Name: Pineapple Habanero Salsa
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 pineapple (diced); ½ pint cherry or grape tomatoes (diced); ½ medium-large red onion (diced); ½ medium bell pepper (red, orange, yellow or green) (diced); 1-2 habaneros (seeded, finely diced); ¼ cup cilantro (finely chopped); 1 large lime (zest and juice); salt (to taste); pepper (to taste)

^{A killer salsa with a mean bite. Super sweet, extra juicy, crisp and with a perfect amount of heat. This is such an amazing topping for tacos and salads. If nothing else, you can’t go wrong with a bowl of tortilla chips and this spicy salsa!}

*Big disclaimer* I want to start by saying I totally forgot the ONIONS in this recipe. Red onions!Ugh! What a stupid mistake. Onions are, however, part of the recipe! They add color, more crunch and I’m just so mad that I made a mistake. Oh well…even without it in this batch, the recipe still worked well.

I am all about fruit salsas. I think it’s probably one of the weirdest combinations and yet it works so well with so many things. Top salads, chicken, tacos, or even add this to a bread and cheese crostini to mimic a fruit compote type deal. Either way, this salsa doesn’t disappoint and it’s always a great snack to keep around for so many recipes.

This recipe is super fast and so simple. Plus with all the fresh flavor going on, you can really feel like you’re lightening up a dish or eating a lean snack. The weird part is, who would have thought tomatoes and fruit (yes, I know tomato can be considered a fruit) would pair so well together?

Here’s the thing about fruit salsas…they’re really easy to make and keep around for a few days. You can substitute other fruits like mangos, peaches (check out my recipe), and even strawberries into some sort of chopped medley. I want to say that fresh is always best, however, there are some REALLY great jarred salsas in the stores right now that taste just as good.

Other recipes that are great to throw together, if you’re feeling the salsa vibe, include

Peach Salsa

Table Side Guacamole and Baked Tortilla Chips

Charred Tomato Salsa

Pico de Gallo

And this salsa ABSOLUTELY needs to be on top of my … Blackened Fish Tacos!

This salsa is a little different than some. Forget those mild chili peppers like a jalapeño. We are really amping up the flavor with habaneros! I could really geek out on the scoville scale and the spiciness of peppers and hot sauce. Jalapeños are definitely still a pepper to be added to a salsa for a little spice but habaneros are around the same spice level as scotch bonnets. These are powerful little peps.

Here’s the trick. If you’re serving this to friends that struggle with heat there are a few different things you can do.

You can remove the seeds but you absolutely need to remove the veins and whites of the peppers. That’s where a lot of the heat lies.
You can also use half a pepper and chop it up super fine.

Since I wasn’t planning on making this for the weak, I chose to make it super spicy! I will say that one pepper was enough but honestly, I could have chopped another one to add to the salsa. I took out some of the seeds to see if that didn’t overpower it and I still wanted more spice.

My biggest piece of advice is wear gloves and avoid touching your face at any point throughout the night. I make that mistake often. The gloves, soap and water always help!

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Pineapple Habanero Salsa

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A killer salsa with a mean bite. Super sweet, extra juicy, crisp and with a perfect amount of heat. This is such an amazing topping for tacos and salads. If nothing else, you can’t go wrong with a bowl of tortilla chips and this spicy salsa!

Prep Time:15 mins

Total Time:15 mins

Ingredients

1 pineapple diced
½ pint cherry or grape tomatoes diced
½ medium-large red onion diced
½ medium bell pepper (red, orange, yellow or green) diced
1-2 habaneros seeded, finely diced
¼ cup cilantro finely chopped
1 large lime zest and juice
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Instructions

Prep and chop pineapple, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and habaneros and add to a large bowl. Add chopped cilantro.
Zest and juice a whole lime and then season with salt and pepper for taste. Mix together.
Refrigerate salsa for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Notes

How long does it last and where?

This will last up to 3-5 days in the fridge in a airtight container.

Can you freeze it?

No, it would not thaw properly.

Substitutions?

Mangos, peaches, nectarines would all be great substitutes for this salsa. Feel free to add one or two variations of a fruit. Mango and pineapples together would be wonderful!

If the habaneros are a little too spicy, stick with a jalapeño. You can certainly use one habanero and one jalapeño.

Any type of tomato would be fine. You can chop a Roma tomato. I chose a cherry/grape type of tomato because they tend to be sweet and have less juice.

Don’t forget the onions like I did!

Tips and Tricks

Your cutting technique is everything in this. I’m not saying you have to have excellent knife skills, however, you need to cut everything proportionately. The reason for doing so is to make sure that all flavors and textures are represented on your chip or your taco. The other big reason is, you don’t want a big onion piece and a tiny pineapple piece because then it definitely won’t taste like a pineapple salsa.

Dice the pineapples, tomatoes, onions and bell peppers very similar in size. The habaneros should be a little smaller to avoid consuming an unpleasant amount of heat in just one bite. The key to good salsa is uniform cuts and a blend of ingredients that are proportioned correctly.

Chilling this for at least 30-60 minutes is a great idea because it lets the flavors marry together and it’s way better cold!

Don’t forget the lime. I cannot tell you how many salsas I’ve made and the one thing that finishes off the flavor is the lime juice AND the lime zest!

What to serve with it?

The most simple way to serve this is with some baked tortilla chips. I, however, think it’s the perfect topping for tacos, salads and maybe even some light chicken nachos!