Share your favorite store bought salsa dip you like?

[CharlieD]

I like Chi-Chi's brand salsa. There is something fresh about it.

 

[Zagut]

My store bought favorite is Pace Picante Sauce "Hot".

The Medium is Meh and the Mild is worthless.

It's a staple in my pantry.

Goes really well with those cheap frozen burritos for a quick inexpensive fuel stop.


Mrs. Renfro's makes a few nice habanero salsas I've tried and like.

They have a large line of different salsas so they may be worth looking into.

Renfro Foods

 

[Caslon]

We found a fresh salsa (dairy section, by us) brand that we like a lot. Made by Sabra, it called "Santa Barbara Medium Salsa". It's not made anywhere near CA, though, but in White Plains, NY.

Tastes so much fresher than any jarred salsa,m

Santa Barbra salsa is great and one I included on my list of the best non bottled salsa.
I'm sorry people, I don't salsa anything in jars and set it out as a dip with corn chips.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Santa Barbra salsa is great and one I included on my list of the best non bottled salsa...

Ah, I see that, but I know the product as "Sabra". I figured the Santa Barbara on mine was the product name, and that yours was the brand name. Whatever we know it by, it's good!

Like salsa, I know I could make hummus at home. However, my grocery usually has them on sale. I'd rather use the time to make the items that aren't as readily available at the market around by me. Balela is one of them...and I haven't made it for a while. Looks like it's time to mix a batch of it.

 

[taxlady]

Ah, I see that, but I know the product as "Sabra". I figured the Santa Barbara on mine was the product name, and that yours was the brand name. Whatever we know it by, it's good!

Like salsa, I know I could make hummus at home. However, my grocery usually has them on sale. I'd rather use the time to make the items that aren't as readily available at the market around by me. Balela is one of them...and I haven't made it for a while. Looks like it's time to mix a batch of it.

I'm going to have to try that balela salad. I think you mentioned it before. I had already saved it as a PDF. I'll bet it gets better as it sits and marinates in that dressing.

 

[CWS4322]

Guilty. I have no jarred / store bought salsa sauces in the house. I recently bought a bottle of ketchup (for a recipe I was testing). I haven't had ketchup in the house for years. I use tomato paste instead of ketchup (and yes, it is homemade tomato paste).

 

[CWS4322]

I'm going to have to try that balela salad. I think you mentioned it before. I had already saved it as a PDF. I'll bet it gets better as it sits and marinates in that dressing.

That's gone on my "to do" list for the month of July with lamb kabobs on the grill...I'm tasting it already.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Not the bottled Herdez salsa, but the plastic container of Herdez salsa.

I thought it exceptional.

They put the same product in all the different types of containers, and I still think the product they put in the cans, jars and plastic containers tastes as bland as the containers themselves. When I bite into a salsa, I want it to bite back!

Try the recipes I posted. I guarantee they will make your hair sweat!

 

[Addie]

The only thing I have ever used salsa on is scrambled eggs. I used to like it medium. I never had a favorite jarred brand or even fresh salsa. Now my stomach will only accept mild. And I still don't care what the brand is. It has been years since I bought any salsa of any kind. Now Pirate has requested I put it on the grocery list. So I need to go back to post #1 and read the thread completely to see what I am doing. What I do know is that it will have to be mild. For the both of us.

Thanks in advance for all the information.

 

[Addie]

I've never liked Herdez. It always tastes kind of flat. If I am going to use jarred sauce I will buy La Victoria or Pace.

Now, for queso dip, you can't go wrong with a jar of cheese whiz and a can or Ro-Tel seasoned diced tomatoes.

Many moons ago I bought a can of Ro-Tel just to have on the shelf. I had nothing in mind for them. Pirate just mentioned to me that instead of using them for a salsa, he uses it for a sauce with a large can or two of whole baby clams and olive oil, heat it up and use for a pasta sauce. He tells me that they are not too hot and my stomach should be able to handle the heat. If I can tolerate it that way, I just may start to make my own salsa minus the cilantro. The one time I tasted a food with cilantro in it, I felt like I had bitten off a big bite of soap. So it looks like a new adventure for me.

 

[Cheryl J]

Addie....if what you're looking for is a mild, very inexpensive salsa for your scrambled eggs, get yourself a can of Herdez. It comes in small cans. Just be sure to check the heat level, they have several different kinds. They probably have one without cilantro. Better yet, making your own is good - a couple of Romas, an onion and a jalapeno doesn't cost much at all and you can control what you put in there.

If your son wants something different, let him buy it.

 

[Kayelle]

They put the same product in all the different types of containers, and I still think the product they put in the cans, jars and plastic containers tastes as bland as the containers themselves. When I bite into a salsa, I want it to bite back!

Try the recipes I posted. I guarantee they will make your hair sweat!

Not everyone likes sweaty hair. At any rate, I hope you have also put these recipes where they belong SLoB, as has always been requested by the management.

