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How To Make Fermented Salsa

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021126 0006 0283.wbc How To Make Fermented Salsa

Now that we are just on the verge of Tomato and Pepper season, I wanted to share this recipe for cultured salsa. Fermenting salsa is an easy way to make it last longer without canning and it adds a probiotic boost.

We eat and drink a lot of fermented foods, from Water Kefir Soda to Sauerkraut, and fermented salsa is definitely one of the easiest ways to get the benefits of fermented foods in your diet.

If done properly, fermented salsa will last months in the fridge or in cold storage and get more probiotics with age.

homemade salsa recipe How To Make Fermented Salsa

Lacto Fermented Salsa Recipe

 

Ingredients and Supplies:

  • 2.5-3 lbs of tomatoes of choice
  • 1-2 onions
  • 4 (or more) cloves of minced garlic
  • Fresh Cilantro to taste (I use 1/2 cup or more)
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 2 TBSP sea salt or celtic salt
  • Spices to taste ( I use oregano, pepper, cumin, chili and cayenne)
  • Peppers (sweet or spicy.. I use cayenne and habanero but sweet peppers work great too if you don’t like spicy!)
  • 1/2 cup whey (make your own!)

how to make fermented salsa How To Make Fermented Salsa

How to Make Fermented Salsa

  1. Chop tomatoes, peppers, onion and cilantro and mince garlic. If you have a food processor, your could definitely use it to speed up this step!
  2. Toss all ingredients into large bowl
  3. Add the juice of the lemon and lime
  4. Add salt and spices to taste
  5. Add whey and stir well to incorporate.
  6. Pour into quart of half gallon size mason jars and cap tightly.
  7. Leave on the counter for approximately 2 days.
  8. Transfer to fridge or cold storage (oh, I wish I had a cellar or basement!)

Will last up to 8 months (that’s the longest I’ve tested!) if kept cold and flavor will intensify slightly over time. I find it actually tastes best after a couple weeks in the fridge to let flavors mingle a little more.

A Fast and Easy Tip

If you don’t have the time or ingredients to make your own salsa, you can get the benefits of fermented salsa by fermenting store bought salsa as well. If possible, use the fresh made salsas in the refrigerated section, but you can ferment canned versions also.

I tried this after reading this tip from Cheeseslave, and it works great. I had a lot of salsa that I had canned last year, and I’ve fermented it all before using it now to up the probiotic balance. I also fermented my homemade ketchup, barbecue sauce, pasta sauce, etc and they all tasted great!

What do you think? Is your kitchen a small scale chemistry lab? Do jars of foods in various stages of fermentation clutter your counter as they do mine? What’s your favorite?

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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_RRTHNTLY7U4HRJGRORBKN7EFFM Swallick

    I walked into my kitchen yesterday and it smelled like apple cider vinegar (from the kombucha brewing on the counter) and sour milk (cheese cloth dangling from my cabinet with clabbered milk dripping whey into a bowl below). I had to light a candle because I’m still acquiring these smells.
    Looks like I have a new recipe to try with my newly made whey once my garden starts producing :) 

  • Anonymous

    I’m moving into a new place with a basement soon…might have to try this! Salsa is one of my favorite foods–it’s so versatile, and this looks like a great way to keep fresh salsa for Ohio winters!

  • Veronica

    My husband used to call the forgotten leftovers in the fridge my “science experiments”.  He doesn’t know what to think now.  Water kefir on one side of the kitchen, kombucha on the other side….  Now I need to make some whey to try this recipe.  :) We live in Texas so salsa is consumed year round!!

  • Veronica

    My husband used to call the forgotten leftovers in the fridge my “science experiments”.  He doesn’t know what to think now.  Water kefir on one side of the kitchen, kombucha on the other side….  Now I need to make some whey to try this recipe.  :) We live in Texas so salsa is consumed year round!!

  • Veronica

    My husband used to call the forgotten leftovers in the fridge my “science experiments”.  He doesn’t know what to think now.  Water kefir on one side of the kitchen, kombucha on the other side….  Now I need to make some whey to try this recipe.  :) We live in Texas so salsa is consumed year round!!

  • Allison

    I have a sensitivity to dairy. Is there a substitute for whey? Thanks!

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    I haven’t tried it but supposedly you can just add an extra TBSP of sea salt.

  • Bim10

    by saying whey do u mean normal WHEY ? LIKE THE ONE YOU BUY IN A PHARMACY? ???

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    making your own is much easier… powdered versions dont work well. easy to make though… http://wellnessmama.com/2402/how-to-make-whey-and-cream-cheese-in-one-step/

  • Hope

    excellent idea especially on the buying ready made store salsa and adding whey…
    i am trying to do my own kraut now…woooo, stinky! doing only sea salt and cabbage.

  • Monica

    I don’t have access to whey, can water kefir be used instead? Also can I use parsely instead of cilantro? Looks like a good recipe!

