Bottom Line: Trader Joe’s Guajillo Salsa is rich and hearty with a nice kick and has many different uses.
When I pay a visit to Trader Joe’s, there are several must-have items that I pick up pretty much every time such as their Habanera Hot Sauce, Italian Bomba Sauce, and Crispy Thai Chilis and Sesame Seeds. On a recent visit, I noticed their Guajillo Salsa and wondered how that had never caught my eye before. I grabbed a jar of the mahogany-colored concoction that looked sort of like a mole sauce and added it to my cart. And after I got home and sampled it, this has become yet another must-have item from TJ’s.
The base of this salsa is the guajillo chili which is the dried version of the mirasol chili and is commonly used in Latin cuisine. But this salsa also blends in chipotles and other chilis with tomatoes and other ingredients to create a hearty mixture of flavors. And while this works perfectly well as just a salsa, it can be used in a variety of other ways as well.
This is a thick sauce that has the rich, earthy taste you expect from dried chilis with a nice tang from the vinegar to give it an extra kick. It also has a good tomato taste with just the right amount of acidity which works well with the blend of peppers to amp up the flavor to the next level. And finally, there is a hint of smoke in the background that brings everything together.
This salsa has a kick right away which builds to about Medium on my scale. And it lingers for a bit with some tingling on your tongue and lips. You won’t need something to douse the heat from your mouth right away, but you will be feeling the burn. Those who don’t really care for spicy food (we weep for them) will probably struggle with this one. But chiliheads will likely down it by the gallon (sorry, they only sell it in 12 oz jars).
This of course goes perfectly well on tacos or with chips, but it can be used in many other ways. If you heat it up, it would be a great sauce for enchilada or tamales or huevos rancheros. You could add some to a chili or a soup to kick up the flavor. It would also be great as a marinade for fajitas or some spicy, barbeque chicken. But I will keep a jar around on a regular basis for chilaquiles because this works perfectly for that dish (you can find the recipe for that here).
I don’t know if this is one of Trader Joe’s rotational products or a regular item, but I will be stopping back by to stock up just in case. At $1.99 a jar in my area, you can’t go wrong. And this has so many uses, that two or three other jars will probably be gone in a month or so. If you do stop at TJ’s, but sure to peruse through the aisles for other treasures as well because they have plenty of unique and tasty choices to pick from including quite a number of items that will spice things up.
Nutrition Info:
Ingredients: Tomatoes in juice (tomatoes, tomato juice), tomato sauce (water, tomato paste), guajillo chile pepper puree (water, guajillo chile peppers), distilled white vinegar, salt, crushed red peppers, dried garlic, guajillo chile pepper powder, chipotle pepper powder.
Serving Size: 2 Tbsp (30g)
Calories: 15
Fat: 0g (0g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: <1g
Carbs: 2g
Sodium: 210mg