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. Plus it tastes delicious with some homemade tortilla chips!
Fermented Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
- 2½-3 lbs tomatoes
- 2 peppers (such as bell, cayenne, or habañero peppers)
- 1-2 onions
- 4 cloves garlic
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- 1 lime (juiced)
- 2 TBSP salt
- spices to taste (such as oregano, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper)
- ½ cup whey
Instructions
- Chop tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, and cilantro and place in a large bowl.
- Add the juice of the lemon and lime.
- Add salt and spices to taste.
- Add whey and stir well to incorporate.
- Pour into quart or half gallon size mason jars and cap tightly.
- Leave on the counter for approximately 2 days.
- Transfer to the refrigerator or cold storage (oh, I wish I had a cellar or basement!).
Notes
Nutrition
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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.
Is your kitchen a small scale chemistry lab like mine? Do jars of foods in various stages of fermentation clutter your counter as they do mine? What’s your favorite?
This sounds simple and delish. Could you ferment the salsa with just sea salt and leave it out on the counter a little longer as you would sauerkraut?
Yes, I don’t add whey to my salsa. I move it to the fridge after 2 days still and then let it sit there for a while to ferment slowly, but my brother-in-law ferments his for a few weeks at room temp.
My house always smells like “something’s going bad” but it’s the fermentation at work. Fermenting daikon is particularly stinky. LOL Yes, there are weird jars of things sitting on my counter and in the fridge. I like to ferment just tomatoes and hot peppers (Thai chilis are my favorite right now). When ready, if I want salsa, I add some fresh cilantro, scallions, fresh lime juice and serve. Otherwise I eat as is with a some squeezes of lime and some black pepper. Versatile. So healthy and DARN, my batch won’t be ready for 2 more days!!! Everyone enjoy!
I made this and have a few questions… it tastes a bit sour is that normal with fermented salsa? I’ve never tried it before. The other question is that I used whey concentrate 1/2 a cup of powder is that the right quantity for the powdered concentrate.
A little sour is normal, but I”ve never used powdered, just the homemade whey drained from organic yogurt. Is it like a protein powder? If so, I don’t know if that will work, but I woudn’t think so…
Are fermented foods safe to have during pregnancy? I am in the first trimester…
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!
You can purchase vegetable starter culture from a place like Cultures for Health and store that or make your own from yogurt…
Sandor Katz eats savory vegetable sour dough pancakes almost every day, and he regularly makes sauerkraut, yogurt and kefir. He says eating and preparing fermented foods has become a staple of his life. “At certain times my kitchen looks like a mad scientist zone.”
His new book The Art Of Fermentation is a massive tome that could seem overwhelming to a novice, but he stresses that the basic process of fermentation is really very simple.
Many of his books available Amazon or at your library [url=http://indianapublicmedia.org/eartheats/fermentation-sandro-katz/] click[/url]
See him on Youtube [url=https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Sandor+Katz+&oq=Sandor+Katz+&gs_l=youtube.12..0l3.2902.2902.0.7012.1.1.0.0.0.0.61.61.1.1.0…0.0…1ac.2.c-0sKeT99-A]click[/url]
Sandor is the master! Highly recommend his books! He has quite a few free videos on Youtube also. They are just beginning to realize how tremendously important our gut bacteria are to all facets of our health and are even calling it our second brain! Fermented foods are really a necessity and such a better option than spending our hard earned dollars on off the shelf probiotics! You even get a bigger and better variety doing it yourself, along with food value, the necessary pre-biotics, and for me, the satisfaction of having created it!
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! 🙂
You can purchase vegetable started cultures from places like Cultures for Health or just strain yogurt to make your own…
Just skip the whey, it’s not necessary.
Sometimes do you have a little mold to scrap off the top?
Sometimes, I’d take the whole layer off and put in the fridge at that point…
What exactly makes something “fermented”? Is it just simply adding whey or is there more to it?
They whey actually causes a reaction, creating beneficial bacteria. It can also be done with just salt, though it takes longer.
Actually the whey contains the bacteria you need to start of the fermentation.
The vegetables have the bacteria required. Some would argue that adding whey actually creates an unnatural balance during fermentation. I just use salt, never add whey, and stuff ferments for me just fine.
can you just put everything in a blender? that’s usually how i make salsa. it’s more liquidy but it’s still yummy.
You can, it will ferment faster though, so watch it carefully…
Ooooo! Thanks for this tip cuz I blended everything too!
Hello, I really enjoy your blog. I have a jar of just about empty Bubbie ‘ s saurkraut, can I use this liquid to ferment veggies, if so, how?