Looking to elevate your summer dishes with something quick, vibrant, and incredibly fresh? This fruit salsa is your answer. Inspired by tropical flavors and easy island living—like those warm Hawaiian evenings filled with grilled fish and ocean breezes—this simple salsa brings color, sweetness, and just the right amount of tang to your plate.
Perfect as a topping for grilled meats like fish, chicken, or pork, or served over a bed of rice (especially coconut rice!), this versatile salsa can also shine as a dip with chips or a fresh taco filling. The beauty of this recipe lies in its flexibility—use whatever ripe, juicy fruits you have on hand, and adjust the flavors to match your mood or menu. The result is always a refreshing, light, and crowd-pleasing dish that comes together in minutes.
Fruit Salsa (serves 4)
1 cup mangos, small dice
1 cup pineapple, small dice
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons green or red onions, minced (optional)
¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar
Directions:
Combine all ingredients and toss gently. The fruits in this recipe base are not fixed, but they do illustrate the general ratio one needs for the sweet and tangy result. The key to a great fruit salsa is to use great fruit. The fruit should be ripe and full of natural flavor and goodness. Some fruits can even be on the soft side and will exude a sweet creaminess as they sit. Generally, the fruits used in a salsa are softer fruits like mangos, pineapple, strawberries, melons, peaches, pears, kiwi, papaya to name a few.
Variations:
Customize with ingredients like red peppers, cucumbers, red or green onions, jalapenos for a kick, lime or lemon juice or zest, mint. If additional sweeteners are needed, add a little honey. The possibilities are endless!
Hungry for more? Check out Chef doughty’s book; The Chef Within Dinner Edition. Find more information and order your copy online here:
https://www.thechefwithinbook.com/bookstore/dinner-book
Meet Chef Doughty
We know her as part owner of Silvercreek Realty Group and the smiling face behind the brokerage accounting department, but did you know that Joyce Doughty has an affinity for culinary arts?
Chef Doughty is a successful food writer and restaurateur who hosted the nationally syndicated daily Public Radio food program “Food for Thought” for 17 years and was also host of the local ABC affiliate morning program “In the Kitchen” highlighting practical recipes and techniques for the kitchen. Recipient of the James Beard Foundation Top Three Chefs in Idaho Award and owner and chef of Idaho’s critically acclaimed Doughty’s Bistro. Chef Doughty was trained at Le Cordon Bleu and received her executive chef certification from the American Culinary Foundation.