Have you been harvesting lots of tomatoes from your garden and looking for recipes to make to enjoy them? Making fermented salsa is a great way to use up the tomatoes and have a delicious snack on hand for your family to enjoy all winter long. Additionally, many people enjoy fermented foods for their various health benefits.
This fermented salsa will last in your fridge for several months after it ferments on your counter for three days. You can also put some of it in a jar and eat it right away if you don't want to wait to enjoy the delicious flavor!
Use Ingredients in Your Fridge
As I created this recipe for fermented salsa, I was able to use up some of the ingredients that I already had at home in my fridge. This is another way to prevent food waste and save money. You can substitute for different types of onions or peppers, but make sure that you are using real salt in this recipe for the best flavor. Take an inventory of what you have before you go shopping and use up that produce first.
How to Wash Vegetables
The tomatoes and peppers should be washed when you bring them home from the store or in from your garden. I wash them in a large glass bowl with 10 cups of water and ¼ cup 5% distilled white vinegar. They should be washed for two minutes and then allowed to dry. I store garden tomatoes on the counter and peppers in the fridge.
If you want to learn more about washing and storing produce, check out my bestselling book the Zero Waste Produce Guide. It has directions for 75 produce items as well as inspiration for over 40 recipes as well as other helpful tips. You can get your copy here.
Tip: When you are making your salsa, one important thing is that you have to make sure the solids stay underneath the liquid. If they float to the top, they can mold. You can use a larger piece of onion or pepper at the top to keep the items down. Something that I’ve found that is even easier is a glass weight from amazon.
Easy, Delicious, Fermented Salsa
Equipment
- Fermentation Weight (optional)
- Ladle
- Fermenting Lid (optional)
- Latex food grade gloves (optional)
Ingredients
- 2 c. Tomatoes - about 4 large tomatoes
- 1 Bell Pepper
- 1 Jalapeno
- ½ Onion (yellow or red)
- ½ Lemon or Lime
- 2 cloves Garlic
- ¼ c. Fresh Cilantro
- 2 tsp. Sea Salt or Pink Himalayan (do not use salt with Iodine)
Instructions
- Chop all ingredients into small pieces and add them to the large bowl.
- When you are finished cutting the tomatoes, carefully pour the tomatoes and all of the juice into the large bowl.*All ingredients should be covered by the liquid by using a fermentation weight or large vegetable.
- Add Lemon/Lime juice, Garlic, Cilantro, and Salt to the bowl.Mix all ingredients together and ladle into quart size mason jar using a canning funnel.
- After all ingredients are added to the jar and below the liquid line, add the fermenting lid or canning lid loosely to the jar.Place the jar in a bowl to keep your counter clean.
- Leave the jar sit on your counter for three (3) days to allow for fermentation. If it is summertime and very hot, you may only need two (2) days.*If using a canning lid, release the gas bubbles each day.
- After three (3) days, the salsa will be ready to move into the fridge. (Two days if it is very hot.)Remove the fermentation weight and replace the fermentation lid with a metal canning lid.It will last for several months in the fridge so you can enjoy fresh salsa all winter long!
Video
Notes
- *Make sure that you keep all of the ingredients under the liquid using the glass food weight or a large vegetable (pepper or onion) to keep the salsa mix in the liquid.
- *If you are using a canning lid instead of a fermenting lid, it is very important to release the gas bubbles each day while the jar is sitting on your counter.
- The Cross Legacy provides estimated nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is collected from the USDA database via Spoonacular, when available. If not available, nutrition information is pulled from other online calculators. Ingredients can vary and The Cross Legacy can make no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Nutrition
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