The Grocery Store Chain You Should Visit For Restaurant-Worthy Salsa Verde

It's no hyperbole to say that having the right salsa to put on your tacos is absolutely critical to the taste, texture, and overall greatness of your dish. While you can find yourself making homemade salsa with countless different ingredients, buying a jar of salsa from the grocery store could sometimes leave you with unsatisfactory results. That's why, when it comes to salsa verde, Trader Joe's is the best place to go to buy the topping if you want an authentic, delicious rendition of the classic sauce.

We here at The Takeout came to this conclusion recently, comparing eight jars of grocery store salsa verde to see which brand is the best of the best. Trader Joe's salsa verde stands out above the rest as being as close to the quality of your favorite restaurant's salsa as any grocery store-bought salsa. It accomplishes this high mark by using high-quality ingredients that are vital to a great salsa verde, including — but not limited to — tomatillos, Anaheim chile peppers, fresh jalapeños, onions, and the ever-controversial cilantro.

For those of you who are less familiar with the many differences between salsa roja and salsa verde, the key difference is that salsa verde utilizes either green chile peppers — like the Anaheim chile peppers — tomatillos, or both, while salsa rojo=a uses red chiles, tomatoes, or both. While these may appear to be minor differences on paper, they create vastly different tastes in practice. Salsa verde is known for its tart, more acidic flavor and elevates dishes like steak tacos, eggs, and pretty much any recipe that needs that distinct flavor boost.

Trader Joe's variation of salsa verde fully lives up to the hype, and while its flavors aren't necessarily as strong as some other great grocery store-bought alternatives, it blends the flavors better than any other. Plus, by providing that tart flavor that fans of the sauce know and love, Trader Joe's salsa verde recipe is on par with the ones you'll find at restaurants across the country.