What Is The Difference Between Salsa And Taco Sauce?

on September 21, 2022

If you’re a fan of Mexican food and eat it regularly you may have noticed that there are several different sauces that you can buy at the local grocery store. There is salsa and taco sauce along with a few other sauces and spices. However, you may be wondering what is the difference between a salsa and a taco sauce. Are they just different names for the same thing?

Salsa and taco sauces are distinctly different products that are both tomato-based sauces that are used in Mexican foods. Salsas are typically made from fresh ingredients that are combined rather than cooked and they typically consist of tomatoes, onions, and sometimes jalapenos. Depending upon the specific recipe they can also have a dressing applied such as lime juice along with spices to add flavor interest whereas a taco sauce is cooked.

Due to the cooked nature of taco sauce, it also tends to be a relatively smooth consistency whereas salsa traditionally has a chunky consistency and the individual ingredients in the salsa can be easily identified.

However, it is important to note that the term salsa is a generic one that is used in Spanish to describe a range of different sauces as you will see in the section below.

Can You Use Salsa Instead Of Taco Sauce?

One of the most common questions that is asked is can you use salsa instead of taco sauce on a range of Mexican dishes? The answer to this is yes, many people simply use salsa directly on things like tacos instead of using taco sauce which is specifically made for this purpose.

I personally find that this adds significant amounts of character to the dish whether it is tacos or nachos and provides a relatively fresh taste. However, usually, homemade sauces tend to have a little bit more zing in them and add character and spice compared to the commercially manufactured products that you can purchase in a local supermarket.

Additionally, to add flavor highly recommend that you add pickled jalapenos as they also add quite a bit of zest to the flavor of any Mexican dish.

Are There Different Types Of Salsa?

The salsa used in Mexican cuisine can be classified into six different groups which are listed below;

Pico De Gallo

Salsa Taqueria
Salsa Roja
Salsa Verde

Salsa De Aguacate
Salsa Criollo

Pico De Gallo

Pico de gallo is arguably the most well know salsa. It is a light sauce that is tangy and refreshing and is made from Tomatoes, Cilantro, Lime Juice, Onion, Salt, and peppers. While there are many recipes around that vary the quantities of ingredients they all contain these ingredients. Pico de gallo contains very little liquid and is mainly used as a topping.

Salsa Taqueria

Salsa taqueria is a cooked sauce and is a taco sauce that has a smooth consistency. It contains relatively hot peppers, which makes it extremely spicy. Salsa taqueria contains similar ingredients to Pico De Gallo which are cooked together in water or oil and then blended to create a smooth paste.

Salsa Roja

Salsa Roja referred to a red sauce that contains blended and cooked ingredients. Salsa Roja is served as a condiment that can be added to just about any Mexican dish and also is generically referred to as taco sauce. The sauce combines tomatoes, garlic, onion, lime juice, salt, cilantro, and peppers to create a hot red sauce.

Salsa Verde

Salsa verde is a distinctly different sauce that is green in color. The color difference is due to the fact that the sauce is based on tomatillos rather than tomatoes. Additionally, the sauce contains onion, cilantro, lime juice, and peppers that are cooked and blended to make the sauce. Unlike other Mexican sauces, it is often chilled before being served.

Salsa De Aguacate

This sauce is also based on tomatillos and is green but also includes avocado. The avocado helps to reduce the level of spice. The sauce also contains onions, garlic, and cilantro which are cooked before being blended and cooled to room temperature for serving.

Salsa Criollo

Salsa Criolla is a less well-known salsa that doesn’t contain any tomatoes. Alternatively, the primary ingredient is sliced red onions. These onions are mixed with salt to extract much of the juice from them. They are then added to finely chopped Amarillo peppers, cilantro, and lime juice. The ingredients remain raw and uncooked.

Is Enchilada Sauce And Taco Sauce The Same Thing?

Enchilada and taco sauces that are sold commercially are quite similar in nature with the main difference between the two sauces being the nature of the spices that is used. Enchilada sauce typically is spicy because of the use of chilies within the sauce whereas taco sauce generally depends upon pepper and smoked paprika.

And while all taco sauces are based on tomatoes or pureed tomatoes, enchilada sauce does not always have tomatoes in them. Commonly enchilada sauces will contain tomato paste some sort of chicken or vegetable broth garlic chili powder and cumin though this will vary significantly from recipe to recipe.