This Fresh Pineapple Mango Tropical Salsa with Rum is perfect for summer meals. Fresh tropical fruit with a splash of rum, combine to make a great side for grilled pork, chicken or seafood. The perfect topping for fish tacos.
A chunky tropical salsa recipe that is easy to make. Caribbean flavours from the mango and grilled pineapple work well on pancakes, waffles and ice cream too. A little taste of the tropics in your backyard. In fact, it would be perfect in these Grilled Avocado Boats.
If you have been to the Caribbean, you know all the wonderful flavours the islands have to offer. That fresh, juicy, sweet fruit is so inviting. Oh to have such delicious delights available here too.
I know we can get some of these in the grocery stores (if you are lucky). What is so disappointing is the difference in taste between island fresh, and fruit that is shipped thousands of miles to us. If only I could grow pineapples in my backyard!!
This simple tropical fruit salsa recipe is the closest I can get to exotic island flavours. With the added hit of Jamaican rum, my family thinks this the best salsa ever. Great as a topping for watermelon pizza.
TROPICAL FRUIT EXPERIENCE
Growing up as a kid, my aunt had an orchard. Every year we would have our share of cherries, pears, peaches, and plums. Yes, Ontario fruit is delicious too. Mom never ventured into the fruit aisle in the grocery store, other than to get some bananas.
One day, a friend brought some cantaloupe to school, and I was so eager to give this a try. I immediately fell in love with the taste of tropical fruit. The smell, taste, and texture enticed my taste buds. Taking some home to mom, I was hoping to get her to venture a little further into the fruit section next time she went grocery shopping. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
Let’s fast forward to growing up, getting married and doing my own shopping. My grocery shopping is totally different than what mom did. I skip aisles she would shop in, and visit aisles that didn’t even exist back then.
Always on the lookout for new and exciting fruits and veggies to try, the produce section gets lots of traffic from me. I do love the farmer’s market in the growing season, but for exotic things, the grocery store or specialty market is the place to look.
TROPICAL SALSA INGREDIENTS
This fruit salsa only requires a few delicious ingredients:
- grilled pineapple
- mango
- red pepper
- ginger juice
- rum
- lime juice
- salt
Have you ever grilled fruit before? OMG, it is THE BEST! Grilling fruit brings out the natural sweetness. One of our favourite summer desserts is Grilled Balsamic Strawberries. A great bbq party dessert. I think I need to try making Strawberry Bruschetta with them next time.
Have you tried Grilled Plums? They can be made sweet or savoury. Perfect for a dessert or side dish.
You DON’T have to grill the pineapple. Some people prefer it RAW. Unfortunately, hubby is sensitive to eating raw pineapple. Grilling it solves the issue.
MANGO DILEMMA
Mangos have always been sort of a mystery to me. I know they come in different varieties, and from some of my Jamaican friends, I am told some are way better than others. Even they miss island fresh. The mystery to me has been “how do you get the pit out”? Using frozen mango solves that issue, but fresh is still best.
Recently, hubby and I attended a Barbecue U cooking class. I was so excited to see we would be working with fresh mango. With a professional chef guiding us through a wonderful evening of cooking, picking up some tips was the name of the game for me, along with eating all the delicious food.
When it came to working with the mango, I left that to hubby. I wanted to see how he was going to handle the situation, as I was certain he would not get that pit out. I was right! Thank goodness Chef Rene came to the rescue and saved the day (and the mango). He easily showed us how this is done. Yahoo, fresh mangos are now in my shopping cart all the time.
HOW TO MAKE PINEAPPLE MANGO TROPICAL SALSA
This chunky salsa is SO easy, and SO delicious. The hardest part is prepping the fruit (if you call that hard).
- Peel and core the pineapple, cutting it into spears, grill, and dice. (Read the recipe for easy grilling instructions.)
- Dice the mango (now I finally know the right way).
- Dice the peppers.
- Place all the ingredients into a bowl, and combine with the rum, salt, lime and ginger juice.
What is ginger juice? Another little trick I learned at the cooking glass. Super easy to make. All you have to do is grate fresh ginger using a *Microplane. Collect the pulp and squeeze. Ginger juice!!
For the rum, the choice is yours. White rum. Amber rum. I used Jamaican rum. I wanted this tropical salsa to be as authentic as possible.
As you can see, this really is an easy homemade salsa recipe. It’s like you are on vacation.
Can you freeze fruit salsa? YES, you can (if you have any leftover). Place it in an airtight container in the freezer (for up to 2 months). To use, thaw in the fridge. The texture will be softer than the original chunky version. The flavours will be milder as well. Perfect for adding to yogurt, pancakes, waffles and ice cream.
We never seem to have any leftovers. I can actually eat this with a spoon as dessert!
