This strawberry salsa recipe has been haunting me since I spied it in Andrea Bemis’ new cookbook, Dishing Up the Dirt. She also has a blog of the same name. Fair warning: Her beautiful work may inspire you to leave your work and become a farmer.
I thought I’d have to wait a while longer to make it, but I came across the most gorgeous organic strawberries yesterday. Would you just look at those leafy tops? Strawberry salsa was meant to be.
If strawberries seem strange in salsa, consider that tomatoes are also technically fruit. Using strawberries instead is a fun way to change up salsa and Caprese salad iterations, not to mention pizza.
Unfortunately, my strawberries weren’t quite as ripe and juicy on the inside as they appeared to be on the outside. I snapped these photos regardless and let the salsa rest while I went to yoga. When I came back, I was greeted with delicious, juicy strawberry salsa—the lime, honey and salt just needed some time to work their magic.
This strawberry salsa is a beautiful party appetizer or snack, and it’s as flavorful as it is colorful. I’ll definitely be making more batches of it before (and after) ripe summer tomatoes hit the market. I enjoyed my salsa with chips, but I imagine it would be great on crostini, too—maybe with some feta mixed in, or with goat cheese or ricotta layered in between.
You might also be compelled to go at it with a fork (I guess civilized people would call this “salad”). Be sure to check out Andrea’s book for more fresh, seasonal cooking inspiration. It’s an absolute stunner!
Strawberry Salsa
- Author: Cookie and Kate
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: By hand
- Cuisine: Mexican
This strawberry salsa recipe is delicious, colorful and easy to make! It’s the perfect spring or summer party appetizer. Recipe yields enough salsa for about 4 to 6 snacking portions, although I managed to polish it all off myself in under 24 hours.
Ingredients
- Juice and zest from 1 medium lime
- 1 ½ teaspoons honey or maple syrup
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 1 pint of strawberries, hulled and diced
- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped (use a smaller jalapeño for less heat, or leave in some seeds for more heat)
- ½ small red onion, chopped
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Chips for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the lime juice and zest, honey and salt. Stir in the strawberries, jalapeño, onion and cilantro. Add pepper, to taste, and mix well. Adjust the seasonings if need be (you might like a little more lime for acidity, honey for sweetness, or salt if it’s just not quite right yet).
- If your strawberries are nice and juicy, you can serve immediately, with chips. My salsa needed some time to marinate before it was juicy and awesome (about 30 minutes should do it). Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
Recipe minimally adapted, with permission, from Dishing Up the Dirt by Andrea Bemis.
Why buy organic? Strawberries are at the top of the dirty dozen list and jalapeños are also of concern. Citrus zest can be contaminated with pesticides so I always try to use organic citrus when zest is involved.
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey.
Andrea’s tip: “When chopping fresh herbs like cilantro, dill and parsley, there’s no need to separate the leaves from the tender stems—chop everything! The stems offer a lot of flavor and texture. If the herb has a woody stem, like rosemary or thyme, gently remove the leaves before chopping.”
▸ Nutrition Information
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Claire
Kate, can you remind us about this later this summer! It looks weird, but I trust you!!!
Kate
I’m sure I’ll do a roundup of inspired summer recipes at some point, Claire! And you won’t regret making this, I promise. :)
Meredith | Earth & Oven
Omg this is gorgeous! I like your idea to let the strawberries sit and ‘marinate’ to pick up some of that sweet flavour…especially while we wait for the REAL juicy strawberries to harvest here in Toronto :)
Kate
Yes, the marinating is key! And I know, this recipe made me long for summer, too.
Kat
This looks great!
Kate
I hope you try it!
Martha Edmondson
Recipe looks amazing, I dislike cilantro how do you think mint would work instead.
Kate
Sure, let me know what you think!
Alexandra - Nickels and Noodles
I’ve made salads with greens, strawberries and cheese for years but I never thought of making salsa, what a great idea! We have perfect spring weather in Toronto today so it was lovely to see such a fresh and light recipe :)
Kate
I hope you try it, Alexandra! Spring is creeping in on us here in KC, too, so I thought this was fitting. :)
Maja Harder
Aww you made me feel like summer with this recipe
Kate
It’s practically summer in a bowl!
Libby
“Fair warning: Her beautiful work may inspire you to leave your work and become a farmer.” I’m SOLD!
Kate
Right? I’m pulling on overalls right now.
Rhonda
Beautiful! I’ll looking forward to trying it. Sounds and looks delicious.
Kate
I hope you do try it, Rhonda!
Summer @crackersandcabernet.com
I love strawberries ! This recipe looks so fresh – a must try!
Kate
I hope you do!
Cait
Made this last night! It was absolutely delicious- thank you for sharing! I only used 1/2 teaspoon of honey, but in the future won’t use any- the strawberries are sweet enough :) Great way to kick off spring- used them as topping for a black bean/kale tostada.
Kate
Great! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Cait.
