The Best Jarred Medium Salsa

Salsa dates back to the time of the Aztec Empire, which was located in present-day Mexico. For centuries, it was made at home—often every day, and with local ingredients. It’s a broad category (salsa means “sauce” in Spanish), and Mexican cuisine is rich with different styles and formulations, many of which are unique to specific regions and dishes. Fresh and cooked salsas provide rich, complex flavor and depth to dishes including tacos, enchiladas, chilaquiles, and eggs. In 1941 the company La Victoria made the first jarred salsa in the United States, based on a recipe from an immigrant family, the La Bacas. Jarred tomato-based salsa became widely available in the United States in the 1980s and quickly turned into a supermarket staple. A bowl of salsa and tortilla chips became a classic pairing in the States (but was uncommon in Mexico at the time) and was even named Texas's official state snack in 2003. As Esteban Castillo, author of Chicano Eats (2020), explains, “having chips and salsa as a premeal snack . . . has definitely crossed over from the U.S. and has become a lot more common in Mexico.” The conversation about the best ways to use salsa is an ongoing discussion between people living in Mexico and those living in the United States.

For eating with tortilla chips and so much more, we always have a jar (or two) of salsa on hand. In this tasting we focused on medium salsas, looking for present but harnessed heat. We identified 10 top-selling, nationally available salsa brands based on sales data from IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. Many of these brands make multiple versions of medium-heat salsa, so we rounded up all the medium options from each company, tasted them against each other, and included our favorite from each brand in our final lineup of 10 salsas. Twenty-one editors and test cooks sampled the salsas plain and with our favorite tortilla chips and compared their flavor, texture, and heat level.

Even though all the salsas we tasted were labeled as medium-heat, some were considerably spicier than others. The flavors of the salsas also varied a lot. The most important variables were the type of pepper used in the salsa, the amount of sodium per serving, and the presence of additional spices or seasonings. Those made with jalapeños or a mix of jalapeños and milder pasilla peppers were the spiciest. Salsas containing bell peppers and those that didn’t specify the types of pepper used tended to be more mild.

As for sodium, the levels ranged from 80 to upwards of 230 milligrams per serving. Tasters described those with less sodium as tasting a little "sweet” but even those with the most sodium didn't taste too salty, even when paired with tortilla chips. A few salsas were garlicky, tasted strongly of cumin, or had bold smoky flavors from roasted ingredients. The rest tasted mostly like tangy, sweet tomatoes and the heat of the peppers.

The texture of the salsas in our lineup also varied, from thick and chunky to pureed. Some were almost saucy, like marinara. We strained one jar of each salsa, all of which were around 16 ounces, and compared the amount of liquid they shed. The volume of liquid ranged from about a half-cup to a full cup. Tasters had strong preferences on what texture they preferred, but each style had admirers.

Although the basic ingredients for tomato salsa are simple—tomatoes, onions, and peppers, plus salt and maybe a little garlic and/or spices—the way manufacturers prepared and combined those ingredients resulted in salsas that tasted wildly different. Fortunately, we found something we liked in each of the salsas we tasted. Instead of picking a favorite, we’ve listed tasting notes for each one so you can find the salsa that’s right for you.