The views expressed in this Opinion article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
I'm no stranger to #GirlDinner (a trend on TikTok where women show what they sometimes eat for dinner which is usually a variety of snack food) and I've definitely been guilty of just eating some chips and salsa and calling it a meal.
I generally just buy whatever salsa is on sale at whichever grocery store I end up at, but with the holidays coming up, I wanted to find out which brand of salsa is the best to serve to my guests this season and for the Superbowl in February.
During recent trips to Metro and Loblaws, I picked up all the salsa I could find that came in at the medium spice level — I personally prefer the spiciest option, but I know that's not for everyone and can often hide some of the flavours of the dip, so I went a bit milder than I'm used to.
For this test, I picked up Pace Medium Chunky Salsa, Tostitos Medium Salsa, Herdez Medium Salsa Mexicana, Old El Paso Think N' Chunky Medium Salsa, Desert Pepper Medium Tequila Salsa and Que Pasa Organic Medium Salsa.
I did look for Neal's but I couldn't find it in medium so they therefore didn't make it into this comparison, but I do really enjoy their tortilla chips!
Here's how I got on with all of the different salsas, including which ones I'd buy again.
Herdez Medium Salsa Mexicana
Herdez Medium Salsa Mexicana, $3.99 for 341 mL.
I'd never tried the brand Herdez before and I love testing out new products so I had high hopes for this salsa which were not met.
When I gave this jar a good shake before opening it, it sounded quite liquidy and that proved to be true when I opened it up and took a scoop as it was hard to get any of the dip onto my chip due to how thin the consistency of it was.
It had very little flavour and no depth — I mainly got the flavour of tomato from this salsa without any of the fun flavours that make the dip what it should be.
As well as lacking flavour, it also lacked heat. If I was tasting this blind, I'd say it was a very mild salsa. Overall, this salsa didn't do it for me.
Rating: 1/5
Price: $3.99 for 341 mL
Price per 100 mL: $0.88
Old El Paso Think N' Chunky Medium Salsa
Old El Paso Think N' Chunky Medium Salsa, $3.99 for 615 mL.
Old El Paso is a true classic so I was surprised to find I also wasn't a huge fan of this salsa!
I found this salsa to be sweet to the point that it almost had a ketchup flavour with a hint of heat.
If you're a fan of sweet you may be into this, but I'm definitely more into savoury flavours and for me, sweet shouldn't be the dominating taste in a salsa.
That being said, this was the cheapest salsa per 100 grams of the day, so if cost is a factor, this jar could be jazzed up with some hits of cumin, hot sauce and other things you have at home already if you're trying to feed a crowd for cheap.
Rating: 1.5/5
Price: $3.99 for 615 mL
Price per 100 mL: $0.61
Pace Medium Chunky Salsa
Pace Medium Chunky Salsa, $6.49 for 642 mL.
Pace's Medium Chunky Salsa is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice.
It's thick, pleasantly vegetal and has a nice flavour, although the flavour does take a second to come through. It's on the more mild end of spicy, but the heat is there with a bit of a jalapeno flavour I enjoyed.
I actually think it'd be a really nice addition as an ingredient for cooking, so I might add a bit of this to my next bolognese or lasagna for a flavour bump.
Rating: 3/5
Price: $6.49 for 642 mL
Price per 100 mL: $1.01
Tostitos Medium Salsa
Tostitos Medium Salsa, $4.69 for 418 mL.
Tostitos is the sort of de facto salsa most people reach for and I can definitely see why that's the case.
Like Pace, this is just a solid salsa that's nice and thick. It has a better medium spice to it and more garlic flavour, which is why I'm giving it a bit of a higher rating than Pace, but like the other brand, you can also see nice chunks of vegetables which makes for some nice texture in the bite.
Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $4.69 for 418 mL
Price per 100 mL: $1.12
Desert Pepper Medium Tequila Salsa
Desert Pepper Medium Tequila Salsa, $5.99 for 473 mL.
The Desert Pepper Medium Tequila Salsa is really funky and different, and I'm into it.
I'm going to say something a little unhinged, but bear with me - you know when you haven't showered in a bit and you kind of smell, but you're kind of into it? This salsa reminds me of that with its ancho, cumin and smoked chili taste.
I was a bit worried about the tequila aspect (bad decisions were made in my undergrad) but it adds some brightness and citrus notes instead of an alcohol taste.
I really liked this salsa and I'm going to try one of their spicy flavours next time I hit up the grocery store.
Rating: 4.5
Price: $5.99 for 473 mL
Price per 100 mL: $1.27
Que Pasa Organic Medium Salsa
Que Pasa Organic Medium Salsa $4.99 for 420 mL.
And the first place honour goes to Que Pasa Organic Medium Salsa!
It has a good amount of spice, acidity and smokiness and the tomato and cumin flavour is really pleasant.
Overall, this salsa is very nicely balanced and it's giving me everything I want in a dip, and while it is a bit on the pricey side, I'm going to be picking up a few jars the next time it's on sale!
Rating: 5/5
Price: $4.99 for 420 mL
Price per 100 mL: $1.19
These prices are confirmed at the time of publishing, but they can change at any time. Taxes and fees may not be included.