If you have functioning taste buds, then you enjoy chips and salsa. But then you are also faced with an impossible choice: Which salsa should you buy? Well, yours truly went to the grocery store and tried basically all the salsas we found.
Desert Pepper: Tequila Salsa
John
While this salsa does not taste as fresh as some of the other salsas that are on this list, it is certainly very unique. When looking for a new pasta to try, I always try to look for a unique flavor, and this one certainly does have that. Overall, I will give this salsa an 8.5 out of 10, just on the count that I find myself having cravings for the unique flavor that I cannot seem to find anywhere else.
Sasha
This salsa definitely deserves a special mention, just for its unique flavor profile: It is definitely nothing like any salsa I had before. It has a very nice level of spice: It was not too spicy, but it also had a nice kick to it. However, I don’t know how much I like this salsa as something to just eat with chips on its own. I think it would be much better a burrito, as opposed to a stand-alone salsa. Overall it is definitely unique, and I would rate it an eight out of 10.
John
To me, this salsa had almost all of the benefits of some of the other salsas on this list, but it also had one glaring downside: It was extremely liquidy. This made it really difficult to have chips grab on to the salsa in any non-frustrating way. Though I appreciate some liquid in my salsa, this was just way too liquidy to the point of unenjoyment. Besides that, the fresh flavor was definitely there. This salsa gets a six out of 10 from me!
Sasha
This salsa was nothing special. It was fresh but not as fresh as the Mitchell’s salsa. It did have a nice level of spice. However, the salsa did have one major downside. It had a really weird note of some flavor, almost vinegary. And I definitely do not want vinegar in my salsa, it just adds a gross flavor to it. Overall it was not too bad but not amazing, I would give it a six out of 10.
John
Absolutely no exaggeration, Mitchell’s Hot Salsa was the best salsa that I have ever had in my entire life. It was everything that I said about the sweet and spicy: incredible intense flavor, fresh and spicy. Although this was their hot version, I still would have preferred if it were a little bit more spicy. This gets a nine out of 10 for me and this is my go-to salsa for whenever I have corn chip cravings!
Sasha
I really like this salsa: It is very fresh, and I love the solid pieces of tomatoes that it consists of. It was actually a little too spicy for me, but the medium version is likely to become my go to. Overall, I would rate it a nine out of 10 and cannot wait to buy it again.
Mitchell’s Sweet & Spicy Salsa
John
When Sasha and I were grocery shopping, we grabbed a couple of bags of chips, and, while in the fruits and vegetables section in Market Basket, we saw this salsa sitting on the shelves and said why not. Let me tell you, this salsa opened up a whole new world of flavor for me. This thing tasted incredible, it was fresh, intense, spicy; basically everything that I could have ever asked for in a salsa. My only issue is I would have liked it to be a touch more spicy, but that might be more of a personal preference. Overall, I would give this one a nine out of 10!
Sasha
This was the first Mitchell’s salsa we tried. It has a very unique flavor: a perfect mix of sweet and spicy. The salsa itself tasted fresh, and I loved the consistency (I am not a huge fan of liquidy salsa). The salsa is nice for a change of pace, but it will probably not become my go to. Overall, I would rate it an eight out of 10 and will probably buy it again at some point.
San Pedro’s by Joseph’s – Medium Salsa
John
I found this salsa to be quite delicious, but I feel that it suffers from the opposite issue as the La Mexicana salsa: It is too chunky. Maybe it was because I was using relatively small chips, but I could only get one or two chunks of tomatoes on each chip at a time, which was quite disheartening. In fact, to appraise the salsa in its entirety, I had to use a spoon! Additionally, I did not detect any sort of spiciness in this salsa, which knocks it down a lot for me. Despite having an OK-ish and fresh flavor, the issues noted above make me give this pasta a 6.5 out of 10.
Sasha
This is definitely one of the worst salsas on this list. It still kind of tastes like tomato sauce, though not as much as the other one. This salsa is really not great as a stand alone salsa, but I would use it in a burrito. The salsa doesn’t really have too much spice to it, which is unfortunate since a good salsa really has to be spicy. Overall, I would rate the salsa a six out of 10, but the flavor definitely isn’t good enough to be used alone.
Santa Bárbara – Pico De Gallo Salsa
John
To be honest, this salsa was OK. It was fresh and had a lot of chunks, spices and vegetables in it, which I enjoyed, but I found it to be a weird “in-between” of spiciness. It was spicy enough that I could feel it, but Although I would usually love my salsas to be as spicy as they can possibly be, this one was just a weird in-between. Ultimately, I would definitely grab this salsa if it was the only option I had. I give this a 6.5 out of 10.
Sasha
This salsa was very average. It was not the best salsa I’ve had, but it wasn’t as bad as some of the others we have tried. It was also not as fresh as the others, although it has most of the same ingredients. The salsa has a nice level of spice as well. It reminds me a little bit of the tomato salsa at Chipotle. The only bad thing I have to say about this salsa is that it has a weird aftertaste to it, once again the vinegar. Overall, I would rate this salsa a seven out of 10.
John
While picking out salsa’s a couple of days ago, this one in particular caught my eye because of the attention-grabbing package. It had things on the front such as “highly addictive” and “warning: hot,” but on all accounts, this salsa did nothing but disappoint. The flavor was incredibly bland, and it honestly kind of tasted like more of a marinara/pasta sauce than it tasted like salsa. Also, this salsa was not spicy whatsoever. Despite it being the medium version, I literally could not detect a SINGLE bit of spice on my tongue while eating it. This salsa could have literally just been completely void of any spice, and I would have been none the wiser. Overall, this salsa gets a 3.5 out of 10 for me. I definitely do not recommend this.
Sasha
I was so excited for it because it does not have GMOs (in my three years here, I am still not comfortable with the idea of genetically modified food), and I really wanted to like it. But it tastes like straight up tomato sauce, with a kick (though, that is how I make homemade tomato sauce). But it still tastes like tomato sauce, and as much as I love it, it is not something I want to be scooping onto chips. As a salsa, I would rate it a four out of 10 and will not be buying it again. Though I might consider it for a pasta sauce.
Final Verdicts
Sasha
My favorite salsa was definitely Mitchell’s Hot Salsa, though I will definitely be purchasing the medium version, as this one was too spicy for me. It was the freshest salsa of the bunch and did not have the gross vinegar flavor to it. But if I learnt anything from writing this guide, it’s that I am 100 percent a queso person.
John I am in full agreement with Sasha. The best salsa by far was Mitchell’s Hot Salsa. However, I would have much preferred if the salsa were a touch spicier. I will probably avoid most of the other salsas on this list, especially the Willy’s Original Medium salsa. While it’s bright packaging usually brings in more customers like it did for us, I assure you that I will do nothing but avoid the bright and shiny packaging.
