Lacto-Fermented Red and Green Tomato Salsa Recipe
This article is a recipe for how to make the BEST fermented salsa you've ever had using your extra green and red tomatoes from the harvest! It’s an easy and fast, too. Find out how to ferment and to create the healthiest version of salsa in this healthy recipe.
Updated 6/14/2023
Some years ago, back in 2017, our freezes in the fall came super early…like in September! Summer isn’t even over when an early freeze comes our way. Our growing season here in our mountains is pretty short as it is, so I was dismayed when the temperatures suddenly dipped for a couple of days, leaving my tomatoes, zucchini, and pepper plants shriveled with lots of developing fruit on the vines.
It was time for some fast action!
Mr. V. and I hurried to gather everything we could before we lost ALL the vegetables too! Among this early harvest were TONS of green tomatoes. Seriously. There were baskets full! I put the tomatoes that were beginning to ripen on the counter, and managed to get some of them to start turning red/pink.
What do you do when you have a counter-top full of green and red and in-between tomatoes? Well, one option is to can them, which I generally do. But I had been experimenting with fermentation for some time, and this year I just didn't have time to get the canning done. I did put several gallon bags full into the freezer for later canning, but then I thought:
What about fermentation!
Fermented foods can last several months (I had a jar of fermented Russian tomatoes last a year, once) in cool storage. Most say to refrigerate your ferments when you are ready to put them in cold storage, and if I have the space, that's what I do. If you'd like to learn more about what fermentation is and why it's so good for you, check out this article.
Otherwise, I just keep them in the coldest room in our house, which in the winter hovers around 45 degrees, since we don't heat it. We try to use our fermented foods throughout the winter and spring so that by summer, when it's hot again (and that room is about 65 degrees at that point), we are eating fresh veggies again! I put a lid on my ferments, and just check them periodically to make sure they don't need a "burp."
One of the ways we fermented all these tomatoes was to make a juicy, chunky salsa! This stuff is dee-LICIOUS! One thing about fermented foods----they don't tend to last very long, since they are so good! Honestly, storage is usually not an issue because of this reason alone.
Just to let you in on how delicious this salsa is, my dad once ate an entire half gallon of it by himself! Many of our extended family members now have an annual salsa party, where they get together and make this recipe with their own variations and then ferment it.
Lacto-fermented vegetables are so healthy and good for your gut health, I have a hypothesis that’s developed over the years of watching various people chow down on raw fermented veggies. I think their body is calling them to eat these great ferments because we NEED the wealth of GOOD bacteria and yeast lacto-ferments contain. Our microbiome isn’t called the “second brain” for nothing, right?
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Have too many tomatoes this summer? Or did you get an early freeze and had to grab all those unripe tomatoes before they got ruined? WELL. Here is the BEST and easiest delicious fermented tomato salsa you’ll ever eat. This easy recipe takes moments, and the fermented preservation gives it healthy probiotics too. Your family will love it! #tomatorecipe #salsarecipe #fermented #fermentedsalsa #greentomatoes #recipe #howto #easy #healingharvesthomestead #fast
How to Make Fermented Salsa from Green & Red Tomatoes
Ingredients for Green & Red Tomato Salsa:
*** Chopped green & red tomatoes (mostly or all green)
*** Sweet or hot peppers to taste---I balanced the peppers 1:3 with the tomatoes, approximately
*** 1/2 onion to one 1/2 gallon mason jar---Adjust to your taste. If you like more onion, just add more!
*** Minced garlic to taste. I use about 1 tablespoon garlic to a half gallon jar
*** Cilantro to taste---omit if you don't like it. I love it and use a lot.
*** 1 teaspoon cumin to 1/2 gallon mason jar. Adjust to taste.
*** 2 teaspoons chipotle powder to 1/2 gallon mason jar. Adjust to taste.
*** Oregano to taste
*** 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 tablespoons sea salt or Himalayan Salt to one half-gallon Mason jar. **If using Whey, which is optional, you can reduce the salt by up to half, if you desire.
