There is a particular bottled salsa on every table in Costa Rica. It's called Lizano and the first time you taste it you have to stop and think a minute. Do I like it or not? Sure, it tastes like a mass-produced bottled sauce but somehow it's also really pleasant in a sweet, smoky, tangy way — like A1 meets tamarind paste — and then you're addicted and you look at the label, and if you understand Spanish, as I do, you find that it's loaded with fun stuff like like sodium benzoate and MSG.
You're already hooked, so you continue eating it on your vacation knowing that soon you'll be home and can swear off the stuff, conveniently no longer within arms' reach of a bottle. You eat it because it's perpetually in front of you and is a perfect match for the day-in-day-out Gallo Pinto, literally "spotted rooster" or rice and beans in Costa Rica.
You hate Lizano and love it all at once, and when you get back home you can think of little else.
I'd be fibbing if I said I didn't return from Costa Rica every year with dreams of making a homemade version to have stateside. It would be the perfect thing to stash away for leftovers, egg sandwiches, and of course, rice and beans.
Though I haven't been to Costa Rica in a few years, I recently felt a wave of nostalgia and set out to create my version of Lizano. Of course it has no preservatives and isn't as salty as the original. I first took a trip deep into Williamsburg Brooklyn to the local Food Bazaar a chain of markets that serves mostly Latin American and Caribbean communities with "the flavors that they love and recall from back home." It was the only place in the New York area that I called that had even heard of Lizano.
Then it was into the kitchen lab with the ingredients listed on the label plus a few others I thought would make up for the loss of the flavor enhancers and preservatives. I even tried putting a spoonful of powdered vegetable broth base. It made a difference, though I'm listing it as optional. Getting the lip-smacking umami experience and also improving the flavor of the sauce to make it taste less fakey-fakey was difficult. I'll admit that the final recipe isn't an exact replica of Lizano, but if comes close enough.
Ladies and gentlemen, here is your new go-to sauce for making those rice and beans, egg sandwiches, and all manner of leftovers more exciting.
Lizano-Style Costa Rican Salsa
makes about 2 cups1-2 dried chiles, such as guajillo
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 small yellow onion
1 4-inch piece thick carrot, chopped
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon unflavored vinegar
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons fine salt
2 teaspoons molasses
2 teaspoons all-natural powdered vegetable broth base, optional
Remove the stems of the chiles and then slice the chiles in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and fibrous connective material attaching the seeds to the chiles. Pre-heat a 6-8-inch cast iron or stainless steel skillet over medium heat. Lay the chile pieces in the pan and toast, turning after about 2 minutes. Add the water and lower the heat to bring the water to a simmer. Simmer for about five minutes. Remove the chile pieces from the pan and place in blender. Measure out 1 cup of the chile-infused water and add this to the blender with the chiles.
Add the onion, carrot, sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, molasses, bouillon if using. Blend until smooth. Taste for seasoning.
Sauce will keep in refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Related: Good Eats: Gallo Pinto
(images: Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan)
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Comments (25)
Interesting! Although honestly, if the rice, beans and veg are homemade I can easily justify some suspect ingredients in the condiment.
Cannot believe you came up with this! My kids have loved Lizano ever since our trip to Costa Rico that was years ago. I have to say that I still have some bottles of it...scary that the stuff lasts that long without going bad! Now I am going to try and make your version. I have a feeling it will be a bit better...a lot better!
Forgot to say that we love it on chicken and on turkey sandwiches!
OMG!!! I am Costa Rican and whenever a family member goes to C.R. we all want Salsa Lizano! I can't wait to make this!
I love this stuff, almost unnaturally. Thanks for coming up with an unprocessed replica!
Dang it! I just bought a huge bottle of this at the Minnesota State Fair. (It is so hard to find here that I had to snap it up.) Well...now I have a plan for when it is gone.
sounds good. once you make it how long will it keep?
My husband and I fell in LOOOOOVE with the Lizano hot sauce while we were in Costa Rica several years ago. Every time we hear of someone we know going to Costa Rica we have them pick us up several bottles. I didn't try the Lizano Salsa while in Costa Rica but I might have to try this recipe.
