Serious Eats Rates Jarred Salsa

Culture, Media, General
1

Target store brand is the winner.

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2

Now I have to try the Target brandā€¦

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Interesting. Of the ones Iā€™ve tasted from their list (admittedly not many), Mateoā€™s is my favorite by far.

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The whole target salsa line is pretty solid. Some are better than others - we donā€™t care for the green varieties - but the SE winner and the chipotle salsa are safe bets in the category. At least in my kitchen

Granted then i have to go to target which the road construction people seem to not want me to do

5

Iā€™ve been trying jarred salsas over the past several weeks. Iā€™ve bought them from time to time over the years but thought Iā€™d do a run through of some of the ones available here for comparison. My preference for salsa is a fairly thin consistency that coats a chip rather than a very chunky salsa. Iā€™ve never had Targetā€™s salsa, but I guess Iā€™ll add them to my list. Of the 11 Iā€™ve had recently, Iā€™ve liked these best:

Mateoā€™s Gourmet Medium Salsa
Frontera Double Roasted Tomato Salsa
Saso Classic Roja Salsa Medium (Colorado product, not sure of its availability)
Burns & McCoy Hatch Green Chile Premium Salsa Mild (Colorado product, not sure of its availability)
El Pinto Hot Salsa (New Mexico product but I think itā€™s widely available)

(I also have these but am a little burned out on salsa, so I dont know when Iā€™ll get to them. Mateoā€™s Gourmet Hot Salsa, Frontera Cilantro Jalapeno Salsa, On The Border Medium Salsa, and Pace Restaurant Style Original Recipe Medium)

Iā€™ve also tried pre-made refrigerated salsa which I had somehow never purchased before and found them generally better than jarred salsas. Favorites of those are:

Reserā€™s Baja Cafe Restaurant Style Medium (liked this one best of all including the jarred salsas)
Del Real Fire Roasted Salsa Roja (simple with good jalapeno flavor)
Casa Sanchez Organica Medium
Casa Sanchez Medium Salsa Roja

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Many of the jarred salsas on the Serious Eats list are not available in Canada.

I tried this Renfro brand recently. We liked that green salsa.

I donā€™t like their cheese dip.

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7

Forgot to mention I also have a jar of Julioā€™s Mild Salsa which I havenā€™t tried. Bought because I thought it was the same company as tortilla chips I purchased recently. It wasnā€™t. The chips are Don Julio. I hadnā€™t seen tortilla chips as small as thoseā€“perfect one-bite chips. Flavor is just okay. Julioā€™s salsa seems to have a lot of positive customer reviews, so maybe it was a lucky purchase afterall.

In my previous post I said my preference is for fairly thin salsa but what I really meant was fairly smooth salsa. Not a fan of salsas that are too watery.

8

Is there a dictionary definition of salsa?
Because mine wouldnā€™t include pickles. Or blackberries, as a for instanceā€¦
We have a bunch of local/regional cold fresh salsa makers and so I canā€™t remember the last time I bought jarred.
As I age, my pepper tolerance level drops in proportion.
I need a wimpy level thatā€™s somewhere below mild these days.
Will always have a fondness for green salsa but, like green chili, I donā€™t like the ones that have tomatoes included. Iā€™m all verde or go home.

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9

Interesting that they lump all the many different kinds of salsa together.

There are restaurants near me that do a salsa sampler of a few house salsas ā€” all different: raw, cooked, green, red, mild, spicy.

ā€œRunnyā€ is the way it should be for many salsas, using it as a pejorative seems uninformed, as does lumping everything together without differentiating categories.

One of my favorite salsas is a runny one from a divey place in San Diego ā€” TJs Autentica reminds me of it, except it doesnā€™t have a charred flavor.

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10

I love all the Trader Joeā€™s salsas, especially the pineapple one! No idea if itā€™s authentic or not, but that one and the medium salsa are pantry staples in my house.

11

Have you tried El Pato? It comes in small cans labeled ā€˜hot tomato sauceā€™, medium spicy with that thin consistency.

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12

I think Iā€™ve used that at least once in chili a long time ago and probably tasted it on its own, but I havenā€™t had it as a salsa with chips. From what I recall, it probably is about the consistency I like.

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13

I thought Iā€™d mention I was eating a burrito and they didnā€™t put enough salsa on itā€¦so I pulled out a bottle of Cholula to add some flavor and noticed on the bottle that McCormick & Co distributes it. A quick search says McCormick acquired Cholula in 2020. I think that explains all the new flavors of hot sauce and making a jarred salsa.

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TJs Autentica is also that consistency, if you have a store near you

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