Fresh Pineapple Jalapeño Salsa (For Tacos, Fish & More)

Move over salsa roja and salsa verde. There’s a new fresh, chopped salsa in town, and it’s fruit-based. Taco Tuesday will never be the same with this sweet, tangy, zingy and tropical-tasting pineapple jalapeño salsa, with only 6 basic ingredients that you may already have in your pantry.

Gotta love a really straightforward recipe bursting with fresh and colorful fruit and veggies—especially if it’s spicy! Go get yourself a fresh, ripe pineapple and come right back.

What can I use jalapeño pineapple salsa for?

Combining pineapple, jalapeño peppers, and onion might be a strange concept to some. But believe me, they somehow go together perfectly—and I’m one of those people who usually despises fruit in their savory dishes. The pineapple isn’t overpowering at all. Its tangy sweetness actually works really well with the crisp spiciness of fresh (not canned!) jalapeño peppers.

It’s easy to whip up a big batch of jalapeño salsa to add a tropical touch to a wide range of foods. I invited my friends and we had it with a big stack of smoky shrimp and onion quesadillas, but it’s suitable for so much more:

• Tacos
• Tortilla chips
• Fish (white fish, salmon)
• Scallops
• Burgers
• Hot dogs
• Grilled chicken
• Steak
• Pork

Pineapple jalapeño salsa ingredients & method

Ingredients

As I mentioned, pineapple jalapeño has a short but beautifully fresh ingredient list:

• Fresh pineapple. Canned won’t work! Make sure your pineapple is yellow and smells sweet, because it’s tastiest when it’s fully ripe.
• Fresh jalapeños. Again, canned won’t work—the vinegary flavor profile of canned jalapeños is completely different. Be sure to taste your peppers before using them, because they’re notorious for their varied spiciness, ranging from almost zero spice to serious burn.
• Onion. I like to use sweet onion, although red onion does make for a more colorful salsa. Whatever you have at home is fine, anyway.
• Fresh cilantro (optional). I’ve got the “cilantro tastes like soap” gene, so I’m staying well away from it myself. Cilantro enthusiasts may feel free to go wild, though.
• Fresh lime. Bottled would work in a pinch, but fresh is far superior in my opinion.

Aside from these five simple ingredients, all your salsa needs is a generous pinch of salt!

Method

For my iteration of pineapple jalapeño salsa, I went for a finely chopped version. Whether you’d like it more chunky or more liquid is up to you, although if you’re short on time, your best bet is to use a food processor. It’s a bit less precise, but it sure is fast.

Here’s how you make your salsa:

• Finely chop the onion, place in a bowl, and add salt and lime. This “marinade” mellows out the sharp, raw onion flavor and gives a pleasant texture.
• Process the pineapple. Chop off the top* and remove the peel**. Remove the core and any tough brown bits, and finely chop or pop in the food processor.
• Process the jalapeños. Chop off the tops, cut them in half, and remove the white bits (which are called the placenta, by the way) and seeds. Then finely dice.
• Chop the cilantro and add all the ingredients to the bowl containing your marinaded onion.

*You can turn the pineapple top into a houseplant if it looks healthy and isn’t too brown.
**If you’re using an organic pineapple, you can use the peels to make a yummy fermented Mexican drink known as tepache.

Tip: This salsa lasts around 5 days in the fridge. It tastes the best on day 2 in my opinion, as the flavors will have had time to mingle. Try making it a day in advance!