6 different flavours of fresh salsa and how to ferment them for flavour and health

Fermented tomato salsa combines the warm rich flavour of spices with the fresh flavour of vegetables. It is a simple and delicious way to add more probiotics to your diet.

The best thing about making fermented tomato salsa is that it works with pretty much any fresh salsa recipe! So if you have a favourite salsa, then try fermenting it.

One recipe, many types of salsa

It’s no secret that I LOVE playing with flavour. I like switching around the ingredients in my basic recipes depending on what is in season and what type of flavour I’m looking for.

Here are a few ways to switch up the flavours in this simple recipe.

Corn Salsa: To make a corn salsa, grill 2 cobs of corn on the BBQ with the husks on. Then slice corn off the cobs and add it to the salsa recipe instead of the green pepper.
Tropical salsa: Replace the green pepper and onion in the recipe with 2 ripe mangos.
Summer fruit salsa: Replace 1 cup of chopped tomatoes with chopped peaches or pears.
Smokey chipotle salsa: Take out the fresh hot pepper and replace it with dried chipotle chilli peppers, about 12 for those who like it hot. To add the chipotle peppers, soak them in 1 cup of boiling water for 30 minutes. Then chop or puree before adding to the salsa.
Salsa Verde: I admit that we often end up with a lot of unripe tomatoes at the end of the summer. Replacing the ripe tomatoes with a mixture of green tomatoes results in a tangy green salsa.

Fermented Tomato Salsa

This is a fresh salsa recipe with a twist! Fermenting is an easy and delicious way to blend the flavour of spices and fresh vegetables. The result is a delicious and probiotic chip dip.

Author: Emillie
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 quarts 1x
Category: Condiment
Method: Fermented
Cuisine: Mexican
Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

Scale

3 1/2 cups chopped Roma tomatoes (3 lbs)
1 cups chopped onions
1 cups chopped green bell pepper
1 hot pepper w/ seeds (optional)
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp cider vinegar with a mother (see notes)

Instructions

Finely chop all the vegetables and mix with the tomatoes paste, cumin and salt.
Pack into jars for fermenting, leaving headroom as it will bubble. Stir in the cider vinegar. Use a weight to keep the vegetables below the liquid.
Cover the jar to prevent fruit flies from getting in, and leave it to ferment somewhere cool and dark for 2 to 3 days.
After fermentation either stir the liquid into the salsa or drain it off for a thicker salsa. Store in the refrigerator and use within 4 weeks.

Notes

I usually do all my fermenting in a fido jar, however, I really like fermenting salsa in small mason jars for easy serving, just use a smaller jam jar as a weight.
If you don’t have fermented cider vinegar with a mother, then replace it with an alternative culture, like brewed kombucha or whey. Alternatively, you could use a purchased vegetable starter (affiliate link).

Keywords: fresh salsa, vegan, gluten free, keto, paleo, whole 30, sugar free, probiotic