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    I don’t think that water kefir would work… different bacteria. Do you have access to any kind of plain yogurt??

  • Daynajaderdelhey

    Good Morning, I have 3 orange trees bursting with fruit and I have been searching high and low for a natural, healthy, sugar free version of Orange Marmalade. Any suggestions???? Thanks

  • Hilda

    there r many tomatoes gng slightly over ripe or more in the markets..can I specially use them to make this fermented salsa?

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  • Ali B.

    I really love this idea as I am currently making my own cream cheese and also tzatziki sauce so I’ll a lot of whey handy.  I am very new to this way of eating, so I have maybe a silly question.  If you don’t do grains – what do you dip in your salsa??  

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    I mainly put it on eggs, stir frys, salads, etc :-)

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kristy-Small/757928359 Kristy Small

    I’ve actually been told that whey or kombucha would work to ferment because it produces the same lactic acid that ferments.  It’s not the beginning bacteria, but the end result.  I’m giving fermented salsa a shot with my water kefir.  It has worked in baking to replace whey or milk kefir, so I imagine it will work well!

  • jackie

    can you just put everything in a blender? that’s usually how i make salsa. it’s more liquidy but it’s still yummy.

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    You can, it will ferment faster though, so watch it carefully…

  • sarah

    What exactly makes something “fermented”? Is it just simply adding whey or is there more to it?

  • Julie

    Sometimes do you have a little mold to scrap off the top?

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    They whey actually causes a reaction, creating beneficial bacteria. It can also be done with just salt, though it takes longer.

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    Sometimes, I’d take the whole layer off and put in the fridge at that point…

  • http://www.facebook.com/liz.sabinjaconelli Liz Sabin Jaconelli

    I’ve fermented pickles with water kefir and they were excellent! They turned out much more crisp.

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  • Kristy Kelley

    Question for you: I plan on growing tomatoes this summer and making TONS of fermented salsa but for this winter I’d like to ferment the jarred salsa. I don’t have any whey around my kitchen. My question is….can I purchase whey at a health foods store to keep in the fridge to use for this purpose? Or do I need to buy store-bought yogurt and make my own? Sorry for my ignorance…new to this! :)

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    You can purchase vegetable started cultures from places like Cultures for Health or just strain yogurt to make your own…

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  • http://www.facebook.com/lyman.duggan Lyman Duggan

    Actually the whey contains the bacteria you need to start of the fermentation.

  • http://www.facebook.com/lyman.duggan Lyman Duggan

    The natural bacteria is already on the cabbage and other vegies if you don’t cook them. There will be many kinds of good bacteria. The sea salt is only there to keep any mold from growing and protects the good bacteria from being invaded by bad. There will be yeasts present too naturally. It will bubble away for a few weeks and create kind of a vinegar that helps preserve things even more. When it is as you like, good to bottle it and refrigerate and it will keep then a long time.

    We used to keep our brine pickled veggies and fruits in the basement (cellar) over winter as it was not heated. Everyone did that to keep fruits and veggies over the winter on Canadian farms and many now do it because they love it although using vinegar now is cheap and quicker but doesn’t taste the same. Strangely there are soil bacteria present in the ferment that also give benefit to the body. Keep some of the liquid always to use as a starter for the next batch. You can a bit of this to any ferment to increase the types of good bacteria. A good book on this by Sandor Katz

  • http://www.facebook.com/lyman.duggan Lyman Duggan

    You can use liquid from fermented Sauerkraut to start it. or whey from soy yogurt. I make my own soy yogurt, so easy and fermented soy is really good for you. This whey has the bacteria that you need. It must be live sourkraut or kimchee and not pasturized.

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    You can purchase vegetable starter culture from a place like Cultures for Health and store that or make your own from yogurt…

  • Anita Negron

    Ooooo! Thanks for this tip cuz I blended everything too!

  • michelle

    Are fermented foods safe to have during pregnancy? I am in the first trimester…

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    I’d always ask your doc, but I make it a point to consume a lot of fermented foods while pregnant since baby inherits gut bacteria from mom during delivery so good gut bacteria is important!

  • Blaxer

    Do you know exactly what you are sensitive to in dairy? Is it the lactose, casein, or whey in cow’s milk?
    Unfortunately, if you have a casein sensitivity, it is hard (near impossible) to get whey without casein coming through.
    Most people who have sensitivties to cow’s milk can do goat’s milk. There is some conflicting info on goat milk whey proteins, although it isn’t clearly known why. So, you could make your own whey from goat’s milk and try that.
    I DO know that my functional medicine MD told me that after going off all dairy for a while (1 yr to 18mos.) that I could try whey and use it if I could tolerate it.
    But, if you are battling candida, you do not (yet) want to incorporate fermented foods. Again, going off fermented foods (1yr. to 18mos.) as well as carbs, sugars, etc.
    If you try the goat’s milk whey, I would love to know how it went for you.
    Otherwise, I would try the extra salt.

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