Fruit Salsa

We grill often in the summer, and I’m always looking for creative ways to take our grilled dishes up a notch. This fresh and colorful fruit salsa with ingredients like juicy mango, chili, and canned tomatoes is a delicious and simple way to jazz up grilled meats like pork tenderloin, tequila lime chicken, steak, and even burgers.

Whip up the salsa in minutes to serve immediately, or keep it in the fridge until you’re ready. Personally, I prefer to make it ahead. That way, the sweet-savory flavors have time to cozy up and mingle.

What I love most about my recipe is that it combines freshly diced fruit and veggies with the convenience of Ro-Tel tomatoes and canned jalapeños. It’s VERY pantry-friendly.

Why Make This Fruit Salsa Recipe?

• It’s adaptable. The beauty of this fruit salsa is that you can customize it with other fruits, canned corn, chilis, fresh herbs, and more.
• No cooking. Just chop up a few fresh ingredients, mix in a can of Ro-tel, and this salsa is done. No need to heat up the house or cook down the tomatoes.
• Double duty as a dip. I’m a big fan of my creamy avocado salsa and cowboy caviar, and serving this fruit salsa with a bowl of tortilla chips makes a perfect, quick appetizer.
• Sweet and savory. This fruit salsa has sweetness from the mangos and bell peppers, but it’s also savory from the tomatoes, smoky from the jalapeños, and brightened up with fresh lime and cilantro. There’s even a pinch of cumin in there for a Tex-Mex kick.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Below are the ingredients needed for this easy fruit salsa recipe with mango and juicy tomatoes. Scroll to the recipe card for the exact measurements.

• Ro-tel Tomatoes – Drained beforehand so they won’t make the salsa too watery. Ro-tel tomatoes come with green chilis included, so choose mild or hot depending on what you like. For a milder salsa, you can use regular canned tomatoes or fire-roasted tomatoes and drain them.
• Mango – Finely diced. Choose a ripe mango that’s firm with a little give when you squeeze it. It should also smell sweet if you give it a sniff test.
• Red Onion – You could also use shallot or a mild, sweet white onion.
• Canned Jalapeño – Finely chopped. If you’re using fresh jalapeños, they tend to be spicier. Removing the seeds helps tame the heat. In either case, you can adapt the amount of chili to taste.
• Garlic – I prefer to use freshly minced garlic. If needed, substitute each fresh clove with ½ teaspoon of garlic powder.
• Cumin – A spice blend, like taco seasoning, also works here.
• Fresh Cilantro – Chopped. Feel free to swap with fresh parsley if you’re averse to cilantro.
• Red Bell Pepper – Seeded and diced. Or another colored pepper, like orange, yellow, or green. 
• Lime – Freshly juiced. For an even more pronounced lime flavor, zest the lime before you juice it and stir the zest into the salsa, too.

Flavor Shortcut: Mixing Fresh and Canned Ingredients

I’ve teamed up with my friends over at Safeway and Albertsons for the Cans Get You Cooking promotion. Most of us have a pretty well-stocked pantry, or “cantry”, without even realizing it!

Mixing fresh ingredients with canned is super convenient. It’s also a great way to get creative with pantry items (canned green chilis or chipotles in adobo make a tasty addition to this salsa, if you like it spicy). Plus, canned fruits and veggies are one of the best ways to get food from farm to table, locking in nutrients at the peak of ripeness just hours after picking.

How to Make Fruit Salsa

Making this quick fruit salsa with Ro-tel takes minutes. It’s done way before I’ve even thought of starting dinner!

1. Combine. Add the salsa ingredients to a big bowl. Season with salt and pepper, and toss so everything is well mixed.
2. Chill. Cover and refrigerate the fruit salsa for at least one hour before serving. Then, serve on top of chicken, steak, pork, or with chips.

Variations

• Swap the fruit. Instead of mango, make this recipe with chopped strawberries or fresh or canned pineapple. A pineapple salsa goes especially well with my grilled huli huli chicken!
• Fresh fruit salsa. For a variation made without canned ingredients, try my quick and easy fresh mango salsa.
• Fresh chili. Deseed the jalapeños and dice them finely instead of using canned. Serrano peppers and poblanos are good substitutes.
• Fire-roasted. Buy fire-roasted Ro-tel, or swap fresh bell peppers for smoky roasted red peppers, either roasted (or grilled) at home or from a jar.

Serving Fruit Salsa

One of my all-time favorite summer meals is grilled or baked pork tenderloin simply seasoned with salt, pepper, and paprika, served with fruit salsa and a side of spoon bread or Mexican rice. It’s SO good! These are more serving suggestions for this Tex-Mex fruit salsa recipe.

• Pork: Spoon it over a pork loin or air fryer pork chops.
• Chicken: Try it with grilled chicken tenders or chipotle chicken.
• Tacos: Serve fruit salsa as a topping with carnitas tacos, fish tacos, or taco bowls.
• Burgers: It makes an excellent garnish for chicken burgers and taco burgers.
• Chips and dip: Enjoy a bowl of fruit salsa with your favorite tortilla chips, pita chips, or crostini at your next party.

Storage

Store the finished fruit salsa covered airtight in the fridge for up to 3 days. Since the liquids may settle after a day or two, stir the salsa well before you serve it again.

More Dips and Sauces

• Chicken Nacho Dip
• Avocado Salsa
• Hot Corn Dip
• Honey Mustard 
• Lemon Curd