Salsas del Barrio began with a simple problem: we loved eating salsa macha while living in Mexico, but we couldn’t find anything like it when we moved to Portland.
So we decided to make our own.
What began as experimentation in our kitchen has grown into carefully measured production days, a small team and batches of salsa macha filled by hand. The process has evolved, but the goal remains the same: create something nutty, smoky, sweet, crunchy and genuinely delicious.
It started with a container of mixed nuts
Our original recipe has a slightly unexpected origin.
During our first experiments, we used a container of mixed nuts from Costco. That mix included almonds and cashews, and we liked what they added so much that both became permanent parts of the recipe.
Sometimes a defining ingredient doesn’t come from a carefully planned culinary decision. Sometimes it comes from using what you have and discovering that it works.
The chiles behind the flavor
Our salsa macha uses several dried Mexican chiles, each with a different job:
- Morita chiles create the deep, smoky character.
- Árbol chiles provide the heat.
- Chile negro, also known as pasilla, adds fruity undertones that pair naturally with the cranberries.
The flavor develops in stages. It begins nutty, becomes smoky and slightly sweet, and then the medium heat slowly appears.
It isn’t the kind of heat that overwhelms you immediately. It builds as you eat.
Why cranberries?
Cranberries bring sweetness and a subtle tartness that balance the dried chiles. We blend them with the nuts so they become part of the salsa’s texture rather than feeling like a separate ingredient.
That sweet-and-spicy combination may be trendy enough to have a new nickname—“swicy”—but the balance between sweetness and chile has long felt at home in Mexican cooking.
What happens during a production day?
We begin by sourcing and measuring every ingredient. Everything is measured by weight so each batch maintains the flavor and texture people expect from us.
The peanuts are toasted, while the remaining nuts and seeds are left untoasted. The ingredients are then blended into the coarse, chunky texture that defines our salsa macha.
The dried chiles meet hot oil as part of our flavor-building and food-safety process. Regular olive oil is added toward the end, bringing everything together without overpowering the chiles, nuts and seeds.
One “superbatch” produces approximately 30 jars. During a typical three-to-six-hour cook, our team makes between three and six superbatches—or roughly 90 to 180 jars.
Why we use regular olive oil
Choosing the right oil took experimentation.
Extra-virgin olive oil has a strong, distinctive flavor. We enjoy it on its own, but it competed too much with the other ingredients in our salsa macha.
Regular olive oil gives us the qualities we like about olive oil while allowing the chiles, nuts and cranberries to remain at the center of the flavor.
Vinegar taught us a similar lesson. An inexpensive vinegar used during our early experiments created an aroma we didn’t enjoy. Switching to a higher-quality vinegar made an immediate difference.
Those early mistakes helped us understand that even ingredients used in smaller amounts can change the entire jar.
Why every jar is filled by hand
Our salsa macha contains generous pieces of nuts, seeds, chiles and cranberries. Those pieces are part of what makes it satisfying—but they would probably be too large for the pipes and filling equipment used by many industrial producers.
So we fill every jar by hand.
It takes longer, but it allows us to preserve the substantial, crunchy texture our customers love. Each jar is also inspected, labeled and given a traceable batch code.
For example, a code such as “A 6/26” identifies the first batch produced in June 2026. This lot-tracking system helps us maintain accurate production records and meet Oregon Department of Agriculture requirements.
The kitchens that helped us keep going
Our production story hasn’t always been straightforward.
After the Portland Mercado fire, we suddenly found ourselves scrambling to locate another kitchen. St. Johns Swapnplay gave us a place to continue cooking when we urgently needed one. They were our saviors during a genuinely difficult moment.
As production grew, we needed more room and began using the commissary kitchen at Rockwood Market Hall. We still cook at St. Johns Swapnplay sometimes, and we’re now searching for a kitchen space of our own.
Both kitchens have become meaningful parts of the Salsas del Barrio story.
Made by a small Portland team
Today, our salsa macha is made by a small team: founders Juan and Lena, along with Allie, our first employee.
We measure, toast, blend, cook, taste, fill and label every batch ourselves. Before a batch is approved, we look for the signature flavor we have come to love: nutty at first, followed by smoke and sweetness, with a medium heat that develops slowly.
Small-batch production isn’t simply a marketing phrase for us. It describes how the product is actually made—and why every jar contains the texture, flavor and generous chunks that make it Salsas del Barrio.
Ready to taste it? [Shop our Original Salsa Macha]
