What are the best tomatoes for salsa?

Mlm1 · March 20, 2013

I will be giving a friend tomato plants, probably about 6 plants, and she says she mainly wants the tomatoes to make salsa. I have about 80 varieties to pick from but I don't know if there is a particular type that makes better salsa - plum? beefsteak? Any certain color? or maybe a combination of colors? Tart vs sweet? I have always used whaterer I had and have never thought about it. I appreciate any thoughts on this. Thank you.
Marla

Sun City Linda · March 21, 2013

A lot of people use plums but I prefer a juicier tomato. Something like Thessolonikii is good but, like you, I use whatever I have, but I dont usually have too many sweet tomatoes around. I dont think I would like a sweet salsa...

Tonio · March 21, 2013

wow, that would be hard to any decision. I mean what kind of salsa do you like, or what kind of salsas does your friend like? There's pico de gayo type, NYcity Pace type. salsa for chips, on top of taco's, or enchiladas would be totally different

You can use any kind really, for beefsteak you can remove teh seeds/gel for dry , or keep em in for juicier .
Hey how about a green zebra for salsa verde......
Options galore.

kurt · March 21, 2013

I grow a batch of smaller plum cherrys Elfin and a University of Hawaii Konohomo that stay hard and crunchy for my wife and her salsas.She likes the fact they are readily avaliable all the time and do not disintegrate or get soft and mushy during the salsa making process.

nnjjohn · March 21, 2013

I would have to say, any of the healthy looking tomatoes in a few variaties for different recipes.. I enjoy big slicing tomatoes for sandwiches /burgers .. and salad tomatoes for salads.. there use to big the Jersey tomato that is no longer available.. heirlooms like Rutgers and ramapo are suppose to be the closest tomato to a garden state jersey tomato. I think as long as you can grow (feed/maintain/protect) any good healthy tomato plants are going to produce fine tasting tomatoes.

WVTomatoMan · March 21, 2013

I make about 15 gallons of salsa a year. My salsa is sweet and spicy. Therefore, I tend to prefer sweet tomatoes for my salsa. Some of my best salsa is when I add cherry tomatoes (usually Sunsugar). I use whatever I have on hand, but I prefer beefsteak tomatoes so that's what I use a lot. The downside is juicy tomatoes like that tend to make salsa with a lot juice. The upside is strain the left over salsa juice and add vodka to it for one of the best Bloody Mary's you've ever had. I have to grow Early Girl tomatoes every year for my mother. It is good for the salsa because it holds up well (i.e. doesn't get soft and mushy). I also like to grow different color tomatoes. Adding these to the salsa makes for a great appearance. Basically I like to go for flavor as well as visually appealing. I grow some paste type tomatoes and they do make it into the salsa, but IMHO it isn't something that is necessary.

Good luck.

Randy

FarmerShawn · March 21, 2013

We make the pico de gayo kind of salsa, and for that we love our Juliets (F1) They taste pretty darn good (tomatoey, not particularly sweet), but mostly they almost have a crunch, that is, they are fairly firm, they drain excess moisture well when lightly salted and set to drain in a collander for a half hour, and they are prolific producers.
Shawn

Mlm1 · March 21, 2013

Thanks so much for all the great thoughts. Now I am thinking 2 great cherries: Sweet Linda and Blush, 1 rich black:Gary'O Sena, 1 large solid red like Amish Paste or Wes and 2 juicier tasty red/pink like Barlow J and Desters and maybe throw in the more tart productive Jaunne Flamme. I am thinking that covers everyone's suggestions. Hopefully there are enough juicy ones for those Bloody Mary days.

livinonfaith · March 21, 2013

Honestly, I put in whatever tomato that I have. I do tend to avoid ones that are really mushy. But with salsa it is easy to add or subtract ingredients to make almost any decent tomato taste fabulous!