 

[Addie]

Addie....if what you're looking for is a mild, very inexpensive salsa for your scrambled eggs, get yourself a can of Herdez. It comes in small cans. Just be sure to check the heat level, they have several different kinds. They probably have one without cilantro. Better yet, making your own is good - a couple of Romas, an onion and a jalapeno doesn't cost much at all and you can control what you put in there.

If your son wants something different, let him buy it.

Sounds like a winner. I will be doing my monthly shopping tomorrow. Please take pity on me. I am going shopping the day before the fourth. I must be out of my mind.

Next question. If I do make my own, how long can I keep it in my fridge before it turns into a bowl of green mold?

I have never been interested in Mexican food as such. Not even when I lived in Texas. So this is a whole new area for me in the food department. I was pregnant when I lived in Texas, and foods with heat just didn't agree with an expectant mother. My husband loved it so I kept a bottle of hot sauce in the house for him. That is as far as I was willing to go. And my kids only wanted the foods they were familiar with.

I worked in a Mexican café/bar. The customers were mostly from Mexico and they thought I was a cute American. I did learn to love some of Mama Lupe's foods. And I have to admit, they were really good. She was from Mexico also. She always kept a big basket of crackers on the table with very large salt shakers. Those customers sure loved their salt. They were always shaking it on the back of their hands and licking it off. I don't know why to this day. So I am off on to a new adventure in Mexican cooking.

 

[Kayelle]

Addie, if you decide to make your own, cut your fresh jalapeno in half, and remove the seed and veins before chopping it up. All the offensive heat is in the seeds and veins. Wear plastic gloves as eye rubs even hours later without using them are memorable. Better yet, make the Pirate do it.

PS...it will keep well for a week or more.

 

[GotGarlic]

Addie....if what you're looking for is a mild, very inexpensive salsa for your scrambled eggs, get yourself a can of Herdez. It comes in small cans. Just be sure to check the heat level, they have several different kinds. They probably have one without cilantro. Better yet, making your own is good - a couple of Romas, an onion and a jalapeno doesn't cost much at all and you can control what you put in there.

Don't forget the lime juice!

If your son wants something different, let him buy it.

Definitely.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I'm going to have to try that balela salad. I think you mentioned it before. I had already saved it as a PDF. I'll bet it gets better as it sits and marinates in that dressing.

Don't let it marinate too long. The tomatoes get all weepy, no matter how well you drain them. Then the entire thing turns to mush. Unless I figure we'll eat it in a hurry, I make only half a recipe.

That's gone on my "to do" list for the month of July with lamb kabobs on the grill...I'm tasting it already.

I bet it would be perfect with lamb. However, I haven't yet mastered a taste for lamb. I make this with the intention of serving it with something pork-y, then we devour it before we end up making pork!

Perhaps I should rethink that "half-a-recipe" approach...

 

[taxlady]

Don't let it marinate too long. The tomatoes get all weepy, no matter how well you drain them. Then the entire thing turns to mush. Unless I figure we'll eat it in a hurry, I make only half a recipe.
...

Thanks for the heads up. Well then, I'll marinate it for a while, minus the tomatoes, and throw them in right before serving.

 

[Addie]

Addie....if what you're looking for is a mild, very inexpensive salsa for your scrambled eggs, get yourself a can of Herdez. It comes in small cans. Just be sure to check the heat level, they have several different kinds. They probably have one without cilantro. Better yet, making your own is good - a couple of Romas, an onion and a jalapeno doesn't cost much at all and you can control what you put in there.

If your son wants something different, let him buy it.

I went coupon shopping as I usually do just before shopping. I saw a coupon for Herdez. So I am going to buy the smallest product that the coupon will allow. I will look on the back and read the ingredients. I always do with a new product. If I can't find one without cilantro, then I will look for one with it further down on the list of ingredients.

My son is great when shopping for meats. He forgets about shopping the "whole meal" concept. If he had his way, all we would ever eat is just meat. And maybe a veggie or two.

 

[Caslon]

They put the same product in all the different types of containers, and I still think the product they put in the cans, jars and plastic containers tastes as bland as the containers themselves. When I bite into a salsa, I want it to bite back!

Try the recipes I posted. I guarantee they will make your hair sweat!

Noted. However, the salsa brands kept in the refrigerated area of the supermarket in plastic containers has to be fresher then the bottled stuff of the same brand that can sit on the shelf for years, I would think. Maybe not.
The Herdez Mild/Medium has a mild kick to it that's not too hot, not too mild.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

The one time I tasted a food with cilantro in it, I felt like I had bitten off a big bite of soap.

I have had a few people ask me not to garnish their food with cilantro because it tastes like soap, so in the Amoretti Test Kitchen I also keep a supply of epazote for garnishing. Epazote doesn't taste like soap, it tastes like turpentine!