We Taste-Tested 21 Jarred Salsas—Here Are Our Favorites

In high school, I had an odd bedtime routine that involved feasting on tortilla chips and jarred salsa around nine o’clock, just before turning in. I was growing! My hormones were fluctuating! Everything was confusing! Nothing was as constant and comforting as my nightly bag of salty tortilla chips and mediocre jarred salsa. Though my bedtime routine has changed—it now involves a cup of hot chocolate and some stretching—my love for chips and salsa has not. And while I much prefer to make my own salsa from scratch, there are days when I simply don’t have the time or energy, which is when I reach for jarred salsa. The question is: Which salsa should you buy? 

To find the very best jarred salsa, our editors sampled 21 different brands you’re likely to find at your local supermarket or online. We placed each in bowls, then sampled them in random order without knowing which salsa was which. After tasting our way through 21 different medium-heat salsas, we tabulated the results and crowned an overall winner that we’d be happy to reach for in a pinch when homemade is just not on the table.

The Criteria

Good store-bought salsa should have a bright tomato flavor and subtle sweetness from onions. It should have a vegetal note from the peppers used, be it jalapeño, serrano, or habanero, along with a kick of heat—though that will depend on how spicy the salsa you choose is. For our tests of medium-heat salsa, we expected at least a hint of heat.

While herbs and spices are perfectly fine in jarred salsa, the salsa should not taste overwhelmingly of any one seasoning. (Cumin was the big culprit here, with all of our tasters except for our visuals editor, Amanda, finding more than one brand to taste way too much of cumin.) It should not be mouthpuckeringly sour, nor should it be cloyingly sweet. It should not be a thin, watery purée, nor should it be so chunky that it’s difficult to scoop up with a tortilla chip. In short, a good store-bought salsa should be balanced, scoopable, and ready to party at a moment’s notice.

Overall Winner

Good & Gather Medium Restaurant-Style Salsa

All of our testers agreed that this salsa has just the right thickness: It’s saucy and has good chunks of peppers, tomato, and onion, making it great for scooping up with chips. Amanda called it “nice and balanced with some heat on the back.” Similarly, our editorial director, Daniel, described it as “good” (high praise for a jarred salsa from Daniel) and liked the salsa’s spice level and strong—but not too strong— notes of cumin. Our senior social media editor Kelli and associate editorial director Megan both found it a touch too sweet for their tastes, but enjoyed it otherwise.

Runners-Up

• Chichi’s Thick and Chunky Salsa – Medium
• La Fundidora Humo Salsa
• Kitchen Garden Farm Roasted Chili Salsa
• Pace Chunky Salsa – Medium
• Trader Joe’s Salsa Autentica
• Trader Joe’s Chunky Salsa – Medium

While we didn’t all enjoy a single brand quite as much as our winner, all of the tasters liked the salsas from each of these brands and would be OK serving these alongside tortilla chips and guacamole. Daniel enjoyed the smokiness of the dried chiles in La Fundidora’s Humo salsa, which contains just five ingredients: ripe red tomato, white onion, chipotle morita chile, pasilla chile, and sea salt. 

Megan thought Kitchen Garden Farm’s Roasted Chili Salsa also had a pleasant smokiness and slight bitterness. Though most tasters thought Trader Joe’s Salsa Autentica was a touch too thin, some, including Daniel and Megan, liked its spiced notes. Another pick from Trader Joe’s, the Chunky Salsa – Medium was described by Daniel as having a “classic American supermarket jarred salsa flavor,” though several other tasters found it too sweet. Chichi’s also satisfied Daniel with the classic supermarket salsa flavor, though Megan did describe it as having “cocktail sauce vibes.” Everyone agreed that Pace’s Chunky Salsa was well-rounded, with a nice chunky texture and touch of heat at the end. 

The Contenders

• 365 by Whole Foods Market Organic Thick and Chunky Medium Salsa
• Bowl & Basket Thick and Chunky – Medium
• Chi-Chi’s Thick and Chunky Salsa – Medium
• Cholula Original Salsa – Medium Salsa
• Frontera Double Roasted Tomato Salsa
• Good & Gather Medium Restaurant-Style
• Herdez Salsa Casera – Medium
• Kirkland Organic Salsa – Medium
• Kitchen Garden Farm Roasted Chili Salsa
• La Costeña Homestyle Mexican Salsa – Medium
• La Fundidora Humo Salsa
• Mateo’s Gourmet Salsa – Medium
• Newman’s Own Medium Salsa
• On the Border Medium Salsa
• Pace Chunky Salsa
• Poblano Farm Roasted Salsa – Medium
• Tostitos Chunky Salsa – Medium
• Trader Joe’s Chunky Salsa– Medium
• Trader Joe’s Salsa Autentica
• White Oak Farm & Table Medium Salsa
• Ya Oaxaca Salsa Chile de Agua

In Conclusion

Our editors thought most of these jarred salsas were fine for what they are, and thought they would be acceptable in a pinch. Our editors all have different opinions on what they’d like their salsa to taste like: Some, like Amanda, enjoyed cumin-heavy salsas, while others wanted something with a citrusy flavor profile. We also have different preferred levels of sweetness and tanginess. But we all appreciate a jarred salsa with smokiness and depth of flavor. Bonus points if you can taste dried chiles!

Like store-bought marinara sauce, many salsas contain calcium chloride to help tomatoes keep their shape, citric acid for tartness, and sugar for sweetness. Our editors generally preferred salsas without citric acid or sugar, which can make the sauces too sour or sweet. While we’d happily reach for jarred salsa in a pinch, we all agreed that home cooks are likely better off making their own salsa from scratch, which allows you to control the seasoning and texture of the condiment. 

Our Testing Methodology

All taste tests are conducted with brands completely hidden and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample one first, while taster B will taste sample six first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage. Tasters are asked to fill our tasting sheets ranking the samples for various criteria. All data is tabulated and results are calculated with no editorial input in order to give us the most impartial representation of actual results possible.