Our Favorite Store-Bought Salsa Verde Brand Brings The Bright Flavors

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Anyone who cooks has their tried, true, and trusted brands and products — or the ones that they know they like and can add to any recipe for yummy results. But when shopping for something new, one of the biggest challenges is deciphering between the sheer number of choices of any given product. This is one of the reasons why we at The Takeout love to taste and rank store-bought items; To help our readers make choices on items they haven't picked a favorite for yet. Recently, one of our resident tasters ranked 11 different brands of jarred salsa verde and discovered that Late July Snacks Medium Salsa Verde soared above the competition.

Widely available at Walmart stores, the Late July Snacks brand scored high points in texture, appearance, and taste. Salsa verde is known for its bright flavors and tanginess, and by incorporating ingredients like tomatillos, cilantro, vinegar, and lime juice, it certainly lived up to its reputation. The savory flavors of onion and garlic gave the salsa depth, while jalapeños and various spices gave the condiment just the right amount of heat for our taster's liking. With its well-rounded flavor, this is the perfect salsa verde to use anywhere, from a simple dipping salsa with corn chips to a quick, easy pork chile verde.

Salsa verde looks hot, probably due to its green color which reminds people of things like jalapeño and serrano peppers. But the green color is mostly due to the presence of tomatillos, a very mild piece of produce that is in the same family as tomatoes. Sure, if you are making your own salsa verde, you can make it spicy if you want by adding plenty of hot chile peppers — or you can leave it mild. Our taster found the Late July Snacks brand milder than other brands she tasted, but still perfectly balanced.

You can treat salsa verde just like you would your favorite brand of red tomato-based salsa; Top tacos, burritos, nachos, egg dishes, chicken, and fish. It's perfect for enchiladas verdes where you smother the enchiladas in salsa verde. And it is a classic accompaniment to chilaquiles. On a personal level, salsa verde is the only salsa I reach for whenever I eat fish tacos, which are great when you swap in jicama instead of cabbage. I find the tanginess lovely with the fried fish, and it's a nice, bright contrast to the mayo and yogurt-based sauce that goes on top of these Southern California favorites. I also drizzle salsa verde on cheddar grits. Once the grits are done and plated, I add cooked Mexican chorizo, a sprinkling of chopped cilantro, salsa verde, and a poached egg for a filling but astonishingly delicious breakfast.