Fermented Tomato Salsa

Updated – September, 2023

Did you know the third edition of The Joy of Pickling has 50 brand new recipes! We chatted with Linda Ziedrich, the author, and she shared a bit about what preservers can expect from the third edition, as well as a recipe from the book – Fermented Tomato Salsa.

The third edition reflects my pickling research of the past eight years. There are new fermented pickles, including green olives, whole watermelons, whole cabbages, Jerusalem artichokes, kohlrabi grated and cured like kraut, and, for the small-scale fermenters, small-batch krauts with beet, kale, and carrot and onion added.

Readers will enjoy trying my new relish recipes, including this fermented tomato salsa recipe. Because chopped tomatoes are especially prone to spoilage, fermenting prepared salsa is tricky; most people who do this add whey or keep the fermentation very short. But you can make a fully fermented, deeply flavorful salsa by fermenting the vegetables whole before you chop them.

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Fermented Tomato Salsa

Yields: About 3 1/2 cups

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds firm meaty whole tomatoes, ripe or semi-ripe
• ½ pound green jalapeño peppers tops sliced off
• ¼ pound onion peeled and cut into chunks
• 3 garlic cloves peeled
• 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 ½ tablespoons 1 ½ ounces pickling salt
• 1- quart water

Instructions

1. Mix the tomatoes, peppers, onion pieces, garlic, and cumin together in a two-quart mason jar. Add the lime juice.
   
2. In another container, dissolve the salt in the water. Pour the brine over the vegetables, and weight them. Cover the jar (use an airlock, if you have one), and keep the jar at cool room temperature. Skim off any yeast or mold that appears.
   
3. After three weeks, cut a pepper vertically to be sure it has completely changed color, from bright green to olive green. If it has, gently transfer all the vegetables to a bowl, taking care not to burst the tomatoes, which will have swelled.
4. Coarsely grind the vegetables, in batches, in a food processor or blender. Transfer the mixture to one or more smaller jars, and store them in the refrigerator. The salsa should keep for weeks.

Recipe Notes

Tools: We used a 2 quart-sized Mason jars, Pickle Pebbles and a Pickle Pipe. Ingredients

If you want to see more fermentation recipes or tips, check out our Fermenting section. If you are packaging your ferments, either for your own long term or for selling, you may want to read our article “When are Plastic Lids the better Choice?“, considering the pH and reactive nature of your product.