Fresh Pineapple Avocado Salsa Recipe

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!).