Taco sauce or salsa
What's your preference? Should I serve both at my taco party?
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Bacardi1
Nov 5, 2012 02:31 PM
I know this is probably after the fact, but if I were doing tacos for guests I'd most likely offer 3 "sauce" toppings - a chunky red salsa, a smoother red taco sauce, & a green salsa. Most likely would offer Pico de Gallo as well, but for me that belongs more in the "toppings" category than sauce.
As for cilantro, since it's so contentious, I'd offer a bowl of it chopped on its own in the "toppings" area.
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re: bbqboy
fldhkybnva
Nov 5, 2012 02:51 PM
Well I am glad that I offered both taco sauce and salsa as there were people with definite preferences. For myself however, I actually went with a taco salad loaded up with lettuce, cheese, jalapenos, guacamole and skipped both. Oh, also the salsa verde was a hit as well.
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Perilagu Khan
Nov 3, 2012 07:25 AM
It's funny, when I have tacos at a restaurant I use neither. Tacos prepared at home, on the other hand, always get taco sauce. I never apply salsa to my tacos.
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luckyfatima
Nov 2, 2012 04:09 PM
The liquidy red sauce like what they have at Taco Hell is also called salsa. They are just different kinds of salsas. The liquidy kind would typically be like a rehydrated chile piquin or chile de arbol based sauce. The thicker kinds would have more ingredients in them and be tomatoey with a lot of room for variation, cooked or raw, some roasted ingredients, and many more options, probably a ranch style or basic red is what you have in mind. Then you have the entire green category, just as varied as the red. And then you have what are chopped/picada sauces like pico de gallo (salsa bandera or salsa fresca). I mean, there are really so many varieties.
A favorite salsa of mine is salsa de ajonjoli which is a red chile de arbol based sauce with roasted sesame seeds ground in it. It is delicious.
I like all kinds. I find myself pairing green with chicken and red with beef or goat, too. You could put representations of all four kinds on the table just for fun.
I like to make salsas at home since it is super easy. However, I come from TX where there isn't a salsa section but a salsa aisle at our local grocery store. Now I am also in the DC area and our store bought salsa options here are fairly limited. If you want to keep it simple, I recommend the Herdez brand (even the canned is OK but jarred tastes better). Herdez Salsa Casera and also Salsa Verde are pretty good, not all vinegary like so many other jarred salsas. Go for Salsa Valentina for the thin hot Taco Hell style sauce. Whatever you go for, make sure it has no thickeners like corn starch. Sauces with stuff like that in them are just yucky.
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re: luckyfatima
DiningDiva
Nov 2, 2012 04:20 PM
Great post. Two big thumbs up on the Herdez recommendation. For a jarred product it is really good.
Salsa de ajonjoli is wonderful too :-)
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Pico de gallo is a salsa you see a lot of here in So Cal. It is a mixture of chopped tomato, onions, jalapeno (or other chile), garlic and cilantro. It is fresh and has no thickeners of any kind.
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re: escondido123
fldhkybnva
Nov 2, 2012 10:07 AM
I am usually not a big fan of pico de gallo as I am a cilantro hater.
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re: fldhkybnva
Perilagu Khan
Nov 3, 2012 07:29 AM
I'm not a hater, but I wouldn't miss cilantro if it vanished irrevocably from planet earth.
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re: bbqboy
fldhkybnva
Nov 2, 2012 02:24 PM
Quick prep, so looking for jarred stuff? This meal is a typical "taco bell-esque" affair
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"Is it just that sauce is thinner?"
No. These are two different condiments. I must assume you have actually seen and tasted both. One might think of salsa as a relish.
Most taco sauces on a supermarket shelf will taste very similar. On that same shelf you might find tomato salsa, corn salsa, peach salsa, black bean salsa, etc.
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re: FrankJBN
fldhkybnva
Nov 2, 2012 09:14 AM
Yea, I have seen and tasted both. The sauce seems a bit more tomato/ketchupy vs the salsa of course which is more chunky. I often find in taco salad that sauce works better as it provides some liquid (dressingish if you will)
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re: bbqboy
fldhkybnva
Nov 2, 2012 09:05 AM
Very good call! So both sauce and salsa? Is it just that sauce is thinner?
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re: fldhkybnva
melpy
Nov 2, 2012 09:09 AM
Sauce seems less chunky and more acidic too. Personally I like a fresh salsa over a jarred in general. For a party I would probably have both and tortilla chips so the salsa would have another vehicle too. Honestly I skip either on my tacos most of te time.
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re: bbqboy
fldhkybnva
Nov 2, 2012 09:18 AM
The request for a traditional TexMex/American style shredded chicken and ground beef tacos el Taco Bellish style.
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re: fldhkybnva
DiningDiva
Nov 2, 2012 03:23 PM
No, the difference is not in consistency.
Taco sauce is generally based on dried chiles, onion and seasoning and may or may not have tomatoes in it. This type of sauce may also be cooked. By cooked, I mean the ingredients are probably roasted before being blended. It could also be cooked after everything is blended to reduce or meld the flavors.
Salsa is generally a tomato (or tomatillo in the case of salsa verde) based sauce to which fresh chiles and seasonings are added along, often with other complimentary add-ins like fruit or corn. This type of sauce is almost never cooked.
Personally, I like fresh green salsa cruda with chicken tacos, but this is more Cal-Mex than Tex-Mex. For the ground beef, Taco Bell-style tacos, the thinner, cooked dried chile based taco sauce is the best bet. Rick Bayless has a good taco sauce in his book Salsas That Cook. The recipe title is Mellow Red Chile Sauce and it can be scaled for various yields (always handy for a party) and he gives various chile substitutions as well that you could play around with. The recipe is pretty solid, I've made it thousands of times. It's easy and almost never fails.
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