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Here are the best types of salsa worth making! You can make this Mexican sauce or dip with fresh tomatoes, tomatillos, mangos, black beans, and more.

Types of salsa
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Love salsa? You’re in luck: there are so many types to try! Think outside of the tomato when you make this zesty Mexican sauce. Of course, ripe, juicy tomatoes make a salsa that’s like none other. But try it with canned tomatoes for a restaurant-style dip, tomatillos for a traditional salsa verde, or even fruit for a sweet and savory combo!

Below are all the top types of salsa to try! You’ll notice that they fall into the categories of these popular types of salsa:

  1. Red salsa (salsa roja): A sauce made with cooked or canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, and hot peppers
  2. Fresh salsa (salsa fresca or pico de gallo): A tomato salsa using fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, and jalapenos.
  3. Green salsa (salsa verde or tomatillo salsa): A salsa made using tomatillos, a variety of small green tomatoes with a tart flavor.
  4. Non tomato based salsas: The sauce made with different fruits and vegetables like peach, mango, corn, pineapple, etc.

And now…the best types of salsa to try!

Best ways to use salsa

There are so many ways to use salsa! Here are a few of our top ideas for using the salsa recipes above:

  1. Chips: These homemade tortilla chips hot from the oven are incredible.
  2. Tacos: Try fish tacosvegan carnitas tacos, or shrimp tacos.
  3. Enchiladas: Spread atop black bean enchiladas.
  4. Fish: Garnish it on grilled tilapia.
  5. Quesadillas: Sprinkle over a veggie quesadilla.
  6. Baked potatoes: Add as a topping to Mexican sweet potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes.
  7. Nachos: Sprinkle onto sheet pan nachos or vegan nachos.
  8. Avocados: Spoon into fresh or grilled avocados.
  9. Scrambled Eggs: Add salsa to scrambled eggs or a tofu scramble.
  10. Burritos: Throw it into black bean burritos.
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The BEST Salsa (& More Types!)

Best homemade salsa recipe
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There are so many types of salsa: but this one’s the best. This homemade salsa fresca recipe features fresh ripe tomatoes, cilantro, and lots of lime. 

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 2 ½ cups 1x
  • Category: Dip
  • Method: Food Processor
  • Cuisine: Mexican
  • Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 pounds fresh tomatoes (6 medium)
  • 1/2 white onion
  • 1 medium garlic clove
  • 1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, seeds removed (depending on your spice tolerance)
  • 1 large handful cilantro
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • 3 tablespoons lime juice, divided
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

Instructions

  1. Cut the tomatoes into wedges and remove the white part of the core; then cut the wedges in half. Cut the onion into chunks. Peel the garlic. Remove the seeds from the jalapeño peppers.
  2. Place the onion, garlic, jalapeño peppers and cilantro in the bowl of the food processor. Add the tomatoes, cumin, 2 tablespoons lime juice and ¾ teaspoon kosher salt. Pulse until a chunky texture forms. Taste, and if you’d like extra heat, add seeds from the jalapeños.
  3. Strain the mixture to remove excess liquid (the volume will decrease by almost half). Place the salsa in a serving dish and stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

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About the authors

Alex & Sonja

Hi! We’re Alex & Sonja Overhiser, authors of the acclaimed cookbooks A Couple Cooks and Pretty Simple Cooking—and a real life couple who cooks together. We founded the A Couple Cooks website in 2010 to share seasonal recipes and the joy of home cooking. Now, we’ve got over 3,000 well-tested recipes, including Mediterranean diet, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, smoothies, cocktails, and more!

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