I love Salsa Lizano! I ran out of my bottle some years ago. My in-laws typically bring back a stock when they visit Costa Rica on vacation. I'm happy that now I can make my own at home. Thanks!
would roasting the onion and carrot add more umami to the sauce, do you think?
also how long would this natural version last in the fridge? 3 mos? 6 mos?
To those asking about staying power - the sauce will keep up to 2 weeks. The acid in the recipe helps, but beyond that I can't guarantee it will be fresh. Won't you eat it all up anyway? Enjoy!
You can very easily buy Lizano on Amazon, just sayin'. It's actually been a staple of mine for 15 years.
What about trying some Marmite for the umami and saltiness? Or liquid aminos? I have never tried Lizano, but I have been using Marmite/Vegemite to add a bit of that umami punch to things since my British friends turned me on to it.
@Sterrling you can definitely buy it on Amazon but if you don't like consuming preservatives, you have to go with the homemade solution.
I lived in CR for 5 years when I was teen because my dad worked for Lizano. I remember taking tours inside the Lizano factory, the smell... and at the end of the tour getting a bunch of mini bottles to take home. Now I won't need to travel so far to get another taste of it! Thanks!
SALSA LIZANO!! I took bottles of it home after I left CR!
My best friends are Costa Rican and growing up that was ALWAYS in the fridge door. Warm tortillas slathered with this stuff and shredded cheese is the bomb!
OMG, I didn't know that there was a recipe for Salsa Lizano. Cool!
This looks great. Can you please post the calorie count per tablespoon for this? Thanks!
I am from Costa Rica and I have to admit that I nearly died when I saw my country's name on the title. ANd yes, Salsa Lizano here is like THE SALSA! Every table here needs to have a bottle or two ;)
One amazing tip is to try it with the traditional Costarican Tamales that are made for Christmas every december. Tamales without salsa lizano are not tamales!,
I know exactly what you mean. When we were in Costa Rica a couple years ago, I could not get enough of this stuff. I put it on everything ... meat, eggs, fried plantains. Your post made my taste-buds water. Going to definitely try this recipe out!
I made some of this from this recipe today.. Let's say it's mmm--good! Can't wait to try it out on some of my standard old chicken and pork dishes.
Thanks!
Very excited for this recipe! I forgot how much l loved this salsa when I visited CR about 4 years ago!
We fell in love with Lizano sauce on our trip to Costa Rica. So much that we ordered a case of it online when we got back home! I'm looking forward to trying the recipe!
Has anyone tried this side-by-side with the real Salsa Lizano?
It looks like you've based the recipe upon the newer label: Water, Sugar, Iodised salt, Vegetable concentrate, Molasses, Spices (with Mustard and Celery), Modified cornstarch (thickener), Acetic acid (acidifier), Hot chiles, Hydrolysed vegetable protein, Sodium benzoate (0.09%) as a preservative.
The older label used to say: Water, Sugar, Salt, Onions, Carrots, Cauliflower, Cucumbers, Spices, Acetic acid, Chiles, Modified food starch, Vegetable protein, Sodium benzoate. I don't know if this is simply a change to the label, itself, or if it reflects an actual change in their formula.
In some ways, the newer label is both more and less revealing at the same time. I have not tried your copycat recipe, yet, but if you think it could use any adjustments, maybe it's because your recipe lacks the cauliflower and cucumbers originally listed.
Clearly, there are three ingredients a copycat would probably try to avoid. "Modified food starch" is just a corn (or other) starch treated with some enzymes to make it thicken more or have better shelf stability. For the purposes of a copycat recipe, simple, natural cornstarch (e.g. Maizena) would suffice. I'm not sure what function the "vegetable protein" would serve, but it IS listed as "hydrolysed vegetable protein on the newer label and that's what's used to make fake (i.e. not slowly brewed) soy sauce, so a little soy sauce could, perhaps, sit in for that. "Sodium benzoate" is a preservative and definitely isn't necessary for a homemade recipe.
Other than those, acetic acid is just vinegar and we don't know exactly which "spices" or "chiles" are used, so all you can do is experiment. This DOES sound very good. I'll have to try it up against the real thing to compare it. Since I live in Honduras, I have no problem getting Lizano in stores, so that part will be easy.