I just bought a 16-ounce jar of Pace Medium Salsa for review. Well, after munching a half-bag of Tostitos Hint Of Lime white corn chips and the whole jar, I get real well what this delicious salsa tastes like. This was one of the thickest name brand salsas I’ve tried, and so, it felt a lot like eating a vegetable salad. But most of us could do well health wise to get more veggies into our diets. And this Pace salsa product is one delectable way to do that. And, it’s easy too. Before I knew it, the whole jar was gone. But I suppose that if I’m going to be gluttonous, salsa isn’t a terribly sinful food to stuff in. Now the chips on the other hand? Well, that’s a different story, for a different review.
Benefits, Advantages, Pros, and Features
- This salsa has no fat, no added sugar, but is brimming with lots of vegetables. It’s low-calorie as well, at 10 calories per one eighth cup serving.
- This is one vegetable-based dipping sauce that keeps me returning to the jar for more, and it’s pretty healthy besides.
- The “best by” date is a year out from the purchase date. So it’s okay to keep this stuff around in the pantry for a bit.
- I paid $1.98 for this product, which seems a fairly cheap way to augment the diet with more nutritious vegetables.
- Pace Medium Salsa comes in a glass jar with a metal lid, which I highly prefer to plastic containers. I love glass because of how little it contaminates the contents inside, and how easily recycled it is.
- They found an excellent tomato juice-to-vegetables ratio in this salsa. There was sufficient liquid to adequately wet my scooper chips, yet enough solid vegetables that I felt like I was eating more vegetables by weight than either the chips or the juice.
- Yet, there’s very little liquid in this salsa, much less than I noted in the Pace picante sauce I reviewed some time ago.
- Reading the ingredients list, I find almost entirely vegetables; food that most Americans should increase in our diets.
- They say this sauce is medium in intensity. But I thought it tasted more like mild salsa. While some heat I noted in my throat as I swallowed, I’d classify this salsa as on the mild side of medium. But that’s okay. While I enjoy the challenge now and then of downing a cup or two of very hot salsa, I’d much rather have less kick for casual eating in front of the TV while watching the president speak. Less distracting.
- This is an all-natural salsa that contains no preservatives.
- This salsa goes pleasingly with eggs (Mexican omelette), nacho chips (as I had with it tonight), pasta (a pleasant change from Italian-flavored pasta sauce), burritos, chicken, and cheese (you can mix this with cream cheese and milk for a delicious dairy dip).
Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Concerns
- As healthy as this Pace product is in terms of vegetable nutrition, it does contain 230 MG of sodium per 2-tablespoon serving. That seems high, as I ate 28 tablespoons with my chips tonight. I hope they make a no-salt version.
Ingredients List
Crushed tomatoes (water, crushed tomato concentrate), jalapeno peppers, diced tomatoes in tomato juice, fresh onions, distilled vinegar, dehydrated onions, salt, garlic, and natural flavors.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving size: 2 tablespoons. Servings per container: 14.
- Calories: 10. Fat calories: 0.
- Total fat: 0 grams, 0%.
- Sodium: 230 milligrams, 10% DV.
- Total carbs: 3 grams, 1% DV.
- Fiber: 1 gram, 4% DV.
- Sugars: 2 grams.
- Protein: 0 grams.
Product Rating
Aside from the, in my view, excessive sodium, I recommend this product as a dipping salsa for most any chips, or as an ingredient of a your own dipping sauce recipe. I’d rate this Pace salsa at 96 out of 100.
Where To Buy Pace Medium Salsa
Look for Pace Medium Salsa in the glass jar with the yellow, orange, and white lid and the green, red, and white label, at most major grocery stores and wholesale markets. I bet you’ll enjoy it and your doctor will beam with delight when you tell her that salsa is a staple in your snack chest.
References
Revision History
- : Moved this post to the Tom’s Diet Quest blog, added whitespace, adjusted ad placement, and tweaked the content.
- 2012-05-02: Originally published.