How To Ferment Salsa

Read on to see how to ferment salsa at home and try these recipes for Fermented Green Chile Base, Pico de Gallo Salsa Starter, Caribbean Salsa and Habanero Relish

By Kirsten K. Shockey
Updated on August 27, 2022
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by AdobeStock/vaaseenaa

Learn how to ferment salsa at home with minimal equipment by fermenting garden produce to capture foods rich in nutrients, gut-friendly probiotics, and flavor!

It always starts innocently enough: You thought you’d grow red peppers, a half a dozen green chiles, maybe a Fresno chile or two, and of course you wanted to try to grow chocolate habaneros — oh, and you love poblanos, so put a few of those in, too. They’ve grown and grown — and you’re staring at more than a peck or two of peppers. Now what? The standard preservation choices are freezing, dehydrating, or canning, but you could also freeze-dry them with the right equipment.

Let’s talk about canning. Some vegetables confound even the most seasoned canner, and peppers are one of them. Before discovering fermentation, I was that girl who canned everything. I really did try to roast and can green chiles to make our own homegrown Hatch-style chiles. Because peppers are a low-acid vegetable, they require 45 minutes in a pressure canner. They looked beautiful through the jar, but they disintegrated into mush when I went to make my first chiles rellenos. If you want to can your peppers, you must pickle them first. You have to submerge the peppers in vinegar (as the key to safe preservation is to acidify, the definition of pickling) and then water bath can them. And while they’re certainly delicious, one can only eat so many jars of canned peppers.

Benefits of Lacto-Fermentation

Enter another preservation option: Create the right environment for an entire team of microbes to do the work for you (without handling hot pots full of boiling water). With lacto-fermentation, you can acidify any combination of peppers, spices, herbs, and other vegetables to make a variety of chutneys, condiments, pickles, or hot sauces. The microbes acidify everything equally, which gives you flexibility to explore and create the flavor you desire. After the fermenting vegetables reach a pH level of 4.6 or below, they’re safe and stable for a long time. Shelf life depends on the vegetable, but pepper ferments can last unrefrigerated for a year or more in anaerobic conditions, as long as the ferment is sealed and not in active use. It’s best, however, to store ferments in a refrigerator. This slows down the bacteria, stabilizes the ferment, and keeps the flavors intact and delicious.

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