Which One Is More Popular in Texas, Ketchup or Salsa?

It seems like there is a day set aside to celebrate almost every facet of modern life.  With that in mind, ketchup fans rejoice. National Ketchup Day is coming up on June 5th.

Ironically, May is National Salsa Month, originally set to celebrate the brand of salsa not made in NEW YORK CITY. The first National Salsa Month was celebrated in 1997 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pace Salsa.

If you want to incite a lively debate in Victoria and Texas as a whole, ask a group of people which is the most popular condiment in Texas.  Is it ketchup, or is it salsa? While there may be strong opinions on both sides, the answer is complicated.

First, many articles on the internet claim that ketchup is America's most popular condiment. According to Zippia, ketchup is even number one here in Texas. You can see each state's favorite condiment, according to Zippia, here.

I must admit Whataburger Spicy Ketchup is good. It might be the most popular condiment everywhere if it were available everywhere. But I digress.

To me, here is the great condiment debate. Is ketchup the most popular condiment in Texas? I would argue that salsa is more popular. Solving this argument for America as a whole is way easier.

According to Texas Real Food, salsa became the king of condiments in the United States a decade ago in 2013. So, how is it that ketchup is still considered more popular nationwide? My head is spinning by now.

Finally, I found a blog from Pepper Palace that helped me piece this together.

According to them, believe it or not, neither ketchup nor salsa is the number one condiment in America. Mayonnaise is number one. I guess I was wrong, but only partly.

While mayonnaise is the most popular condiment in America, between ketchup and salsa, salsa outsells ketchup in total dollars. Yet, Americans buy larger quantities of ketchup. This is true because salsa jars tend to be more expensive than salsa.

Now, let's get back to Texas. I am exhausted looking up and down the internet for sales numbers of ketchup vs. salsa in Texas. I even asked the Chat Bot. I could not find published figures that answered this question. To make matters worse, some sources state that barbeque sauce outsells ketchup and salsa in Texas.

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I give up, but I'll leave it to you to answer. Texans spend more on salsa than ketchup, but that's because salsa is more expensive. Per capita, Texans consume more ketchup than salsa. Does this mean ketchup is more popular?

I would argue that the answer is "no." People in Texas spend more on salsa, so it is more popular. Fight me.

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