Mateo’s Gourmet Salsa – Extra Hot Habanero
Bitter: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Salty: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Sour: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Sweet: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Heat: ⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Tomato, jalapeno, cilantro, habanero
Texture: Chunky with small chunks
Recommended: Yes
Ingredients: Tomatoes, Jalapeno Peppers, Water, Habanero Peppers, Garlic, Salt, Cilantro, Red Wine Vinegar, Spice, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Habanero Powder
Always on the lookout for new salsas to enjoy with some tortilla chips Mateo’s is a brand I’ve seen at Costco but never wanted to commit to a full gallon at once. Luckily I stumbled upon this jar in my local Publix and since it was labeled as extra hot I thought it would be worth giving a shot.
Something I always look for in a salsa is a clean ingredients list. So many unfortunately include unnecessary thickeners like corn starch or rely on extracts to bring heat or flavor. Mateo’s is clean with just tomatoes, jalapenos, habaneros, garlic, cilantro, spices, lemon juice, and red wine vinegar, along with some habanero powder to kick things up another notch. While I do greatly prefer sauces and salsas that rely on fresh peppers instead of dried or powders in this case the fresh habaneros are used with the habanero powder just there to bump up the heat a little. The salsa smells fresh as well with lots of tomato, garlic, and pepper aroma. As I like my salsas this is chunky though the chunks are on the smaller side – think food processor chopped instead of hand chopped, though the vegetable bits have a nice chew to them still.
While Mateo’s Extra Hot Habanero Salsa obviously has habanero in big bold letters on the label it’s the jalapenos that are the dominant pepper flavor here. I personally enjoy the flavor of jalapenos so it’s not objectionable, but there’s more of that grassy earthy jalapeno going on than the fruity fiery habanero. There’s quite a lot of cilantro and it still tastes fresh, something that’s more difficult than not to achieve in a shelf stable sauce or salsa. The tomato flavor is fresh as well, no marinara sauce vibes here. Acidity is also well balanced, no outright taste of vinegar or lemon juice but it’s acidic enough to make the flavors of the other ingredients pop. The only thing that’s missing is heat. I understand something sold at a grocery store isn’t likely to blow my head off, but I was hoping for something with at least some sting, and this doesn’t bring it. It’s very tasty as a mild salsa however.
If you’re not going to demand heat from your salsa I can recommend Mateo’s Extra Hot Habanero Salsa. I do wonder if this is the extra hot how mild the others are, but even though it’s missing much of any heat it’s still tasty. This salsa is also all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.
