Salsa (Fermented)
An easy vegan built around ripe tomatoes, red capsicum and fresh chiles — roughly 70 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. Scroll down for the ingredient checklist, a serving scaler and unit converter, and the method broken into 7 steps.
At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, every ingredient resolved to a plant source.
What you'll need
Shopping list (4)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
Diet: vegan — no meat, fish, dairy, egg or honey, based on every ingredient listed below.
Contains: none of the major allergens we track from the ingredients listed.
Allergen labels are informational and may not cover cross-contact; verify every package and consult a qualified professional for medical dietary needs. Diet labels are derived from the ingredient list on this page — how we verify diet and allergen labels.
Food-safety and allergen information is general, not medical advice. Follow current guidance from your local food-safety authority, verify product labels, and seek qualified advice for allergies or health conditions.
How to make it
- Wash and finely chop the tomatoes, capsicum, chiles and red onion, mince the garlic, and chop the cilantro; keeping the pieces small lets the brine penetrate evenly during fermentation.
- Combine all the vegetables in a clean non-reactive bowl, add the non-iodised salt and cumin, and mix thoroughly so the salt is evenly distributed; iodised salt and chlorinated surfaces can inhibit the good bacteria, so use clean filtered water and unbleached salt.
- Pack the mixture firmly into a sterilised glass jar, pressing down so the vegetables release their juices and sit below the surface of their own brine, leaving about 3 cm of headspace.
- Weigh the salsa down with a small clean glass weight or a brine-filled bag so everything stays submerged, then cover loosely with a lid or cloth that lets gas escape.
- Leave the jar to ferment at cool room temperature, around 18 to 22 C and out of direct sunlight, for 3 to 5 days, pressing the vegetables back under the brine once a day and releasing any built-up pressure.
- Taste daily from day three; when it has a pleasant tangy, lightly sour flavour and small bubbles appear, stir through the fresh lime juice.
- Seal the jar and transfer it to the refrigerator, where the fermentation slows right down; use within about two weeks and discard immediately if you ever see fuzzy mould or smell anything putrid.
Ingredient substitutions
- Lime
- lemon
Tips & common questions
How long does Salsa (Fermented) take to make?
About 70 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 7 steps and 9 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of lime?
Try lemon. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Salsa (Fermented) vegan?
Every ingredient listed on this page resolved to a plant or mineral source in our ingredient ontology — no meat, fish, shellfish, dairy, egg or honey. Labels can still differ by brand, so check packaged items.
Related recipes
Adapted recipe — rewritten in our own wording from an open-licensed community cookbook, not yet independently kitchen-tested by Consomee. How we source, test & correct recipes.
Salsa (Fermented) is adapted by Consomee from the Wikibooks Cookbook, rewritten in our own wording and used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo: Salsa ferment.jpg (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure — how we source recipes.