Salsa is the Spanish (and Italian) word for sauce, but in America and Mexico, salsa refers to traditional dishes made from chili peppers, tomatoes and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. These salsas are used as condiments, sauces and marinades to enhance the flavor of chicken, fish, pork and beef. However, most of us know salsa as part of the all-time American favorite of chips and dip.

Dishes similar to salsa can be found the world over, but what makes Mexican and Tex/Mex salsa unique are the chili pepper and the tomato. Both the chili pepper and the tomato are native to the Andean regions of South America and their use and cultivation were spread across that continent and into North America by the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs as their empires grew and expanded across the New World.

Salsa, as we know it, was first developed around 4000 BC when chili peppers and tomatoes were first cultivated by the native Andean Indians. Salsa spread to Europe, Asia and the rest of the world after Columbus brought both chili peppers and tomatoes back to Spain after his second voyage of discovery in 1493 and other nationalities soon started making their own versions of salsa.

Traditional American and Mexican salsa, also known as Tex/Mex was developed in the 1840’s on the great American and Mexican cattle ranches centered on San Antonio, Texas. The hard-working cowboys and vaqueros used the tasty concoction to spice up their bland diets of beef and hardtack.

Actually, there are quite a few. In addition to tex-mex or traditional type of salsa that most of us are used to there are quite a few. Most of our salsas are traditional tex-mex with the exception of our Salsa de Chili Verde. The fine folks at Wikipedia© have defined eight other types of well-known salsas:

• Salsa roja, “red sauce”: used as a condiment in Mexican and southwestern U.S. cuisine, and usually made with cooked tomatoes, chili peppers, onion, garlic, and fresh cilantro.

• Salsa cruda (“raw sauce”), also known as pico de gallo (“rooster’s beak”), salsa picada (“chopped sauce”), salsa mexicana (“Mexican sauce”), or salsa fresca (“fresh sauce”): made with raw tomatoes, lime juice, chilli peppers, onions, cilantro leaves, and other coarsely chopped raw ingredients.

• Salsa verde, “green sauce”: Mexican version made with tomatillos. Sauces made with tomatillos are usually cooked. Italian version made with herbs.

• Salsa taquera, “Taco sauce”: Made with tomatillos and morita chili.

• Salsa ranchera, “ranch-style sauce”: made with tomatoes, various chilies, and spices.
Typically served warm, it possesses a thick, soupy quality. Though it contains none, it imparts a characteristic flavor reminiscent of black pepper.
• Salsa brava, “wild sauce”: a mildly spicy sauce, often flavored with paprika. On top of potato wedges, it makes the dish patatas bravas, typical of tapa bars in Spain.

• Guacamole: usually any sauce where the main ingredient is avocado.

• Mole (pronounced mole [’mo.le]): a Mexican sauce made from chili peppers mixed with spices, unsweetened chocolate, almonds, and other ingredients.

The most common and popular chili peppers used in salsa, ranked from the mildest to the hottest, are the Anaheim, Poblano, Green Chili Pepper, Jalapeno, New Mexican Anaheim, Serrano, Chipotle and Habanero.

We normally don’t enter our products into competition, but from time to time, we have chosen to do so just to see how we stack up against our competition.

The last time we entered, our salsa won the prestigious 2004 Epicurious Taste Test (sponsored by Conde Nast) against such illustrious competitors as Pace, Taco Bell, Newman’s Own and many others.

Over the years, our salsas have won six other national awards including the Scovie Awards and the National Salsa and Hot Sauce Tasting Awards.

Bandana Bandito salsa is made from all-natural ingredients and its nutritional value reflects its ingredients. Salsa is a very healthy food.

A typical serving size is two (2) tablespoons (28 grams). Depending on the variety or flavor that you choose, the nutritional contents vary:

Content Amount Range
Calories 5-15
Total Fat 0.0g – 0.5g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Sodium 35mg-300mg
Total Carbohydrates 1g-4g
Sugars 0g-3g

Again, depending on your choice, our salsas contain Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron, and Calcium. Please see label for specific amounts by variety.

It’s because of the way we make it. In the first place, we only produce premium salsa. We use only the finest all-natural ingredients. While we produce a lot of salsa every year, we produce it in small batch lots for better and more consistent quality control. We constantly refine our recipes to guarantee not only quality and taste but to maintain the high nutritional value of our salsa. Our process may be cost a little more, but the end result is well worth it.

We make our salsa in San Antonio, Texas, the home of the Alamo and Tex/Mex cuisine. Our plant is FDA approved and inspected.

In this global economy, Americans can enjoy foods from around the world, but the freshest and best tasting, highest quality vegetables come from the United States and the best chilis come from the southwest and western U.S. and Mexico. No matter when we bottle, we buy the highest quality ingredients available at the time based on taste, freshness and climate conditions.

Yes! They are generally great low calorie treats high in vitamin C. There are also many claims of the benefits of capsaicin (the chemical responsible for the heat in spicy foods), however scientific research is underway to substantiate these claims.