Hey guys. Please help me recreate this salsa. Tito’s Tacos is a single Mexican restaurant in Culver City, California that has had a cult following for 60 plus years. Over the last decade or so, their cult status has gone downhill but that is another story. Their red salsa is still great and I will always be a fan of it. Right now, a 16oz cup of their red salsa is $10.80!
[Tito’s Tacos jingle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDUxp5dE9us)
[Tito’s Tacos menu](https://www.titostacos.com/)
It makes everything taste juicy. I would describe the taste as: the first seconds you get a juicy and slightly tomato taste, then you get a slight vinegar taste, and then you get a slight jalapeno after taste. It is not spicy at all. It is very smooth with no crunch.
[Consistency 1 (9:41)](https://youtu.be/rJi3DJokTMo?t=581)
[Consistency 2 (2:57)(Bonus: watch an alien eat a taco)](https://youtu.be/roDD0m8rKk0?t=177)
During the pandemic, I tried to recreate it from knockoff recipes but I could not get it exactly over about 15 iterations. I used Roma tomatoes (innards scooped and salted to release excess juice), a small amount of white onion, white vinegar, salt, pepper, and the juice and a few slices from bottled pickled jalapenos. Blend it and then let it sit in the fridge overnight.
[Knockoff 1](https://sweetcsdesigns.com/knockoff-titos-tacos-salsa/)
[Knockoff 2](https://www.bakespace.com/recipes/detail/Copycat-Tito%27s-Taco%27s-All-Beef-Burrito-%26-Red-Salsa/58152/)
Last year, Los Angeles Times Food posted a video where they go in to Tito’s Tacos kitchen and they have about 20 seconds where they show them making the salsa. I gleaned a bit of information to make my current recipe better: they do not use Roma tomatoes?, they use the whole tomato, they use apple cider vinegar over white vinegar, and they add oregano.
[Los Angeles Times Food video (6:02)](https://youtu.be/EMKzNmNeZlY?t=362)
I have a few questions:
* Is there a name for this type of salsa besides raw red salsa?
* What type of tomatoes are those?
* The jalapeno puree looks like the secret ingredient. Do you think it is raw or cooked or pickled jalapeno? Do you think it is just pureed jalapenos? How would you create that just by the looks?
Thanks for the help. You will make multiple people happy.
by VORGundam
3 Comments
I’m pretty sure those are roma tomatoes – they’re just not quite as oblong. To me the jalapeño looks like pureed pickled jalapeños.
Next time you stop by you should ask if you can get the salsa recipe. I asked my favorite Italian restaurant for their minestrone soup recipe and they gave it to me. And honestly it looks like they basically tell you exactly how to make it in the last video you posted.
Their salsa is a salsa fresca. It is especially watery and salty, with a lot of white onion and cilantro and a decent amount of diced jalapeño. Shouldn’t be too tough to make a copycat. IMO it’s a little too runny and weak but the flavor that is there is pretty good and goes well on those deliciously greasy tacos.
My family grew up near Tito’s and learned how to replicate the salsa and have been making it for years and it’s indistinguishable from the real thing. It’s just roma tomatoes and a couple pickled jalapenos from the can, plus salt and pepper. When we make it we add a couple pickled jalapenos and a couple splashes of the vinegar juice from the can to taste.
One thing to note from what you’ve tried, we do not use onions and are pretty sure Tito’s doesn’t either, it will alter the taste quite a lot.