*** 2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice to one 1/2 gallon mason jar.
*** 1/2 cup Whey to one half gallon mason jar. (Optional. If you use more salt, you shouldn't need the whey. The whey contains cultures that help speed up the fermentation process. Alternatively, you can use some brine from a previous raw ferment if you have it on hand.) Find out more about whey in this article.
TIP about where I get my culinary (and herbs) spices: I get mine from Starwest Botanicals because they are high quality, I can purchase a lot more for the price than I can at the grocery, and they are a lot fresher (which goes along with quality). Their shipping is also pretty fast!
Spices like chipotle, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, and many more are available at Starwest. The links in the recipe above are for Amazon, for your convenience.
Here's a whole bunch of tomatoes and peppers cut up ready for fermenting!
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Directions to Make Your Green & Red Fermented Tomato Salsa
Step 1)
Chop the tomatoes, onions, and peppers into small pieces.
Step 2)
Add the garlic, salt, and spices to your Mason jar
Step 3)
Pour the whey into your Mason jar
Step 4)
Add the tomato, pepper, onion mixture
Step 5)
Now add water (filtered or distilled is best if your tap water contains chlorine) to cover the vegetable matter. Leave at least one inch of head space.
Step 6)
Use some kind of weight to hold the veggies beneath the surface of the water.
Step 7)
Secure a lid on top. I don't have Mason jar lids for airlocks, so I just plan to "burp" my jars a couple of times a day, until the fermentation slows down. Otherwise, if you are using an airlock system made for Mason jars, or a silicone nipple top, you won't need to burp your ferments.
Here are all the ingredients for the Green Tomato Fermented Salsa---ready to go!
Step 8)
Set on your counter top and allow to ferment one to three weeks. Enjoy those bubbles! Taste test to see when you like it.
Step 9)
Burp at least twice a day for the first week or so, until your jars do not need burping any longer---IF you are not using an airlock system.
Step 10)
When you feel it's ready, go ahead and remove the weight, replace the airlock lid with a regular plastic lid made for Mason jars, or a regular Mason jar lid, and either refrigerate or place in cold storage. It should last for several weeks, minimum.
Step 11)
Enjoy!
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YUM! Fermentation not only preserves the vegetables, it enhances the nutritional value of the veggies too.
Final Thoughts on Easy and BEST Fermented Salsa EVER
OK. The votes are in. EVERYONE just LOVES this salsa! The fermentation adds an additional flavor that is indescribable, and makes the flavors of the salsa blend perfectly. The vegetables in the salsa remain slightly crunchy and definitely not mushy at all. It's the perfect salsa to use on chips, in recipes, and even on hamburgers!
EDITED NOTE: At Thanksgiving dinner, I pulled out this salsa as an appetizer while we all waited for the turkey to finish up. My Dad, who is skeptical about fermented foods, could NOT stop eating this salsa! He ate it all up!
**Whenever I see someone react to fermented foods this way, I believe it's a sign that their gut health is off-kilter. It's good to eat a little probiotic raw fermented veggies every day, or at least take a good probiotic!
Have you begun fermenting foods yet? If not, I hope you'll give it a try! Questions or comments? I love hearing from you, so leave them in the comments section!
If you are interested in other articles about fermentation, you might be interested in these:
There are many more articles about fermentation on the website too, so head over and check them out!
AND…since you may be here because you have too many tomatoes all at once from the garden, here are some other ideas for your tomatoes. And don’t forget! You can put them in the freezer for later canning, too!
And there are hundreds more articles on the website!
Finally, be sure to check out my YouTube channel @Heidi Villegas for plenty of herbal, aromatic, and self-reliant information…plus some feel good videos.
Hugs, Health, & Self-Reliance,
Heidi
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Have you been searching for the perfect fermented salsa recipe that every single person will fall in love with? It's here! Directions for how to make a salsa that's fermented, containing healthy probiotics, with the perfect Southwest Salsa flavor. Perfect for your next get-together or healthy family snack! #fermented #salsa #dip #sauce #condiment #topping #easysalsa #healthy #southwestflavor #Mexicanfood #healthytexmex #texmex