Garlic Scape Salsa Recipe

Name: Garlic Scape Salsa
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup chopped garlic scapes (about 15-20 scapes); 6 medium tomatoes (sliced); 1 sweet onion (chopped); 4 cloves garlic; 2 jalapeno peppers (remove seeds for a less spicy salsa); 1 lime juiced; 1/3 cup white vinegar; 1/2 teaspoon salt; ⅛ cup cilantro chopped (or more depending on taste)

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This garlic scape salsa recipe is bright, fresh, garlicky, and SO delicious! Made with tomatoes, garlic cloves and scapes, onions, jalapeno peppers and herbs for a tasty 10 minute snack.

A delicious way to use up garlic scapes from the garden or your CSA box. This easy salsa comes together quickly in a food processor for the perfect restaurant-quality consistency.

Want more tasty garlic scape recipes? Try our pickled garlic scapes, grilled garlic scapes, and our garlic scape hot sauce

garlic scape pico de gallo salsa recipe with a hand dipping a tortilla chip into it

Table of Contents

If you have garlic scapes and love fresh, flavorful salsa this delicious dip is a fantastic (and easy!) snack you can make fast. We grew about 200 garlic plants this year, which means plenty of scapes we can enjoy. Salsa felt like a natural choice, as garlic is a key ingredient and love making nectarine salsa, papaya salsa, and pineapple pico de gallo salsa already.

For this recipe, I adapted my go-to pico de gallo salsa into one with garlic scapes: it’s quick, easy to make, and has minimal ingredients. It makes about a full quart too, so grab your tortilla chips and dig in!

Why This Recipe Works

It’s bright, fresh, spicy, herby, and delicious.
It’s versatile – add more or less garlic scapes to suit your taste.
This salsa is quick, and ready in just 10 minutes start-to-finish.
No cooking required, so home cooks of any skill level can successfully pull this recipe off.
It’s made in a food processor, so no tedious chopping, slicing, or dicing.

Ingredients You’ll Need

I used both garlic scapes and garlic cloves for this tasty salsa. It has a wonderful depth of flavor and the scapes add a nice bit of spice. It’s a great way to use fresh garlic scapes without having to cook them first.

For the tomatoes, you can use any kind of tomatoes you have on hand. I used medium-sized Roma tomatoes, but you can use vine ripened, beefsteak, or any variety you prefer! Put them in a food processor with onion, lime juice, vinegar, and cilantro.

For the peppers, I like to use jalapeno peppers as they have a wonderful heat level and flavor, and pair well with the garlic scapes. They also give this salsa beautiful flecks of green.

Be sure to visit the recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and recipe instructions!

Substitutions and Variations

If you find jalapeno peppers too spicy, you can opt for a milder pepper like Poblano, Anaheim, or bell peppers. Or if you want to kick up the heat you can try a hotter pepper like serrano, habanero, or Fresco chilis.
If you don’t like cilantro, you can omit it or substitute parsley.
Instead of fresh lime juice, you can use bottled lime juice or the same amount of white vinegar.

How To Make This Recipe

a bundle of curly garlic scapes washed and ready to make salsa.

Step 1: Prep your scapes – remove any tough woody stems and the ends of the flowering scapes. You want the scapes to be flexible and not hard so they can’t bend. I trim the ends right after the flower bulb at the top, and trim off the hard parts of the stems towards the bottoms of the scapes.

a food processor full of garlic scapes, fresh garlic cloves, and onions.

Step 2: Roughly chop the tomatoes, onions, jalapeno peppers, cilantro, and garlic cloves. Add them all to the food processor along with the garlic scapes.

fresh lime being added to garlic scape salsa

Step 3: Add in the freshly squeezed lime juice and the white vinegar.

a food processor full of salsa with garlic scapes and tomatoes and herbs.

Step 4: Cover and seal the food processor with the lid. Pulse the salsa ~10-20 times until the salsa reaches your desired consistency. Enjoy immediately with unsalted tortilla chips!

Recipe FAQs

What are garlic scapes?

Garlic scapes are the green, curly flowering stems of garlic plants. They have a mild, fresh garlic flavor and a hint of spiciness. They are great fresh, grilled, or pickled and are a great addition to any dish that uses regular garlic.

Is this salsa spicy?

Yes, this salsa is spicy – you can make it milder by removing the seeds and inner ribs of the jalapeno peppers before adding them to the food processor. Or skip the jalapeno pepper, and opt for a milder pepper variety like Anaheim peppers or bell peppers instead.

How long does garlic scape salsa last?

Refrigerate any leftover garlic scape salsa in an airtight container. It will last for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Expert Tips

Your salsa may be more/less liquid-y depending on how juicy your tomatoes are. If you find the salsa too liquid-y you can drain some of the liquid before serving. If you find it too thick, you can add an extra lime of tablespoon of white vinegar to thin it out.
To make a thinner salsa, use a blender instead of a food processor. Or process the salsa for a longer amount of time.
For a chunkier garlic scape salsa, you can skip the food processor altogether, and hand chop the vegetables to your desired consistency. The recipe will take longer if chopping by hand.

a tortilla chip being dipped in garlic scape salsa with tomatoes and peppers.

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