El Tapatio Tomato Salsa Clone Recipe

El Tapatio Tomato Salsa Clone Recipe

El Tapatio is a single Mexican restaurant in a tiny town called Gainesville, Texas. They make what is in my opinion the best salsa on the planet. The style of salsa is regional and it is not common in most of the US as far as I'm aware (note that I have not traveled the country sampling salsas), but it is very common in North Texas and Southern Oklahoma.

The restaurants that tend to serve this style of salsa are small local Mexican restaurants with GREAT food. They tend to share nearly identical menus, but the recipes seem to vary significantly from place to place. My guess is that there is some common origin for this style of restaurant, maybe some sort of pseudo franchise, but I have no idea, and I've never gone undercover to find out. In my imagination, some company in Mexico sells a "restaurant blueprint" for aspiring entrepeneurs who want to immigrate to the US and open a restaurant.

Of all of variations that I have tried, El Tapatio has the best salsa. I have cloned this salsa and I believe that I have gotten it so spot-on that I think it could be served in the restaurant and no one would know the difference. I even know people who are not big fans of the restaurant but agree that their salsa (and by extension, this salsa) is the best for 'chips and salsa' that they have ever had.

I call the style "El Tap Salsa" but I have no idea what the actual name of the style is. I have never spoken to another person outside of this region about this salsa. I have never seen a recipe like it anywhere on the internet. Some day, maybe I will ask someone at one of the restaurants for information about the style. That had not crossed my mind until I started writing this lol.

It's so so good and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Links to products on Amazon are affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps support the site and allows me to continue creating content like this. Thank you for your support!

Equipment

  • Blender
  • Bowl or pitcher large enough to hold a half gallon of liquid
  • Knife
  • Cutting board
  • A kitchen scale (they can be very cheap, I recommend getting one like this: Amazon Link - Note: it is also a great coffee scale if you are into that sort of thing)

Tomato Juice versus Tomato Puree/Sauce

The right choice for the base of this salsa is tomato juice. I don't tend to keep tomato juice on hand and I have found that I can approximate the same result with tomato puree or sauce. I mix 1/2 of a 28oz can with the same amount of water and add 4 grams of salt. Mix this up in advance and use it in place of the tomato juice. It won't be exactly the same amount of liquid, but because the thickness and flavor of the two options varies a bit, this is what I have found to work best for flavor and consistency.

Make it ahead

For best results, make this a day in advance or at least a few hours in advance. This allows the cilanto and onion to mellow out and the flavors to meld.

Adjusting the heat

The heat of this salsa is controlled by the amount of pickled jalapeños you add to the blender in step 2. If you want a milder salsa, start with 1/4 of the can. If you want a medium to hot salsa, start with 1/2 of the can. The rest of the jalapeños are added later in the recipe and have less impact on the heat level.

Bonus flavor

If you want to add a little extra flavor, experiment with adding a roasted fresh jalapeño (remove seeds and stems) a roasted fresh poblano, and/or some fresh cherry tomatoes before blending. The best result I ever had with this recipe (it was even better than the original) was when I followed the recipe as stated, but I roasted a red jalapeño and added that to the blender, along with 6 raw cocktail tomatoes. I don't always make it this way because the spice level can be a bit unpredictable.

Storage

Store the salsa in a covered container in the refrigerator. I don't have any idea how long it will last because I always eat it within a few days. I tested the pH once, and it measured at 3.9 which means it's pretty dang acidic and therefore pretty stable and resistant to pathogenic growth. That being said, I'm not a food storage expert and there are fresh ingredients here, so I would not recommend treating it like a shelf-stable salsa. Do not take my pH measurement or opinion as truth, you are responsible for your own food storage and safety!

Ingredients

  • 1 can (28oz) whole plum/san marzano tomatoes (the higher quality the better, I use Cento brand)
  • 520g tomato juice (OR 28oz can tomato puree or sauce, I used Cento brand, notes on use below)
  • 1 12oz can pickled jalapeños nacho slices (or similar, I use La Costeña brand), divided into 2 portions (notes below)
  • 1 whole small white onion, 1/4 cut into large chunks, the rest finely chopped
  • 10g cilantro, divided into 2 5g portions
  • 12g salt (I tend to use plain table salt here b/c fancy salt doesn't matter in this context)

Recipe

  1. Add 1/4 of the onion cut in chunks to the blender.
  2. Add some (start with around 1/4 - 1/2) of the can of pickled jalapeños to the blender along with the juice from the can (see note on adjusting heat above).
  3. Add the 5g of cilantro to the blender.
  4. Add 200g tomato juice or tomato puree/sauce to the blender.
  5. Blend the mixture on high until it is completely smooth.
  6. Pour the mixture into a larger bowl or pitcher.
  7. Add the remaining 3/4 of the onion, finely chopped.
  8. Add the remaining 5g of cilantro, roughly chopped.
  9. Add the remaining pickled jalapeños, medium chopped.
  10. Add the remaining tomato juice or tomato puree/sauce.
  11. Crush or chop the whole plum/san marzano tomatoes and add them, along with all the juice from the can. The goal is to have chunks of tomato large enough to contrast the rest but small enough to fit on a chip. If there are any large pieces of basil in the can, remove them.
  12. Add 12g salt and stir the mixture well to combine all of the ingredients.
El Tapatio Tomato Salsa Clone Recipe