Fresh Pineapple Salsa
This fresh pineapple salsa recipe will be a big hit at your next party! It's a little sweet, a little spicy, and 100% delicious. It's easy to make, too!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
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Looking for a fun, fresh party appetizer? This colorful pineapple salsa recipe will be a big hit. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and 100% delicious.
Perhaps pineapple salsa sounds crazy at first glance, but it’s not when you think about it. Tomatoes are technically fruit, too, and they’re also sweet in flavor. If you don’t believe me, I dare you to give this pineapple salsa a try!
I originally adapted this recipe from my mango salsa recipe, and shared it in my cookbook. In the book, I called this recipe “pineapple pico de gallo” because its texture is more similar to traditional pico de gallo.
Unlike my favorite red salsa, you’ll dice the ingredients instead of blitz them together in a food processor. In fact, the smaller you dice the ingredients, the better your salsa turns out.
I’ve been craving this pineapple salsa lately, so I thought I’d share it on the blog, too. Salsa for everyone!
Watch How to Make Fresh Pineapple Salsa
Pineapple Salsa Ingredients
Pineapple salsa is easy to make with basic fresh ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need from the store:
- Pineapple: Fresh ripe pineapple, not canned or frozen (they’re way too watery).
- Red bell pepper: Bell pepper adds some extra crunch and complementary sweetness.
- Red onion: Onion’s pungent, savory flavors balance out the sweetness of the pineapple and bell pepper. I love the contrast of the purple color with the yellow pineapple and red bell pepper.
- Jalapeño: Jalapeño also helps counter the sweeter flavors, and offers some spice that makes this salsa irresistible!
- Cilantro: No salsa recipe is complete without fresh cilantro. If you dislike cilantro, I still think you’ll appreciate the end result since the cilantro is fairly minimal.
- Limes: Sour lime juice brings it all together. If you’ve ever made salsa that tasted lackluster, it probably needed another burst of acidity.
How to Select Fresh Pineapple
Look for a pineapple with nice green leaves. It should yield slightly when you give it a squeeze, but not have any mushy spots. Lastly, give it a sniff at the base—it should smell lightly sweet.
If your pineapple is perfect when you bring it home from the store but you won’t be making salsa for a few days, store it in the refrigerator.
In a hurry? Buy pre-cut fresh pineapple from the produce department and dice it up yourself. It’s more expensive this way, but quicker.
Uses for Pineapple Salsa
- Serve it with tortilla chips as a party appetizer, perhaps alongside guacamole or avocado dip and traditional red salsa or salsa verde.
- Serve it on tacos. (Recipe coming tomorrow!)
- Serve it with any fresh, Mexican-themed meal.
- Serve it on lettuce (aji verde would make a great dressing) or treat it like a salad and eat it straight out of the bowl—it’s that good.
Craving more fresh salsas? Here are a few of my favorites:
You’ll find even more Mexican recipes here. Please let me know how you like this salsa recipe in the comments!
Fresh Pineapple Salsa
This fresh pineapple salsa recipe will be a big hit at your next party! It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and 100% delicious. It’s easy to make, too. Recipe yields 3 ½ cups; double it if you’re serving a crowd (1 extra-large pineapple should be just right).
Ingredients
- 3 cups diced fresh pineapple (about 1 medium)
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- ½ cup chopped red onion (about ½ small onion)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 medium jalapeño*, seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons lime juice (from about 1 ½ limes), or more if needed
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- In a medium serving bowl, combine the pineapple, bell pepper, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño. Add the lime juice and salt, and stir to combine.
- Season to taste with additional lime juice (for zing) and/or salt (for more overall flavor) if it doesn’t taste amazing just yet.
- For best flavor, let the pico de gallo rest for 10 minutes or longer before serving. It’s best served fresh but keeps well, chilled, for up to 4 days.
Notes
Recipe originally published in my cookbook, Love Real Food.
*Spice level note: I would say that this salsa is well-balanced as written. If you’re worried about the spice level, though, use half of the jalapeño and be sure to remove the ribs and seeds. If you want spicier salsa, add up to two peppers, to taste.
Change it up: Pineapple alternatives include diced mango, strawberries, cucumber, melon, or, of course, tomatoes (the bell pepper is optional in those variations).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Love the recipe but…
only had 1 cup of pineapple. I made up the difference with diced peaches. Great taste and I got to use everything I chopped prior to finding out I ran out of a major ingredient.
Excellent (ALL of YOUR recipes ARE)! THANKS!
Thank you, Linda! I appreciate your review.
I read the note about not using canned pineapple too late. I saw where you said it would be too watery, so I put two cans of pineapple chunks in a colander over the sink, and heavily salted it with kosher salt (as you would zucchini). I then let that set while I made the rest of the recipe (omitting the salt in the recipe). Then, I rinsed the pineapple well, patted it dry (chopped it up a little more) and threw it in. It was perfect! Not too watery, and everyone loved it.
Thanks for another great recipe. There are so many poor recipes online, and I feel like I can trust yours.
I’m glad it worked! Thank you for sharing, Julia.
Refreshing salsa that would definitely be good with chips. We had it with halloumi tacos. Good stuff.
Hi: Interested in the Pineapple Salsa recipe. I have food allergies therefore I would need a substitution for the lime—allergic to citrus!! Any suggestions?
Hi! You could omit or replace with apple cider vinegar, but may be more potent. Let em know how you try it!
Hi Kate, we love, love, love this recipe! I’ve made it a couple of times now. Added a little passata to it to the second time around for a touch of tomato base and turned out great as well.
Thanks for sharing, I’m a huge fan.
Lesley
Great to hear, Lesley!
I was making tacos with a bunch of youth and we had access to a pineapple so we made this recipe. It was a hit with the 13-16 year old crowd! I loved it too, but I’m pretty easy to please. Getting good reviews from a crew of teens is much more of a compliment than from me XD
Love to hear that! Thank you for sharing, Camille.
Sooo delicious! Thanks for posting. I’ll be adding this to everything now!
Great to hear, Naomi! Thank you for your review.
This was delicious and so fresh tasting!
I’m excited you enjoyed it, Rachel!
Hi! Am I able to make this recipe the night before?
This recipe is great leftover.
Looks colorful, very enticing and is so DELICIOUS! Reminded us of a delicious salsa we had in Costa Rica. This was a hit at our recent party and was requested to be made again for the next get-together. Several people asked for the recipe. Thanks so much for posting it!
I’ve made this recipe a couple times now and I’ve decided it’s my new go-to any time I have to take a dish somewhere.
Used this recipe with Yellow Tail and Mahi Mahi tacos. Topped them of with some fish taco sauce from the link below.
It turned out amazing!
Probably one of the best fresh salsas I have tasted in a very long time!
I wouldn’t limit this deliciousness to chips! I will use this on fish, chicken or pork! Such a balance of flavors! YUM
I’m excited you loved it, Marlene!
Well, it’s very pretty. Husband sitting in chair eating from bowl, approves.
I’m happy you enjoyed it, Mickey!
Made with canned pineapple, which I drained first. Delicious dish for pot-luck!
Happy to hear you love it!
Very good recipe. I served this with grilled grouper.
Dang this was delicious. Thank you!! I needed something especially yummy tonight.
Great to hear, Dianne!