Sweet Tomato Salsa

Name: Sweet Tomato Salsa
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Mexican cuisine
Ingredients: 300 gm sweet tomatoes; 5 tas olive oil; 1 piece small bunch of basil; 5 tas freshly ground pepper; salt

June 25, 2026August 25, 2026 Kateryna Bondar

Cuisine

Mexican cuisine

Course

Sauces & Dressings

Serves 4 people

The simplest fresh salsa, where everything rests on the quality of the tomatoes: no cooking at all, just finely diced sweet flesh, olive oil, basil, and pepper. This is a cold sauce-condiment that keeps the crispness and tartness of the raw vegetable, while the basil gives the mixture a Mediterranean rather than a fiery Mexican character.

Salsa simply means sauce; in this uncooked version (salsa cruda) it is closest to an Italian dressing, which is why it is served here with focaccia rather than with tortillas.

Tips and Substitutions

Use ripe, meaty tomatoes (such as the oxheart variety); watery ones will give a runny puddle instead of a sauce.
If you want a thicker salsa, remove the seeds and liquid from the tomatoes before dicing.
The 5 tbsp of pepper in the original is more about freshly ground fragrant pepper; go by taste so the sauce does not turn fiery.
Add the basil right before serving: chopped too early, it darkens and loses its aroma.

Serve fresh, the day it is made, with focaccia, grilled bread, or fish. In the refrigerator the sauce lasts a few hours, but it is best right after it is dressed.