Forgot the vinegar in my salsa - Ask Extension (2024)

Thank you for your question. My apologies for the delay in response.

Because I don't know exactly what recipe you are using, I don't know how much vinegar your recipe called for...however the National Center for Home Food Preservation Chile Salsa II recipe calls for 1 cup of 5% vinegar in the 6-8 pint batch.

Assuming that is similar to your recipe, if the vinegar was left out we cannot be sure the finished product has a low enough pH to inhibit bacterial growth in the processed jars. I would recommend that you mark the jars without the vinegar, store them in the refrigerator and use them within a month or two. You could also freeze the salsa for longer storage.

Kate Shumaker, MS, RD, LD Ohio State University Extension, Holmes County 111 East Jackson Street Millersburg, OH 44654 Phone: 330-674-3015 http://holmes.osu.edu shumaker.68@osu.edu Replied September 24, 2020, 10:26 AM EDT