Serious Heat: 30 Things To Do With Leftover Salsa
Editor's note: On Thursdays, Andrea Lynn, associate editor of Chile Pepper magazine, drops by to drop some Serious Heat.
What do you do with your leftover salsa?
At Chile Pepper magazine, we are inundated with salsas. Not that we're complaining! From silky green tomatillo salsas to those spiked with booze, we try them all. This generally results in an abundance of half-used salsa jars in the fridge. With all this excess salsa, we've come up with a few creative ways to use it over the years. Try the suggestions below next time there's a salsa jar lurking in the fridge. Also, let us know how you use salsa.
1. Mix with mayo or ketchup; use as a dip for french fries.
2. Combine with softened butter and refrigerate for a salsa compound butter; add thin slices to a grilled steak.
3. Stir into scrambled eggs or add to omelets and frittatas.
4. Spoon into cooked grits; add bacon and cheese.
5. Add to burger meat mixtures or slather on top of burgers (or both!).
6. Add lime juice and canola oil to a thin, puréed salsa like Rosa Mexicano Chile Pasilla de Oaxaca Salsa and marinate meat.
7. Replace tomato sauce for a chunky tomato salsa on a homemade pizza.
8. Make a béchamel sauce, add salsa and toss with pasta.
9. Stir into cooked rice; add olives and cheddar cheese.
10. Layer onto a grilled cheese sandwich.
11. Use a puréed, chile-intense salsa, such as Herdez Salsa Chile de Árbol, as an enchilada sauce.
12. Add salsa as your secret ingredient to soups, stews or chilis.
13. Take a fruit salsa, like Santa Barbara Tangy-Apple Salsa, and use as a chutney substitute with roasted pork loin.
14. Kick up some mac and cheese with a dollop of salsa.
Photography by Bill Milne.
15. Use in place of cocktail sauce for shrimp.
16. Add to deviled eggs for a pop of fire.
17. Combine with cheese for jalapeño popper filling.
18. Top off tacos, burritos, or huevos rancheros.
19. Remember Mario Batali's famous green sauce? Take a shortcut and use a spicy tomatillo salsa, like Vern's Salsa Verde.
20. Glaze a sweet, fruit-filled salsa over pound cake or drizzle over ice cream.
21. Add breadcrumbs and feta cheese to salsa; stuff into eggplant halves.
22. Use a chunky salsa, like Sassy Senoritas Habanero Salsa, as an easy start to bruschetta.
23. Mix with goat cheese and use as a dip for veggies or serve with crackers.
24. For a quick Mediterranean spin, top fish or chicken with an olive-filled salsa, like José Goldstein Roasted Garlic and Olive Salsa, and bake.
25. Add cucumbers, jalapeños, tomatoes and vegetable stock to salsa. Purée into gazpacho.
26. Mix equal parts with yogurt or sour cream; slather on a baked potato or combine with mashed potatoes.
27. Add to meatloaf to give it a Mexican flair.
28. Stir into chicken salad, tuna salad or potato salad.
29. Mix with lemon or lime juice and use as a ceviche marinade.
30. Use a thin salsa, like Sabores Aztecas, as a base for salad dressing.
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22 Comments:
I've used it in a Mexican-inflected version of chicken cacciatore: brown chicken legs or thighs in a slick of oil, pour a pint of salsa over the top and simmer, covered, for 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with cotijo cheese and serve with rice, warm corn tortillas and shredded cabbage or a green salad. Gets raves!
GoodStuffNW at 5:14PM on 03/19/09
Save the half empty jars until Halloween then use it in your costume as fake blood.
redfish at 5:20PM on 03/19/09
i like to take plain black beans and mash them with salsa and a little cumin to make quick and healthy "refried" beans. also good mixed with hummus, particularly when you're getting to the last bit in the bottom and you can just dump in the salsa and stir. big bowls of steamed veggies (particularly broccoli and spinach) with salsa on top are really common lunches for me too. i'm all about simple, healthy and good!
ellenp7 at 5:53PM on 03/19/09
I make my own, so there is never any left. When I do have to buy, I go to the Mexian food ssection of my local store and find the not only is the salsa cheaper, but ten time better than the brand names shown in the picture, so they never last long either.
