Boiled or Charred? Choosing the Best Jarred Salsa Verde

Salsa verde is the workhorse of the Mexican kitchen. The red salsa goes on the table with chips; the green one goes into the pan. It is the sauce for enchiladas verdes, the bath for chilaquiles in the morning, the braising liquid for pork or chicken and the spoonful over fried eggs. It is built on tomatillos, the tart green fruit in a papery husk, with green chiles, onion, garlic and cilantro, and when it is cooked it turns from bright green to olive and from sharp to rounded.

Our best jarred salsa guide named one verde among eight salsas of every kind. This guide goes deeper on green salsa alone: eight jars and cans, from simple boiled verdes to fire-roasted ones, from mild to properly hot, with what each label says about tomatillos, chiles, thickeners and salt, and which one to reach for when you are cooking rather than dipping.

Julia’s earns a commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no cost to you. Recommendations are based on what a working Mexican kitchen looks for in a salsa verde, the makers’ own ingredient lists and Amazon listings, and retailer nutrition panels where the listing gives few details, which we note.

Quick verdict: which jarred salsa verde to buy

The rest of this page explains why, and how to match a jar to the way you cook with green salsa.

Five green salsas compared

Our five standout picks side by side, one for each kind of cook, with the style, heat and sodium each maker or label states. All eight salsas verdes are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Heat levels are each maker’s own label. Sodium is as printed on the listing or on retailer nutrition panels; serving sizes differ (La Costeña uses 1 tablespoon), panels sometimes disagree, and recipes change, so check the jar or can you receive.

Our picks for the best jarred salsa verde

These eight cover the real choices in green salsa: a simple cooked verde, a charred tatemada, a serrano verde from Mexico, a small can for recipes, a roasted asada verde, a Hatch chile verde, a mild family verde and a case of cans for the pantry. For each one we give the chiles, the thickener if there is one, the sodium as labeled and how to store it once open.

Raw, boiled or charred: the three kinds of salsa verde

Every salsa verde starts with tomatillos, but how they are cooked decides what the salsa tastes like. Our guide to what a tomatillo is covers the fruit itself; here is how the three main styles differ, and where jars fit in.

• Cruda (raw). Raw tomatillos blended with raw chile, onion, cilantro and salt. It is sharp, very green and best the day it is made. Shelf-stable jars are heat-processed before they are sealed, so a true raw verde is something you make at home or buy refrigerated, not something you will find in a jar.
• Cocida (boiled). Tomatillos and chiles simmered until they turn olive green, then blended. It is rounder and less acidic, and it is the style most jars imitate: La Costeña, Herdez, Embasa and Cholula are all in this family.
• Asada or tatemada (roasted or charred). Tomatillos, onion and chiles blackened on a comal, under a broiler or over a flame, then blended. It is smoky and a little sweet. Casa Martinez, Xochitl and Frontera use roasting; 505 Southwestern gets its roasted note from Hatch chile.

The difference between green and red salsa goes beyond color; our salsa roja vs. salsa verde guide explains when a Mexican kitchen reaches for each.

How to choose a jarred salsa verde

1. Decide whether you are cooking or dipping

For enchiladas verdes, chilaquiles and braises, pick a verde with no starch or a very short ingredient list, such as La Costeña; it reduces cleanly and takes on broth without turning gluey. For chips and tacos, a little body helps, and roasted salsas such as Casa Martinez or Xochitl taste finished straight from the jar.

2. Read the chile, not just the heat word

“Mild” and “medium” are each maker’s own words. The chile tells you more: poblano and bell pepper keep a salsa gentle, jalapeño gives a moderate green heat, serrano is sharper and brighter, and árbol adds a dry, lingering bite. Our guide to Mexican chiles describes each one.

3. Check the thickener and preservatives

Ingredients are listed by weight, largest first. Tomatillos should come first. Xanthan gum and corn starch are not a problem in small amounts, but they change how a salsa behaves in the pan. Sodium benzoate is a preservative; some cooks avoid it, and several jars here do without one.

4. Compare sodium per the same serving

The verdes here run from about 170 mg to 270 mg of sodium per 2 tablespoons, against the FDA’s Daily Value of 2,300 mg. A cup of salsa verde in an enchilada sauce is eight servings, so the difference adds up. La Costeña prints a 1-tablespoon serving; double it before comparing.