One thing I would recommend if you love salsa is to plant a few tomatillas. (They need at least two plants to pollinate each other.) Besides being a really neat looking plant, (they look like they are covered with little hot air balloons!) they really add a nice zing to salsa!

dustdevil · March 22, 2013

"brokenbar" is a member here. She did some insightful posts on salsa/salsa tomatoes. I suggest you search through her posts.

2nd Foundation · March 23, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by livinonfaith

One thing I would recommend if you love salsa is to plant a few tomatillas. (They need at least two plants to pollinate each other.) Besides being a really neat looking plant, (they look like they are covered with little hot air balloons!) they really add a nice zing to salsa!

Hi Livin!
Yes fresh tomatillo 'salsa verde' is excellent! I'm hoping to grow tomatillos this year. I'm in NC too. Could you please tell me how large your tomatillo plants get? I hear they can be huge. Do you support them like you do your tomatoes?
Thanks,
Caroline

Cole_Robbie · March 23, 2013

Tomatillos get nearly as big as indeterminate tomato plants if the soil is good. I've had them be 4-5 foot tall.

My favorite salsa I made last year was simply cubed heirlooms. At the time, it seemed foolish to be putting just tomatoes in a jar, but in the winter after all the fresh tomatoes were gone, I was happy I had canned some. This summer I want to make some salsa that is made half from yellow and half from black or purple tomatoes. It will make a unique Christmas gift.

Mlm1 · March 23, 2013

Those are great thoughts. Thanks. The friend I am giving the tomatoes to likes to make salsa for gifts so I will mention the purple and yellow idea and I don't think she has ever grown tomatillos so I am going to suggest it.
Marla

Feywalker · March 23, 2013

I have to say, I made some last year with Cherokee Purple and it was the best salsa I've ever had.

livinonfaith · March 23, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2nd Foundation

Hi Livin!
Yes fresh tomatillo 'salsa verde' is excellent! I'm hoping to grow tomatillos this year. I'm in NC too. Could you please tell me how large your tomatillo plants get? I hear they can be huge. Do you support them like you do your tomatoes?
Thanks,
Caroline

I am so NOT the expert on tomatillos, having only grown them sucessfully for 1 year! (last year I had them in straw bales and they didn't like those AT ALL. Too wet!) But I'll give you the little bit of info. that I have.

I do know that you need at least two plants to pollinate each other. When I had them successfully, two years ago, it seemed like one plant was "female" and had lots of fruit producing husks and one plant was "male" and only about four of it's husks produced fruit. The "female" plant produced over one hundred fruits. I honestly lost count after a while.

Mine were around three feet tall, but five or six feet wide. One of the branches actually became so long and heavy with fruit that it broke. (that one branch was at least four feet long!) Mine was surrounded with one of those medium sized tomato cages, but I didn't bother trying to stake them. The branches are horizontal and grow way out to the side.

I personally thought they were really pretty plants. The little 'balloons" were a lot of fun. And while I didn't like them for fresh eating, they were fantastic in salsa!

Grow them! Bet you'll like them.

March 20, 2013	#1
Mlm1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Northern California Posts: 208	What are the best tomatoes for salsa? I will be giving a friend tomato plants, probably about 6 plants, and she says she mainly wants the tomatoes to make salsa. I have about 80 varieties to pick from but I don't know if there is a particular type that makes better salsa - plum? beefsteak? Any certain color? or maybe a combination of colors? Tart vs sweet? I have always used whaterer I had and have never thought about it. I appreciate any thoughts on this. Thank you. Marla

March 21, 2013	#4
kurt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Homestead,Everglades City Fl. Posts: 2,490	I grow a batch of smaller plum cherrys Elfin and a University of Hawaii Konohomo that stay hard and crunchy for my wife and her salsas.She likes the fact they are readily avaliable all the time and do not disintegrate or get soft and mushy during the salsa making process. __________________ KURT

