My fresh pineapple avocado salsa is perfect with tortilla chips and works really well as a topping for tacos, fish, and grilled meats. It’s fresh, simple, quick, and absolutely delicious!
This pineapple avocado salsa makes me so happy! I mean, look at it, it’s beautiful. More importantly, it’s really delicious. The pineapple is sweet, the avocado creamy, and there’s just enough heat from jalapeños and lime.
Many people think of pineapple for sweet recipes like pineapple upside-down cake or carrot cake, but I’m here to tell you that this pineapple avocado salsa is incredible! I love it on top of almost all our favorite taco recipes. It’s wonderful spooned over grilled steak or fish (like this grilled swordfish) and works really well beside a bowl of homemade tortilla chips.
Key Ingredients
- Pineapple: I love fresh pineapple for this salsa and look for a large pineapple with golden or yellow hues on its skin/peel (that means it will be sweet). Another trick is to smell it. You’re on the right track if you smell a hint of sweet pineapple. And lastly, it should be firm, but give just a little when you feel it. Put anything back that’s bruised or soft. If fresh pineapples are out of season for you, pick up canned pineapple in light syrup instead, but drain it before chopping and adding it to the salsa.
- Avocado: I love the cool, creamy texture of avocado with the pineapple. Here are our tips for choosing avocados if you aren’t sure.
- Red Onion: I love the look of red onion and think it makes our salsa really pretty. That said, feel free to use sweet or white onion instead. I use the same trick of minimizing the raw bite of the onion in this salsa as I do when making guacamole. I chop them, then cover the onion with cold water for 5 minutes. After a quick drain and rinse, this process cuts the raw bite of the onion a bit.
- Jalapeños: Since the pineapple is sweet, I like adding some heat with fresh chile. We call for two peppers in the recipe, but you can always adjust to your tastes. Use both peppers for a medium spicy salsa, but remove the seeds and white membrane inside them (that’s where most of the heat comes from). If you love spicy food, leave the seeds in.
- Lime and Cilantro: I love using the zest and juice of my lime for this salsa, and I am pretty generous with the cilantro, too. The sweetness of the pineapple can take it. If you don’t like cilantro as much as I do, cut back or substitute with something else (mint, basil, and parsley are good options).
When you cut pineapples, start by removing each end (the bottom and leafy top). Then, use your knife to cut away it’s skin/peel – just follow the pineapple’s curve from top to bottom.
Then, I like to remove the core, so I cut the pineapple into quarters and use my knife to cut away the inner fibrous core. From there, you can cut into small pieces for the pineapple salsa.
Now, the salsa is as simple as tossing everything together and serving. Just don’t forget my five minute step of soaking the onions in cold water (it makes such a difference and tones down onion breath!).
Fresh Pineapple Avocado Salsa
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- TOTAL
We love this easy pineapple avocado salsa! I love fresh pineapple for this recipe, but you can use drained canned pineapple if that is all you have access to. Serve this simple salsa next to homemade tortilla chips or with your favorite tacos.
You Will Need
1 medium pineapple, peeled, core removed, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces (about 5 cups)
1 cup finely chopped red onion, about half an onion
2 jalapeños, or to taste
1 medium avocado, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 lime, zested and juiced
1/3 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves and tender stems, chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or more to taste
Directions
1Add the chopped red onion to a small bowl and cover with cold water. Set aside for 5 minutes. Drain, then rinse. This tones down the raw flavor of the onion.
2For a mild salsa, remove the seeds and white membrane of both jalapeño peppers, and then finely mince. For a spicier salsa, leave some or all of the seeds and membrane.
3Add the pineapple, drained onion, minced jalapeños, lime zest, lime juice, cilantro, and salt to a large bowl. Toss well, taste, and then adjust with more salt as needed.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Avocado pineapple salsa is best eaten the same day, as the avocado may begin to brown after a night in the fridge. Without the avocado, the salsa lasts in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, but expect a bit more liquid at the bottom of the bowl.
- Ways to serve it: I love this salsa next to guacamole with a big bowl of tortilla chips, but it is a fantastic taco topping. Try it on our veggie tacos, shrimp tacos, or shredded chicken tacos, or ground pork tacos. It’s also amazing spooned on top of these chicken nachos, grilled swordfish, grilled chicken, and steak!
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
This was SO EASY and it was really flavorful. I made it to eat with Carne Asada. Thank you!!!
Thank you for a wonderful looking recipe. I would love to make this but I need to understand the nutrition for this recipe. I looked for the nutritional info but I think I missed it. It’s very important to me because my husband is diabetic and all the ingredients are things he loves but we need to be careful. I hope we can enjoy this when we can see the nutritional info. Thank you so much in advance for any help you can give.
Hi Willow, You can find the nutritional information underneath the recipe (under the notes section).
What can l replace jalapeño with if l can’t find them
Try serrano or poblano pepper. Or, just omit it all together. If you do omit it and still want some heat add a couple dashes of your favorite hot sauce.
The only question I have is whether you guys will deliver some of this to me for lunch today?????
Of course!