5. Pick a jar or a can by how fast you use it

A 7-ounce can is one recipe; a 12- to 16-ounce jar is a week of tacos and eggs; multipacks suit households that cook with verde every week. Refrigerate once opened, use a clean spoon, and never store leftovers in an opened can.

Cooking with a jar of salsa verde

The jar is a starting point. These are the moves that turn it into a sauce, the same way a kitchen finishes any salsa before it goes out.

• Fry it first. Heat a spoonful of oil in a wide pan, add the salsa and let it sizzle and darken for two or three minutes before adding broth. Frying the salsa is what gives enchilada and chilaquiles sauce its depth.
• Enchiladas verdes. Thin about two cups of fried salsa with half a cup of chicken broth. Dip warm corn tortillas, roll them around shredded chicken, cover with more sauce and finish with crema, onion and queso fresco.
• Chilaquiles verdes. Simmer the thinned sauce, add fried tortilla pieces or sturdy chips and toss for a minute, so they soften at the edges but keep some crunch. Top with a fried egg.
• Brighten it. A handful of chopped cilantro, some raw white onion and a squeeze of lime make any cooked verde taste fresher.
• Make it creamy. Blend a cup of salsa verde with half an avocado for a taquería-style green sauce, or stir it into sour cream for a dip.

If enchiladas are the plan, our guide to the best enchilada sauce store bought compares ready-made green and red enchilada sauces.

How we picked these eight green salsas

We started from what a Mexican kitchen wants from a salsa verde: tomatillos first on the label, a clear chile, a texture that suits cooking or dipping, and honest labeling. We searched Amazon in the United States for tomatillo-based salsas verdes from identifiable brands and kept only those in stock when we checked. For each one we read the Amazon listing and, where it gives few details, retailer ingredient lists and nutrition panels, and we say in each review which source a figure comes from. We chose eight to cover the real choices: boiled, charred and roasted styles, serrano, Hatch and mild verdes, and cans and jars. We left out jars that were out of stock or in limited supply when we checked, including Siete’s green salsas, Frontera’s single jar, Herdez’s 16- and 24-ounce jars and roasted verde, Late July, Whole Foods Market’s roasted tomatillo salsa and Mateo’s salsa verde. We have not tasted every salsa listed here; flavor descriptions follow from the ingredients and the makers’ own descriptions, and we cite Tasting Table’s taste ranking where we mention it.

Salsa verde questions, answered

What is the best brand of jarred salsa verde?

For cooking, La Costeña: tomatillos, jalapeño, onion, salt, coriander, árbol, tartaric acid and garlic, with no starch or preservatives listed. For a smoky, ready-to-eat verde, Casa Martinez’s tatemada, which Tasting Table ranked first of nine in its own comparison. Herdez and Embasa are the brands to buy in small cans.

Is jarred salsa verde cooked or raw?

Shelf-stable jarred and canned salsa verde is cooked, because the jar is heat-processed before it is sealed. The styles differ in how the tomatillos were treated before blending: boiled for a smooth, mellow salsa, or roasted and charred for a smokier one. Raw salsa verde cruda is a fresh, refrigerated salsa.

Which jarred salsa verde is best for enchiladas and chilaquiles?

One with no starch and a short list, so it reduces cleanly: La Costeña is the strongest choice here, and the Herdez or Embasa cans are the right size for a single pan. Fry the salsa in a little oil and thin it with broth before you use it.

Is salsa verde spicy?

It depends on the chile. Cholula’s poblano verde and Herdez’s mild can are gentle; La Costeña, Xochitl, Frontera and Embasa are labeled medium, with Frontera’s serrano the sharpest of those. Tomatillos themselves add tartness, not heat.

How long does salsa verde keep once opened?

Follow the label. Refrigerate after opening, keep the lid tight, use a clean spoon and discard the salsa if it smells off or shows mold. Move canned salsa to a covered container before it goes into the fridge.

Our final word on green salsa

Buy La Costeña if you want one salsa verde that cooks like homemade. Add Casa Martinez’s tatemada for charred flavor on tacos, Frontera if you like serrano heat, and the Herdez or Embasa cans for recipes. Choose 505 Southwestern for Hatch green chile and Cholula for a mild table. For the red salsas, chipotle and salsa macha that sit next to these on the shelf, see our best jarred salsa guide, and for the rest of the shelf, our guide to Mexican pantry staples.

And if you would rather have enchiladas verdes made in a restaurant kitchen tonight, see the menu or call to order.