Zesty Pineapple Habanero Salsa
This ‘sweet with a bit o’ heat’ Pineapple Habanero Salsa is the perfect blend of flavors.
Every ingredient plays into the freshness, juiciness, and perfect balance between tropical sweetness with a fruity kick that is sure to catch everyone by surprise.
Why You’ll Love This Incredible Pineapple Condiment
You will love this pineapple salsa because it is packed with flavor and stands apart from other typical salsas. If you are looking for a great tropical twist that can help bring some color and flavor to a grazing table at your next tropical party or be right at home with a side of tortillas, this is the salsa recipe for you.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Pineapple, peeled, cored, and finely chopped: The best way to pick the perfect pineapple is by its scent as well as observing the top leaves. If there is a fragrant scent of pineapple from the fruit, it’s a good sign. Also, if when picking one of the spikey leaves out of the top pulls out easily, that’s another great sign it’s ripe and ready to go.
- Red onion, minced – Also known as purple onion.
- Green pepper, finely chopped: Another way to pick a sweeter green pepper? Look underneath at the base of the pepper – only 3 bumps (or lobes), leave it. If there are 4, the pepper will be sweeter!
- Red pepper, finely chopped – The method for picking sweeter red peppers is the same as above. When picking any color pepper, be sure it’s firm, free of blemishes, and with no wrinkly skin.
- Habanero chili (scotch bonnet) deveined, seeded, and finely minced: Don’t be like me a few years ago, and use no protection when cutting up these fiery peppers! Always be sure to wear gloves so as not to burn your hands! The oil in the peppers will burn on your hands for hours…….. and subsequently anywhere else you touch with those hands. If you’re not 100% sure you want as much heat as a scotch bonnet provides, you can use a jalapeno like I did in my super fresh Mango Pico de Gallo recipe.
- Dark Brown Sugar – Golden brown sugar will work just fine, but I find the dark brown sugar has a deeper, richer flavor that really adds a nice touch to the salsa.
- Lime, juiced, and zested – Again, choose a firm fruit. Zest the lime only until you reach the underneath pith (it’s too bitter), and if you roll the lime on a flat surface before cutting it open to juice, the lime will release more juice than if you didn’t roll it.
- Salt
- Cilantro – Fresh bright cilantro, remove the leaves off the stems.
How to Make this Pineapple and Pepper Salsa
STEP #1. Place the pineapple, onion, green and red peppers, lime zest, cilantro, and habanero chili pepper into a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
STEP #2. In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, lime juice, and salt to add flavor. Doing this on its own helps to ensure an even mix of your salsa.
STEP #3. Add the 2nd mixture to the pineapple mixture. Mix well, distributing the sugar mixture to help meld the flavors together.
STEP #4. Let it sit at room temperature, mixing every 5 minutes for 15 minutes. This helps to ensure that the sweet and spice ingredients get plenty of contact to blend the flavors.
STEP #5. Chill for a minimum of half an hour to help allow the flavor to blend a bit into the juices. When ready to serve, mix the salsa again to redistribute the juices.
Putting a Twist on this Pineapple Salsa
You can experiment with different seasonings such as cumin, chili powder, or garlic powder.
To add more texture and flavor to the salsa, you can add vegetables such as diced tomatoes, or cucumbers. I would recommend de-seeding the tomatoes before adding them to the salsa.
To make the salsa sweeter or to add a different flavor profile, you can add other fruits such as mango, papaya, or peaches to the salsa for a fun twist for more of a tropical flavor.
If you find the salsa too spicy, you can reduce the number of habanero peppers or remove the seeds and membranes before blending. If you want more heat, you can add more habanero peppers or even another type of hot pepper like jalapeno.
A COOKS TIP: Be SURE to have plastic gloves on hand when cutting and/or removing the seeds and memebranes from the peppers. This is where most of the heat lies in the pepper and the oils from it can transfer to your hands and subsecquently burn your hands for many hours.
What Can I Serve this With?
My Pineapple Habanero Salsa recipe is a sweet and spicy condiment that can be used as a topping or dip for a variety of dishes including grilled meats and fish, and as a topping for tacos, burritos, or nachos.
If you are looking for a unique dip for chips or vegetables this is a great salsa to add to your grazing table at a tropical or Mexican-themed party. Easy and delicious appetizers like this Cucumber Avocado Salsa as well as my recipe for Chili Lime Shrimp appetizers are perfect partners to add to the table. For parties, this is a great addition to tropical cocktails that balance in with the sweet and spicy flare.
Storing Pineapple and Habanero Salsa Leftovers
This should be refrigerated after making it until you are ready to serve. You may find some separation that can easily be fixed by mixing again with a spoon before serving. For the best results store in an air-tight container and be sure to use up leftover salsa in 3 to 4 days.
Instead of me explaining it, I can refer you to this WikiHow info page that tells you step by step, with video, how to achieve that look on the pineapple (and save a lot of waste cutting it that way!!)
For sure! If you’re worried that habanero peppers might be too hot, try jalapenos, serranos or even shishito peppers. These all come in lower on the Scoville Scale – a scale that rates peppers by their levels of heat. I chose habanero because they typically have a ‘fruity’ flavor profile that would match well for the salsa.
Did you make this delicious Pineapple Habanero Salsa recipe? I’d love to hear what you thought of it by rating the recipe and commenting below. Thank you so much for stopping by The Salty Pot and I hope you have a fantastic day!
~Joanne
Zesty Pineapple Habanero Salsa
Zesty Pineapple Habanero Salsa is the perfect blend of sweetness and heat. This salsa recipe is delightful on chicken, fish, or on a lime-flavored tortilla chip!
Ingredients
- 3 cups Pineapple, peeled and diced small (about a half pineapple)
- 1/2 Habanero pepper, deseeded and ribs removed, finely diced
- 1/2 Red onion, small, diced
- 1/2 Red Pepper, deseeded and diced
- 1/2 Green Pepper, deseeded and diced
- 1 tablespoon, Brown sugar
- 1/4 cup, Cilantro, chopped
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- 1/2 teaspoon, salt
Instructions
1. Place the pineapple, onion, green and red peppers, lime zest, cilantro, and habanero chili pepper into a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, lime juice, and salt. Mix well to dissolve the sugar as much as possible.
3. Add the sugar mixture to the pineapple mixture. Mix well, distributing the sugar mixture to help meld the flavors together.
4. Let it sit at room temperature, mixing every 5 minutes for 15 minutes. This helps to ensure that the sweet and spice ingredients get plenty of contact to blend the flavors.
5. Chill, covered for approximately 30 minutes. Stir again before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Use the freshest ingredients you can find. This will make a big difference in the quality of the salsa.
Serve chilled.
I highly recommend wearing gloves when processing the habanero peppers!
If you have no cilantro on hand, adding a small amount of fresh mint leaves will be a nice addition.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: .5 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 59Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 138mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 1gSugar: 8gProtein: 1g
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
