6 Highest Quality And 5 Lowest Quality Store-Bought Salsas

Few foods are as popular, pleasing, and perfect in their simplicity as salsa. This tomato-based condiment — whose name is the Spanish word for sauce – originated in indigenous Mexico, with civilizations such as the Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs being the first to harness its tangy, peppery taste. In addition to tomatoes, salsa is usually composed of onions, chilies, garlic, lime, cilantro, jalapeños, and other ingredients to amp up the concoction's natural flavor and create varying degrees of spiciness. In addition to being the perfect topping for salty tortilla chips, salsa is often used as a finisher for tacos, an element in Southwestern omelets, or a marinade for baked chicken, to name a few.

Regardless of how you use it, salsa indubitably has a place in a variety of recipes. But when it comes to store-bought brands, the number of different kinds featured in your standard grocery store aisles can be overwhelming. So where to begin when it comes to picking the perfect salsa with which to fill your chips-and-dip bowl? As with any prepackaged food, the best place to start is often the ingredients — and in the case of salsas, some brands come with much higher-quality recipes and elements than others. Before you head out shopping in search of your next favorite salsa brand, check out our list of 6 of some of the highest quality store-bought salsas to keep in mind ... as well as 5 of the lowest quality ones.

The Xochitl company began with a good old-fashioned salsa recipe. Its president and founder, Carlos Salinas, had been whipping up his family's secret Chipotle salsa for friends for years. One of these acquaintances ended up loving the sauce so much that they requested 200 jars to hand out as gifts — and the rest is history. Xochitl became a full-blown salsa business, now with four different delicious flavors up for grabs: Chipotle, Asada Verde, Habanero, and Stone Ground.

In the Chipotle and Stone Ground flavors in particular, there's a difference you can taste ... and we attribute this not only to the quality of the ingredients found within, but also with the innate feeling of authenticity that the salsas provide. Whether it's the smoky chipotle peppers, garlic, and cold-pressed olive oil found in the Chipotle blend or Stone Ground's flavorful fire-roasted tomatoes that are crushed using the traditional Aztec method of stone and pestle, the Xochitl salsas bring with them an effortless, raw connection to the ancient cultures that first created them. With no artificial preservatives included, these salsas make you feel guiltless as you allow yourself to be transported to a time past with every bite. How's that for inspiring? 

In the case of store-brand food products, the celebrated grocer Whole Foods has its very own organic brand called 365, which prides itself on the use of higher quality ingredients. Alongside the company's branded organic ketchups, boxes of penne pasta, and cans of beans comes a green salsa that will make you want to dump the whole jar over whatever it is you're eating. We're talking about the 365 Whole Foods Organic Roasted Verde Salsa, a tomatillo and green tomato-based condiment that will not only make your taste buds sing, but it will make the rest of your body happy as well.

This is because when you indulge in 365's green salsa take, you're putting nothing but good, clean ingredients into your system. With zero artificial preservatives — the mixture relying instead on organic white vinegar as a natural preservative — the salsa is chock full of organically sourced veggies and spices such as cumin, fire-roasted tomatoes, garlic, and more. The lime concentrate, the label outlines, is the only ingredient involved in the recipe that brings anything added to the table: a nearly undetectable amount of sugar. So minuscule is this measurement of sugar, in fact, that it brings the total amount to less than 1 gram per serving — a level we'd declare forgivable considering all the fresh flavor that each scoopful of this delightful salsa brings.

The Saucy Gourmet salsa company was founded by a dedicated chef named David Blonsky, who had both a drive and a passion for creating dishes crafted with farm-fresh ingredients. Within his various restaurants, his house-made salsas quickly became his claim to fame — and soon, he was bottling them up in his own kitchen. As of now, Saucy Gourmet has four different salsa flavors on the market: Salsa Verde, Classic, Chipotle, and Habanero. If deciding which to try first seems like a hassle, don't fret. No matter which of Saucy's products you select for your up-and-coming get-together, there will be an unforgettable quality from the moment you crack open the jar.

Saucy's certified vegan, chef-crafted salsas contain zero preservatives and zero artificial flavors — just authentic tastes from the natural world that cut through with every bite. Freshly diced tomatoes, Kosher salt, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and onions are just a few of the front runners leading the flavor charge in Saucy's creations that also feature chipotles, tomatillos, jalapeño peppers, or serrano peppers depending on the variety – no from-concentrate tomatoes or dried-out herbs needed. 

La Victoria is another Hormel Foods-owned brand featuring an extensive assortment of products like hot sauce, enchilada sauce, canned peppers, taco sauces, and, of course, salsas. From the spicy Salsa Ranchera to the mild-flavored Salsa Cilantro and everything in between, La Victoria's signature flavors line the aisles of many a grocery store. Unfortunately, as wide-ranging as this brand may be, it may not rank in the highest tier where quality ingredients are concerned.

La Victoria's line of Thick N' Chunky salsas in particular contains added thickening agents, such as xanthan gum or calcium chloride, in their rather basic makeup of tomato paste and concentrated crushed tomatoes — likely in an effort to amp up the density that the name of the concoction promises. Still, while the food additive-driven thickness of the dip may make balancing large scoopfuls on tortilla chips easier, it stands to leave a slightly artificial taste (both figuratively and literally) in the mouths of some consumers. We suppose you'll just have to decide for yourself how offensive — or not — you find La Victoria's salsas to be.

While vegetable oils such as sunflower oil or soybean oil can have some health benefits when consumed in moderation, they have also been linked to obesity, inflammation, and negative gut health in large amounts. Since the overarching moral of the story when it comes to indulging in this Jekyll-and-Hyde ingredient seems to be moderation, can you think of a worse condiment for it to be included in than salsa, which is so often dipped liberally and consumed in large quantities?

Nevertheless, this is the reality in the case of the Goya Salsa Pico De Gallo product. Per the salsa's ingredient label, in addition to tomatoes, onions, and jalapeño peppers, consumers are getting the addition of fatty soybean or sunflower oil in every chip they dunk. Since dipping tortilla chips over and over again tends to be the common method where consuming salsa is concerned, this ingredient warrants some serious consideration if keeping your levels of refined vegetable oils at a manageable level is one of your health objectives. In addition to soy or sunflower oil, there is also added sugar to be found in this Goya product as well as calcium chloride, a common food preservative. If you do find yourself indulging in this one, you may want to make sure you keep a close eye on how much you eat, at the very least.