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This easy Pineapple Salsa recipe is loaded with fresh pineapple, tomatoes, red onion, jalapeños, and cilantro. This is fruit salsa is dreamy scooped up with chips as a snack idea or pile it atop your favorite protein for dinner.
I’ll never forget the first time I got my hands on this Pineapple Salsa recipe: After devouring a huge bowl at my brother’s house, he promised to track down the original source and email me a copy. Later that day, an email arrived. Attached was a scanned PDF of a hand-written recipe called “Benny’s Pineapple Salsa;” definitely not my brother’s name.
So who is Benny? How did he come to make such amazing Pineapple Salsa? Did I ever meet him? These questions and more are unanswered, while one truth remains: This fruit salsa was definitely worth tracking down.
While most tropical fruit salsas don’t contain the most common salsa-fied fruit, tomatoes, I adore the sweet-tart touch they add to this colorful recipe. Toss it together in 20 minutes for your next dinner party, and chances are, you’ll receive requests for the easy Pineapple Salsa recipe, too. What’s mine is yours!
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Pineapple: As with any salsa recipe, you’ll want to start with fresh produce, not frozen or canned. Slice the fruit straight down the middle and carefully slice out the flesh to recreate the serving bowl idea featured above.
- Roma tomatoes: Remove the core to keep the salsa a scoopable (and not too liquid-logged) texture.
- Red onions: I adore the pop of color red (actually, purple) onions lend, but you could also swap in white, yellow, or sweet onions here.
- Jalapeños: For a spicier salsa, toss in an extra jalapeño or two, or use fiery serrano chiles instead.
Step by step instructions
- In a large bowl, combine pineapple, tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, and jalapeños.
- Add lime juice and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce, if using.
- For best results, allow flavors to blend at room temperature for at least 10 minutes or chill until serving time. Serve with tortilla chips.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This Pineapple Salsa recipe makes enough for about 14 appetizer-sized or protein-topper servings.
- Storage: Store extra pineapple salsa in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: You can definitely make this a day ahead! The extra chill time allows the flavors to blend even more.
- Pineapple bowl: Obviously carving out half of a pineapple to use as your serving vessel is always a good idea!
Recipe FAQs
You bet. Fresh mango delivers similar tropical flair! Fresh peaches and nectarines are perfect come summer when they’re at their prime as well.
I typically offer it up by the bowlful, alongside a mountain of tortilla chips. It’s also delightful as a topping to dress up nearly any protein, including Grilled Pork Chops, Blackened Salmon, or Smoked Chicken Breast. Or try Pineapple Salsa as a garnish for fish tacos, burrito bowls, or nacho platters.
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Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 pound pineapple diced (see note 1)
- 5 Roma tomatoes cored and diced (see note 2)
- 1/2 bunch cilantro finely chopped, about ½ cup
- 1/2 cup red onion finely chopped (see note 3)
- 1-2 jalapeño peppers seeded and finely chopped (about ¼ cup or more to taste. see note 4)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice from 1 lime
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Hot pepper sauce to taste, optional
- tortilla chips for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine pineapple, tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, and jalapeños. Add lime juice and toss to coat.
- Season to taste with salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce, if using. For best results, allow flavors to blend at room temperature for at least 10 minutes or chill until serving time. Serve with tortilla chips.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Pineapple: As with any salsa recipe, you’ll want to start with fresh produce, not frozen or canned. Slice the fruit straight down the middle and carefully slice out the fresh to recreate the serving bowl idea featured above.
- Roma tomatoes: Remove the core to keep the salsa a scoopable (and not too liquid-logged) texture.
- Red onions: I adore the pop of color red (actually, purple) onions lend, but you could also swap in white, yellow, or sweet onions here.
- Jalapeños: For a spicier salsa, toss in an extra jalapeño or two, or use fiery serrano chiles instead.
- Yield: This Pineapple Salsa recipe makes enough for about 14 appetizer-sized or protein-topper servings.
- Storage: Store extra pineapple salsa in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: You can definitely make this a day ahead! The extra chill time allows the flavors to blend even more.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is the Executive Chef and CEO of Culinary Hill, a popular digital publication in the food space. She loves to combine her Midwestern food memories with her culinary school education to create her own delicious take on modern family fare. Millions of readers visit Culinary Hill each month for meticulously-tested recipes as well as skills and tricks for ingredient prep, cooking ahead, menu planning, and entertaining. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the iCUE Culinary Arts program at College of the Canyons.
How do you think this would pair with your clone chipotle chicken? I’m thinking the smoky sweet combo would be good. Thoughts?
Hi Andrew, I think it would be amazing! Hope you enjoy it! – Meggan
Hello, do you know if this salsa can be hot bath canned?
TIA!
Hi Vanessa, this recipe has not been tested for canning I’m so sorry about that! – Meggan
Making this now, haven’t tasted it but from the looks of the ingredients you cant go wrong! I am wondering if you looked into canning this? I would love to know how long to process this in a waterbath if possible
Hi Sarah, thanks! I haven’t tested canning this recipe so I would suggest trying a recipe that has been tested, I wouldn’t want to steer you wrong. Sorry about that! – Meggan