Hi all, I love salsa so much but salsa seems to not love me…I keep making salsas, red and green, that have a distinct bitter flavor, no matter what I do, boil or roast. I made a salsa roja last night that I was very hopeful for, but it came out with a distinct bitter flavor up front, and then a yummy spicy aftertaste. Can someone please help me out and tell me what I’m doing wrong? Recipe used yesterday:
3 Roma tomatoes
15ish chile de árbol (dried)
3 clove garlic
Quarter onion
Splash of chicken broth instead of water
About a teaspoon of chicken bullion
Salt to taste
I roasted the tomato, garlic, onion together until they had a bit of charred color, nothing significant. Roasted the chile de árbol for a few seconds, until they had a bit darker color. Blended everything together.
Even when I use other recipes it still comes out a little bitter… I’m going crazy yal please help
And if someone wants to answer other questions I have:
What does boiling the salsa after blending do? When should I boil after blending?
by Designer-Effect3996
21 Comments
Are you using dried chili’s every time? I have read that they can sometimes be bitter
Hit it with some salt little by little until the flavors blend together. Could take some of the bitterness out.
It needs some acid. Either lime juice or vinegar.
Add 2 cups of water. That’ll solve it.
Another thing you can try is start with just a couple ingredients at a time. e.g. Roma and peppers. Then add the onion, then add the garlic, then add seasoning. See if you can pin point where it may become bitter vs not.
As for what you have now, little bit of salt and try it as someone suggested could help in this batch.
Bitterness gets removed by adding a sweetener. If your dried chilis are fresh (by that I mean still pliable) they should have some sugar in them. Fresh green peppers will not. I usually add a little element of sweetness to most of my salsas, especially if I’m using underwhelming tomatoes. A little honey, a pinch of sugar, some orange juice as well as lime juice or a couple chunks of pineapple or mango work really well. Dial it in until the bitterness is gone. And make sure to use plenty of salt and acid, and some msg (which you are doing in the form of chicken bouillon).
Add some apple cider vinegar
Maybe the chile de árbol is bitter. Sometimes cooking them little bit too charred can leave it super bitter. Try a different brand.
Hahahah, that looks exhausting; but your salsa seems amazing!
You didn’t mention it in your ingredients, but just checking: any chance you used an oil (either directly, or on the roasted items)? Blending some oils – especially olive – can cause a bitter taste. Common complaint when making a mayonnaise-like emulsion, but I could imagine it could happen with salsa too.
Add more tomatoes and reduce them, this will help add sweetness to the salsa. At the end add lime juice, this will help balance it out and mellow out remaining bitterness
Are you allowing your cooked ingredients to cool back down to room temperature before blending?
I know it makes zero sense logically, but there’s a whole lot of salsa-making grandma’s who swear by that trick.
>I roasted the tomato, garlic, onion together until they had a bit of charred color, nothing significant.Â
I think this is your issue. You need to char these ingredients a significant amount to reduce any bitterness. For reference, look at other posts here to see how much people are charring their tomatoes, onions, fresh chilis.
If you’re uncomfortable with charring these vegetables to the degree required, then you can boil them instead. That will still produce a salsa with a good but different flavor profile than charring.
Burnt garlic can have an acrid bitter taste. That would be my guess
Might be over roasting the garlic
Might be the bouillon? I was make southern green beans in the IP and ran out of broth so I used bouillon instead. It was so bitter I couldn’t eat them. Bouillon is so concentrated that if you don’t use enough water to dilute, I think it’s going to be bitter. Or, like a previous poster you could add a couple of cups of water (no, don’t do that!). Anyhoo, YMMV but that’s what I would try changing first.
No lime? Lime is very important and also helps it last longer. Don’t be afraid to add a little sugar too.
chicken broth? wtf  bullion? wtf please, no.
Use petite diced tomatoes in a can, a minced Serrano pepper, minced cilantro, diced onion, splash of vinegar, and salt. Just stir. Can thin it out with a bit of water as desired. No mixer. No boiling. Done
I would definitely go with the acid in lime juice to neutralize the bitterness but barring that, when the salsa is still warm from it’s roast n’ blend, add a very minor pinch of baking soda. You won’t taste it like you will if you add a slew of lime juice but chemically it will help offset the bitter bite.
1. **Ingredients**
2. **Recipes**
3. **Cooking equipment**
Keeping those three items in mind, think about how you’re approaching your salsa making.
For *ingredients*, consider a different grocery store. See if there’s a farmer’s market within reach for a weekend shopping trip. Consider different brands of canned tomatoes, fresh produce, dried chile peppers/spices, etc. Use fresh garlic instead of processed jarred garlic, etc.
For *recipes*, consider this subreddit’s [Introductory Post ](https://www.reddit.com/r/SalsaSnobs/comments/efljku/introductory_post_for_new_users/)– which has a ton of incredibly good/great salsa recipes to consider.
For *cooking equipment*, review what you have. Would a cast iron pan be a better choice? Is your teflon pan in need of replacing? Is it time to move away from stainless steel pans? Maybe there’s soap residue in the cookware or serving bowl/cup? Are you using tap water which is adding unwanted salts/chlorides/etc. (taste)? Would bottled water be a better choice? Is it time to invest in a [molcajete](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=mocajete&ia=web) made of volcanic rock, NOT concrete, plastic, metal, marble, etc.
Lastly, **as a suggestion**, purchase a pre-made, grocery store salsa–something inexpensive off-the-shelf or deli section–and augment it with your own salsa creation. *Mix them together.* Small amount. *Think about what you could add/remove/reduce to make it even better.* It’s one way to experiment with your own salsa making skills–and learn more about how you approach your salsa making.
*Good luck!* You are **not** cursed.
As others have suggested it’s probably the chili de arbol. That being said, it’s probably not the peppers themselves but the toasting process. As soon as the dried arbols develop dark spots while toasting they become very bitter. Try toasting on medium or even medium-low heat for no more than 45 seconds. Also remove the seeds if you aren’t already doing that.