Get ready for the taste explosion that is fermented tomato salsa. We eat this on everything, and once you start, we guarantee you won’t stop. A beginner friendly ferment that’s ready in 2 days!
In this post you’ll learn
Why We Love This
Fermented tomato salsa is our favourite recipe over summer. It’s just so simple to prep with minimal hands-on time, and quite quick (for a ferment). It’s ready in two days in warm weather before throwing it in the fridge. Done!
We eat it like bruschetta and throw it on a piece of toast, pop it on our rice bowls, serve it as a side salad or topped on tacos or burritos. It’s super versatile!
Related: Magic Self-Saucing Salad / Quick Greek Salad
Fermented tomato salsa – the answer to your tomato glut
This is one condiment that packs an absolute flavour punch. It’s moorish in the way that you want any excuse to be able to eat it again, and again, and again!
The best part is being able to use up all your tomatoes if you grow them, or take advantage of cheap tomatoes if they’re in season! Because it’s a ferment, you don’t have to worry about trying to use the tomatoes as fresh produce, but instead be able to use it when you need.
A lot of salsas ferment with the herbs (such as coriander) in it, but we love to add it in fresh after. That way, the base flavours are a little more neutral to use in a broader amount of dishes. Also, if you don’t like coriander, it’s a win-win for you!
Ingredients and substitutes
- Tomatoes – We love using cherry tomatoes as they’re quicker to chop and pack a punchier flavour. Find vine ripened or home grown if you can. Sub with any tomato if you need to use them up! PS. The fresher the tomatoes, the better for this. Save your older tomatoes for homemade pasta sauce.
- Onion – White onion is our go to in this recipe, but red onion or shallot will work just as well.
- Garlic – If you can make sure you use fresh garlic – here’s where most of the flavour comes in. It just melts wonderfully with the tomato, so if you’re a garlic fan, you’re going to enjoy this – a lot!
- Lime – Here comes the zing! Sub with lemon or vinegar if you need, but the lime really gives it the fresh flavour you’re looking for.
- Chilli Powder – We love using Korean gochugaru for our chilli powder. It’s all about that touch of heat, so feel free to sub with chilli flakes, regular chilli powder or even experiment with chipotle or smoked paprika.
- Salt – You want non-iodised salt for fermenting – this is important. Iodised salt impedes the growth of good bacteria, so we use a coarse sea salt in ours.
Let’s make fermented salsa – step-by-step!
- Pop your diced cherry tomatoes, onion, garlic, lime juice, sea salt and Korean gochugaru / chilli powder into a large bowl and toss to combine.
- Spoon into a large glass jar, then push down with your hand or spoon to make sure everything is under liquid as best as possible.
- Place the lid on tight and pop on your benchtop for 2 days / 48 hours. You should start to see bubbles after a day, depending on the weather (warmer = quicker). You can burp the jar at the halfway mark by opening the lid and closing it tight again to release any pressure (there shouldn’t be much though).
- Once bubbly (around 48 hours, weather depending), get it in the fridge and enjoy for up to a month or two!
Quick Tips
Storage
Keep on the bench while fermenting, then in the fridge with the lid on tight for up to 1-2 months. At any signs of spoilage, toss immediately.
FAQs & Troubleshooting
This is a quick ferment (around 2 days), so unlike other ferments which may use cheesecloths so it can “breathe”, we don’t want oxygen getting in this one.
So once salsa is in the jar – keep that lid shut. We only undo it slightly to “burp” the jar after one day, then screw it back up. The lid is also kept on tight in the fridge.
All the ways we enjoy fermented salsa
- Straight out the jar! We like to scoop it into little bowls and serve as a mini side salad with dinner.
- Top it on sour cream and guacamole then dip those corn chips in!
- Stuff it into tacos, burritos or anything that calls for salsa. We pop it in our mini Mexican cob loaf dips!
- Serve as a cheat’s bruschetta. Great on crusty toasted bread for a quick lunch.
- Add it as a pizza topping.
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★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Equipment
- 1 Large glass jar min. 750 g / 1.65 lb, clean and sterilised
Ingredients
- 500 g cherry tomatoes 1.1 lb, diced, sub any tomato
- 1 onion small, white or red, chopped
- 3 tsp garlic chopped finely
- 2 tbsp lime juice approx 1 lime
- ¾ tbsp sea salt
- 1 tsp Korean hot pepper flakes / gochugaru sub any chilli powder
Instructions
- Pop your 500 g cherry tomatoes, 1 onion, 3 tsp garlic, 2 tbsp lime juice, ¾ tbsp sea salt and 1 tsp Korean hot pepper flakes / gochugaru into a large bowl and toss to combine.
- Spoon into a large glass jar, then push down with your hand or spoon to make sure everything is under liquid as best as possible.
- Place the lid on tight and pop on your benchtop for 2 days / 48 hours. You should start to see bubbles after a day, depending on the weather (warmer = quicker). You can burp the jar at the halfway mark by opening the lid and closing it tight again to release any pressure (there shouldn’t be much though).
- Once bubbly (around 48 hours, weather depending), get it in the fridge and enjoy for up to a month or two!
Video
Nutrition
2 Comments
LucretiaBorgia
08/05/2024 at 4:31 pmWith summer behind us, just wondering if you could sub canned tomatoes for fresh or have they been too processed to work…
Wandercooks
08/05/2024 at 4:59 pmHello! You’ll want fresh for this, as you’re right – anything cooked or processed and the ferment won’t be able to grow the right bacteria. Keep an eye out – we’ve seen some good prices on end of season truss tomatoes, beautifully red at our local market from all this extra sunshine and lack of rain recently – you might be lucky in your area too!