Skip store-bought salsa and make delicious chunky salsa with avocado at home in just 20 minutes! All you need for this easy salsa recipe is fresh and simple ingredients.
Key Ingredients
- Tomatoes: Great salsa begins starts with fresh, juicy tomatoes. I use Roma tomatoes since they produce less liquid than other varieties, but beef steak tomatoes also work.
- Jalapeño Peppers: When making this salsa for a crowd, jalapeños are my go-to since they’re slightly less spice than other varieties. If you love jalapeños but crave more spice, leave the seeds and membrane intact when chopping them. Once in a while, I use serrano chili for more heat.
- Onions: The bold, slightly sweet flavor of the red onions complements the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Garlic: I recommend four fresh garlic cloves for the best flavor, but don’t let my recipe tell you how much garlic to use—measure with your heart!
- Cilantro: The highly debated herb adds flavor to the salsa, but feel free to leave it out if it’s not your thing.
- Lime: Preserve the salsa and brighten the flavor with fresh lime juice from a few fresh limes.
- Spices: Season the chunky salsa with kosher salt, coarse black pepper, ground cumin, and garlic powder.
- Avocado: Avocado takes the salsa recipe to the next level and guarantees you won’t have leftovers.
How to Make Chunky Salsa
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Dice the tomatoes and add them to a mixing bowl. Then, remove the stem, deseed, and chop the jalapeño pepper. Transfer the peppers to the bowl and add the chopped onions, garlic, and cilantro.
Step 2: Stir in the lime juice, salt, black pepper, cumin powder, and garlic powder. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.
Step 3: Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Dice the avocado and gently fold the cubes into the salsa, and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Uniformly cut the ingredients. Use a chef’s knife or vegetable chopper to chop the ingredients as finely and uniformly as possible to create the perfect bite. The avocado chunks will be slightly larger than the other salsa ingredients, but that’s okay.
- Let it chill. Refrigerate the chunky salsa for at least an hour (but even overnight) before serving to allow the ingredients to combine, deepening the flavor.
If you enjoy this chunky salsa with avocado, try more salsa recipes from Jamil Ghar!
Serving Suggestions
- Homemade Corn Tortilla Chips
- Air Fryer Pita Chips
- Carne Asada Tacos
- Instant Pot Carnitas
- Blackened Mahi Mahi Tacos
- Fajitas
- Blackened Mahi Mahi
- Grilled Chicken Drumsticks
- Quesadillas
- Scrambled Eggs, Omelet
- Burrito Bowls
- Cheese and Onion Enchiladas
What To Do With Leftovers
- Storage: On the off chance you end up with leftover chunky salsa, store it in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Regular salsa keeps longer, but the fresh avocado tends to shorten the shelf life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I adjust the spice level?
The salsa is pretty mild. I make it for my kids, and they devour, but I recognize everyone handles spice differently. Here are some suggestions:
Too Spicy: Use half of the jalapeño; you still get the flavor but less of the heat. If you’ve already made the salsa and it’s too spicy, add a teaspoon or two of white sugar to create balance.
Too Mild: If you love jalapeños but crave more spice, leave the seeds and membrane intact before chopping them. For a more spicy salsa, consider using serrano chilies.
More Mexican-Inspired Recipes:
Chunky Salsa
- 8 Roma tomatoes, finely diced
- 2 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, deseeded, and finely diced
- 2 medium red onions, finely diced
- 1 cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- lime juice, 1-2 limes
- 1 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 3-4 avocados, cut into cubes
- Dice the tomatoes and add them to a mixing bowl. Then, remove the stem, deseed, and chop the jalapeño pepper. Transfer the peppers to the bowl and add the chopped onions, garlic, and cilantro.
- Stir in the lime juice, salt, black pepper, cumin powder, and garlic powder. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.
- Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Dice the avocado and gently fold the cubes into the salsa, and enjoy!
- Uniformly cut the ingredients. Use a chef’s knife or vegetable chopper to chop the ingredients as finely and uniformly as possible to create the perfect bite. The avocado chunks will be slightly larger than the other salsa ingredients, but that’s okay.
- Let it chill. Refrigerate the chunky salsa for at least an hour (but even overnight) before serving to allow the ingredients to combine, deepening the flavor.
Calee Cortes
Sunday 6th of March 2022
I could genuinely eat this salsa, plain, straight out of the bowl-so good!
Tressa - Jamil Ghar Team
Sunday 6th of March 2022
Wow thank you! That is high praise.