I love the tastes of the tropics! This Fresh Pineapple Mango Tropical Salsa with Rum is my way of saying YES, I finally know how to get that darn pit out of a mango!!
If you think this tropical salsa recipe sounds delicious, here are a few other fruit salsas you might like:
Do you have a favourite fruit salsa recipe?
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Fresh Pineapple Mango Tropical Salsa with Rum
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh pineapple (grilled & diced)
- 8 ounces fresh mango (diced)
- 3 ounces sweet red pepper (diced)
- 1 tablespoons rum (your choice)
- 1 teaspoons ginger juice
- ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoons lime juice
Instructions
- Peel and core the pineapple, leaving it in spears. Set aside.Cut the mango, remove the pit and dice. Place in a bowl and set aside.Cut and dice the red pepper and place in the bowl with the mango.
- Heat the grill to medium heat, brush pineapple with a bit of oil.Cook for about 2-3 minutes per side (depending on the size of the spears).Remove from grill, dice and place in bowl with mango and pepper.
- Using a microplane, grate the ginger, collect the pulp in your fingers and squeeze the juice into the bowl.
- Add the rum, lime juice and salt.Mix everything until combined, and set aside so the flavours combine nicely.
- Perfect as a side dish to many BBQ meals.ENJOY!!
Nutrition Information
Notes
Jo
Summer salsa at it’s best combination ever! I I love mangoes anything. Mango and pineapples are best together and with sweet red peppers it adds a nice punch and texture to the salsa.
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
Hope you give this salsa a try. It can be used on so many things.
Jacqueline Debono
This tropical salsa sounds like a taste of summer! Love the addition of grilled pineapple and rum! I can imagine how good this would be with pork or fish!
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
We love this on fish tacos, in fact we had some this weekend.
Amanda
Love this as a topping for grilled fish! It’s so perfect for the summer. Thanks for sharing!
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
You are welcome. We love this on fish tacos.
Neha
Looks so vibrant and sounds super refreshing! Love the addition of rum in the salsa! Can’t wait to try it as soon as I can.
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
ENJOY…this is the perfect summer salsa.
Nicole
This is almost like a dessert salsa. I love that you added rum!
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
Well it certainly works great over some vanilla ice cream…hope you give it a try.
Riz
Pineapples AND mangoes? OH MY.
Gloria, you’ve literally taken two of my favourite foods and combined them into something that looks incredibly good. I can’t wait to make this (next weekend for sure!).
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
We just had some for dinner with grilled fish tacos…so good! Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.
Jordan
You had me at salsa… with rum. I’m having a big backyard housewarming party next month and this is officially on the menu. I can’t wait to share with everyone!
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
We love this recipe. In fact, we had it tonight with fish tacos. So delicious. ENJOY!
Jim
Well, my wife is one of those adventuresome shoppers. She is always trying to convince me to try new recipes and new ingredients. I wasn’t too sure about a tropical salsa. I’m more of the savory type of guy, but this salsa was fantastic. I didn’t put it on my dinner plate, I saved it for my vanilla ice cream. It sure did make that ice cream taste great.
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
AWESOME…makes a GREAT ice cream topper. Hope you added some extra rum on that ice cream.
Kate
This salsa looks so delicious and refreshing! I have never seen a salsa recipe with rum in it before but it sounds like the perfect complement to the pineapple, I will have to try this!
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
We love this, in fact, I am making more this weekend. Hope you give this recipe a try.
Tatiana
This is a good idea and amazing recipe too. This is now one of my most favorite recipes! Perfect for summer parties.
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
So glad you like it. We love this one too. Pefect for our fish tacos tomorrow.
Julie
It’s off topic from your recipe, but your comment about trying cantaloupe and falling in love with tropical fruit made me realize I’ve never considered cantaloupe a tropical fruit! It grows here in our 7A hardiness zone (we do have to start the seeds indoors though), whereas we could never grow an avocado or pineapple. Now I’m curious what the actual definition of a tropical fruit really is!
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
HAHAH….that particular family was from the West Indies, so that was tropical to me.
Toni
I really love the combination of fresh fruits! So refreshing!
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
Me too, I am making more tomorrow.
Dana
Love this! I’m not huge on tropical fruit when it comes to drinks and smoothies, but I *always* love using them with savory dishes. This salsa would be perfect with tacos, grilled meats, or even tossed in a big bountiful salad. This is what summer is about.
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
I am actually making for this weekend. Fish tacos on the menu….on the grill!!
Trish Bozeman
Summer perfection right here! I’m in love with that splash of rum in there. And I’m saving that ginger juice trick for EVERYTHING!
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
You are welcome. Glad you like the little trick.
Lois Christensen
I love how summery this sounds and looks!
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
Thanks so much. Hope you give it a try…it certainly is delicious.