I eat a lot of salsa.
Raiders757 at 7:15PM on 03/19/09
Instead of adding it to cooked rice, you can cook the rice in salsa. I just dump a cup of salsa into the rice cooker with rice and some stock or water. Add a handful of peas at the end, and it's the most delicious red rice! (You can also bake it if you don't have a rice cooker.)
July at 7:21PM on 03/19/09
"you mean you can have left over salsa?" --my husband. we go through lots of salsa... dip grilled cheese in it, mix with sour cream for a salad dressing, spoon it on to a sandwich, oh yes also with chips and rice and veggies... when there is time and the right mood we make our own too.. Tomatillo generally.
MadameD at 8:54PM on 03/19/09
mix with cream cheese for a chip dip that was much more fattening than salsa was ever intended to be :)
ewizabeff at 8:59PM on 03/19/09
My variation on #14 for cheap, kid-friendly potluck food: make a box of Annie's mac and cheese, throw in salsa, a can of black beans, and a can of corn.
emilydev at 9:11PM on 03/19/09
When I have leftover salsa, I eat it straight.
jo_wang at 10:43PM on 03/19/09
I just turn it into soup. Or sometimes, into salad dressing.
piccola at 10:46PM on 03/19/09
Toast whole grain bread. Add layer of mashed ripened avocado. Add layer of black beans or chickpeas. Top with salsa & salt to taste. This is best with an acidic salsa like Trader Joe's Salsa Autentica. One is a snack; two with extra beans is a quick & delicious meal. Deceptively simple but has impressed everyone for whom I've made it over the past 10 years, which includes a broad range of tastes!
verak at 11:15PM on 03/19/09
This is funny. Salsa was something that would always get left over in my place. I'd use it once, forget about it, and just buy a new jar in a month or two when I needed it again, forgetting about the old stuff...
Rdour at 1:12AM on 03/20/09
as long as there's chips in the house leftover salsa never lasts long
twicebuzzed at 10:42AM on 03/20/09
We rarely have salsa leftover because it is one of the go-to ingredients for all the uses above. And more.
Make quesidillas.
Add while making soup or chili for a tomato-pepper flavor.
Add to pot roast braising liquid.
Mix into a meat loaf.
Simmer with chicken thighs; serve over yellow rice.
Pour into a ground beef-macaroni-vegetable (corn. black beans, etc.) what-ever-you-call-it skillet dish.
Top a taco salad.
Blend with veggies for gazpacho.
Stir into black beans and corn.
Use in succotash.
Endless possibilites.....
CJ McD at 11:39AM on 03/20/09
I mix it with sour cream and use it as a salad dressing.
mandylynn902 at 11:39AM on 03/20/09
When I was a kid, I'd make my father lunch on weekends. If it wasn't sandwiches, okonomiyaki, ramen, udon, or somen, it was fried rice, Asian or salsafied. The salsafied fried rice (salsafried rice?) had rice, vegetables (whatever I could find in the fridge), crepe strips, fried Spam, and salsa. The chunky tomatoes were great and had a nice zip.
Cassaendra at 11:42AM on 03/20/09
Eggs in purgatory, yumm!!!
beano at 12:26PM on 03/20/09
Stir some into bean soup. mmmmm....
CJ McD at 7:07PM on 03/20/09
What I do with salsa? I eat it.
missjess at 10:05PM on 03/20/09
I like to use it so season ground meat for tacos. I simply brown it, salt it and then pour a jar of salsa in the pot. I let it cook for a while until done but still moist.
staria at 11:18PM on 03/22/09
Chug! Chug! Chug!
shoneyjoe at 9:40AM on 03/23/09
I add salsa to my homemade soups. Good in black bean, lentil, veggie - I've even added to chicken soup.
mrstkach at 12:46PM on 03/23/09