How to Can Your Own Salsa at Home and Save $$$

Over the weekend I shared some pictures on instagram, showing how I was making homemade salsa and canning it. Canning is something I learned to do a few years ago from my mother-in-law. Salsa is the first thing we did and it has become a pantry staple that I can each year for my family. I wait till I can get my tomatoes at a rock bottom price. This year I scored 20 pounds of tomatoes for $13.50. That means that each pound of tomatoes was only 68 cents. Can we say SCORE! I ordered one box from Bountiful Baskets and on Saturday I got all my supplies together.

For canning there is an initial investment of products needed, but trust me it pays for its self in the money you save by canning things yourself. The same items I bought over 2 years ago, I am still using today. For canning tomatoes you need a water bath canner

. I bought mine at Wal-Mart, along with the other items needed for canning: funnel, magnetic lid lifter, tongs, and a jar lifter. You can also find them at Amazon, which I linked above.

I believe when I bought mine at Wal-Mart, I purchased it in a set. I was able to get everything for less than $50. You use a water bath canner (essentially a big pot) for canning high acid foods like tomatoes, jelly, jam, marmalades, applesauce, etc. If you are wanting to can low acid foods like beans and meats, you need a pressure canner. I don't currently have one of these, but I am hoping with the money saved this month from #NOSpenduary I will be able to purchase one. As long as no other needs come up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed about this one:)

To learn the basics of canning, I always use the Blue Book Guide to Preserving

. I found it one year at Wal-Mart on clearance. It tells you how to can everything. Literally! I love it!

For the canning of the tomatoes, I have found that it is cheaper and easier using a seasoning mix. I love the Mrs. Wages Medium Salsa Mix

. You can find it at Wal-Mart for $2.58. This stuff is good and has no fillers. I love it when I can pronounce everything in the ingredients list. To make my salsa, I follow the directions on the back, except I do not remove the skins from my tomatoes. The most time consuming part is cutting all the tomatoes, but a few episodes on Netflix will help the time pass:) I am currently watching Switched at Birth - love it!

Process the cans for 40 minutes, remove from the water bath canner, and then allow them to cool on a towel on the counter. I let mine sit out for 24 hours and then I label them and place them in the pantry. I use to use fancy labels and such, but I have found that just writing on the lids with a Sharpie, works just as well.

Here's the break down for the cost of caning my own salsa at home:

One 20 lb case of tomatoes bought via Bountiful Baskets - $13.50
2 boxes of regular mouth lids- $3.16
3 packages of salsa seasoning mix- $7.74

Total Cost = $24.40

Each jar cost me $1.22

I already had mason jars

I love seeing the breakdown of my efforts. It shows that not only am I making something healthy for my family, but we are saving ourselves tons of money while we do it. Canning salsa is probably one of the easiest things to can. It takes very few steps and homemade is always so much yummier than store bought. I say it's the secret ingredient of love. What do you think?

*Above, I have pictured Maple Syrup which I canned as well. I will share the how to in another post:)

XO Danielle