Picante Sauce

Forget the jar. This homemade picante sauce comes together in 20 minutes with six ingredients and tastes fresher and brighter than anything off the shelf. Whole canned tomatoes get chopped right in the pot as they simmer with jalapeños, onion, apple cider vinegar, and garlic powder.

The 15-minute simmer concentrates the flavors and softens the raw onion bite. Chopping the tomatoes while they cook (rather than before) gives you an uneven, chunky texture that’s more interesting than a uniform dice. Some pieces break down into the sauce, others hold their shape.

Apple cider vinegar is doing two jobs: it adds a tangy sharpness that balances the tomato sweetness, and it acts as a natural preservative so the sauce keeps well in the fridge. Four jalapeños gives a solid medium heat. Scale up or down depending on your tolerance. Removing seeds and membranes from some of the peppers dials back the burn while keeping the jalapeño flavor.

Chill the sauce before serving. Cold picante has a cleaner, snappier flavor than warm, and it thickens slightly as it cools.

Pro Tips

• Use whole canned tomatoes, not diced or crushed. Whole tomatoes are packed at peak ripeness and have better texture when hand-chopped.
• Finely chop the onion and jalapeños so they distribute evenly throughout the sauce rather than clumping.
• Taste after simmering and adjust salt. Canned tomatoes vary widely in sodium.
• This keeps in the fridge for up to a week and the flavor actually improves after a day.

Variations

• Add a handful of chopped fresh cilantro after cooking for a more Mexican restaurant-style salsa.
• Stir in a chipotle pepper in adobo for smoky heat.
• Use fire-roasted canned tomatoes for a deeper, charred flavor without any extra work.