March 21, 2013	#5
nnjjohn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: northern new jersey Posts: 683	I would have to say, any of the healthy looking tomatoes in a few variaties for different recipes.. I enjoy big slicing tomatoes for sandwiches /burgers .. and salad tomatoes for salads.. there use to big the Jersey tomato that is no longer available.. heirlooms like Rutgers and ramapo are suppose to be the closest tomato to a garden state jersey tomato. I think as long as you can grow (feed/maintain/protect) any good healthy tomato plants are going to produce fine tasting tomatoes. __________________ john

March 21, 2013	#7
FarmerShawn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Vermont Posts: 1,001	We make the pico de gayo kind of salsa, and for that we love our Juliets (F1) They taste pretty darn good (tomatoey, not particularly sweet), but mostly they almost have a crunch, that is, they are fairly firm, they drain excess moisture well when lightly salted and set to drain in a collander for a half hour, and they are prolific producers. Shawn __________________ "Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now blue-green meat, THAT'S bad for you!" -- Tommy Smothers

March 21, 2013	#2
Sun City Linda Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: SoCal Inland Posts: 2,705	A lot of people use plums but I prefer a juicier tomato. Something like Thessolonikii is good but, like you, I use whatever I have, but I dont usually have too many sweet tomatoes around. I dont think I would like a sweet salsa...

March 21, 2013	#3
Tonio Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 148	wow, that would be hard to any decision. I mean what kind of salsa do you like, or what kind of salsas does your friend like? There's pico de gayo type, NYcity Pace type. salsa for chips, on top of taco's, or enchiladas would be totally different You can use any kind really, for beefsteak you can remove teh seeds/gel for dry , or keep em in for juicier . Hey how about a green zebra for salsa verde...... Options galore.

March 21, 2013	#6
WVTomatoMan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: West Virginia - Zone 6 Posts: 594	I make about 15 gallons of salsa a year. My salsa is sweet and spicy. Therefore, I tend to prefer sweet tomatoes for my salsa. Some of my best salsa is when I add cherry tomatoes (usually Sunsugar). I use whatever I have on hand, but I prefer beefsteak tomatoes so that's what I use a lot. The downside is juicy tomatoes like that tend to make salsa with a lot juice. The upside is strain the left over salsa juice and add vodka to it for one of the best Bloody Mary's you've ever had. I have to grow Early Girl tomatoes every year for my mother. It is good for the salsa because it holds up well (i.e. doesn't get soft and mushy). I also like to grow different color tomatoes. Adding these to the salsa makes for a great appearance. Basically I like to go for flavor as well as visually appealing. I grow some paste type tomatoes and they do make it into the salsa, but IMHO it isn't something that is necessary. Good luck. Randy

March 21, 2013	#9
livinonfaith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina Posts: 1,332	Honestly, I put in whatever tomato that I have. I do tend to avoid ones that are really mushy. But with salsa it is easy to add or subtract ingredients to make almost any decent tomato taste fabulous! One thing I would recommend if you love salsa is to plant a few tomatillas. (They need at least two plants to pollinate each other.) Besides being a really neat looking plant, (they look like they are covered with little hot air balloons!) they really add a nice zing to salsa!

March 22, 2013	#10
dustdevil Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: WI, USA Zone4 Posts: 1,887	"brokenbar" is a member here. She did some insightful posts on salsa/salsa tomatoes. I suggest you search through her posts.

March 23, 2013	#12
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Tomatillos get nearly as big as indeterminate tomato plants if the soil is good. I've had them be 4-5 foot tall. My favorite salsa I made last year was simply cubed heirlooms. At the time, it seemed foolish to be putting just tomatoes in a jar, but in the winter after all the fresh tomatoes were gone, I was happy I had canned some. This summer I want to make some salsa that is made half from yellow and half from black or purple tomatoes. It will make a unique Christmas gift.

March 23, 2013	#14
Feywalker Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Arkansas Posts: 18	I have to say, I made some last year with Cherokee Purple and it was the best salsa I've ever had.