The Grocery Store Red Salsa You Should Avoid Now And Forever

The Takeout News reporter Shaan Merchant recently performed a taste test of 13 grocery store brand red salsas. Surprisingly, the worst of the list, coming in at number 13, was Whole Foods 365 Organic Thick and Chunky Medium Salsa. This is the Whole Foods store brand. A look at the ingredients list shows why Whole Foods appeared at the opposite end of the list and why Merchant found it bland.

"To call it bland would be an insult to Wonder Bread and accountants everywhere," Merchant reported. "This wasn't just not spicy, it was flavorless, missing any note of tomato, onion, or anything at all." Merchant found the Whole Foods salsa so bland that it brought doubt to the entire 365 roster of products.

On the Border Original Salsa Medium is at the opposite end of The Takeout News list, which, according to Merchant, won the category because of the spice cumin. "It's the Meryl F***ing Streep of salsa ingredients," Merchant wrote, "Saving even a mediocre vehicle and transforming it into a hit, lifting all the supporting players in the process. Thank god for cumin."

It only takes a comparison of ingredients to see why one red salsa on Merchant's list was declared "bland" and the other the culinary equivalent of an Oscar award-winning actress. Whole Foods 365 Organic Thick and Chunky Medium Salsa's ingredients list has organic diced tomatoes (organic tomatoes, organic tomato juice) and organic tomato purée (water, organic tomato paste) before it gets to the onions, salt, peppers, and spices. Notice how tomatoes appear on this list in three different ways. Two are liquid, resulting in a watery salsa in severe need of thickening up. Then, look at the spices used in the salsa. Other than salt, the list of ingredients includes powdered garlic, onion, and cayenne pepper. That's all. Not a terrible list if you're making salsa with whatever you have, but certainly not ideal.

In contrast, the On the Border Original Medium Salsa lists onions between the tomatoes and tomato paste. After the tomato paste comes jalapeño peppers. Later in the list, there are "spices," which is probably where the cumin that Merchant tasted comes into the mix. Unlike the Whole Foods 365 salsa, On the Border salsa doesn't depend on the peppers, salt, and dash of cayenne to carry the flavor. Instead, On the Border uses spices, a little sugar, onion, and dehydrated garlic instead of the powdered version. The flavor isn't buried under tomatoes and water. It explains why On the Border ranked first and why you may want to stay away from Whole Foods 365 red salsa.