed the recipe, I set out to make something like the old recipe and this is more like that old recipe because I don’t like the new one that much. I look forward to hearing how your experiments go. Thank you for writing!