Cassie
Hi Kate,
Just wanted to say I love your blog and can’t wait for the cookbook! Have just pre-ordered a copy to the UK :)
Cassie
Kate
Cassie, thank you so much! Delighted to hear it. I hope you absolutely love the book!
Susy benn
Yes! I had made a bacalhao (dried cod) curry and was about to serve up when I spotted my email saying “strawberry salsa” . As I had the ingredients around I thought “why not”. What a huge success with myself and my Portuguese partner – we are having it again tonight! Thank you!
Kate
Great idea! Thanks, Susy!
Debraj76
Will definitely make this when strawberries come into season. Some avocado thrown in there would take this over the top!!!
Kate
Ooh, good idea!
natalia kurop
We were looking for nice healthy vegetarian recipes with my step daughter and i found this website and i was amazed how good these recipes are, they are really amazing ! we tried this one for our first recipe from this website and it tastes really good ! Thank you…
you really inspire me. you’re recipe ideas are amazing and really tasty continue the good job ;)
Kate
Natalia, thank you for saying hello! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe and hope you love all the others that you try.
Mary
I love that you’re sharing Andrea’s recipes. Yours and Andrea’s are my go to food blogs. This looks awesome. I’m definitely going to try it.
Kate
Yay, that’s great to hear! I hope you’ll get her book; it’s really beautiful!
Maria
WHAT?! Strawberry salsa?? This is probably the way to my heart. Salsa and strawberries together:) I will have to store this idea away for when berries get to be more in season. Up here in Seattle, we really get poor berries into the markets this time of year:/
Kate
Yes, this is best with some juicy, ruby-red berries. I hope you try it when the timing is right!
Erica
Kate, this looks incredible. What do I serve with it other than chips?
Kate
Hi, Erica– This would be great on crostini with some mild cheese, with pita, or on top of Mexican-inspired dishes. I think it’s really versatile!
Liz
I’m wondering if this would work with raspberries? What do you think?
Kate
I bet it would!
Anna
Looks great! I will have to try this.
Kate
I hope you do!
Madeline
This was delicious! I was in Florida this weekend and had access to some great strawberries, so decided to go for it. Definitely got better after an hour or two of marinating, but I loved it! Didn’t put in onions due to an onion-averse member of the group, but I think they’d be wonderful, too. Very summery!
Kate
The marinating really helps, you’re right. I’m so glad it worked sans onion, Madeline!
Krista
We thought we would give this a try but had little expectations for it. Turns out it is excellent! We will definitely make it again.
Kate
Yes! I’m glad this exceeded expectations, Krista. ;)
wendy williams
I love fruit salsa! This is delicious thank you for posting. When in season I get nectarines at the farmers market and use them instead of the strawberries.
Best regards, Wendy
Michael
Hi Kate,
I’m going to try this with fiery Jamaican jerk chicken, creme fresh and pita bread 9/lightly toasted).
Looks like a taste explosion of summer in your mouth…. Keep up the good work :)
Kate
Thanks! Taste explosion, love that. Thanks for sharing, Michael.
Amy Nowland
This is the best strawverry salsa recipe I hav found….make a double batch as it goes quick….great on chicken tacos…marinate the chicken in lime some tequila an chili powder grip then pull apart an feast!!!!!!!!
Usha
I am scared with this news can’t afford organic, recently change diet using more Vege and fruits and become more lethargic and more problems with health, kidney stone sugar hike, there is no solution other than organic produce as here in Australia it is too expensive and pensioners like me cannot afford organic.
Nathalie
Delicious ! Depending on the strawberries you use, adding honey is unnecessary (I agree with Cait).
I used this strawberry salsa to make your halloumi tacos (instead of the pineapple salsa). Of course that was good! however I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this combo : I found the salsa somehow overwhelming and couldn’t really taste the halloumi.
Kate
Thanks for sharing, Nathalie! I appreciate your review.
Melanie Grimm
This is such a great recipe1 Chopping the berries takes a bit of time but so worth it!
David S
I see that you’re instructions say you can store up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Does it get weird? You know how fruit likes to break down, especiallywhen introduced to an acid like lime. If I make it the day before a party will it be ok?
Kate
Hi David! Good question. I don’t recall the strawberries turning to mush on this one. I think making it one day before would be fine—you might wait to add the cilantro until closer to party time, just so it looks super fresh.
Al
I love strawberry salsa, but your recipe looks better than the one I have had before. I’ll have to give it a try with strawberry hummus to keep the strawberry theme going!
Debi Lytle
Do you think this woukd be good eith fresh mint instead of cilantro?
Kate
Hi, the mint may be a bit much. Or you could try some basil and/or mint/basil combination. Let me know if you do!
Debi
Oh my my SO DELISH!
Made it as crostini with goat cheese and served it with chips too! Fabulous! Thank you!
Kate
Sounds delicious, Debi! Thank you for sharing.
Aicha
This salsa is delicious. I left out the jalapenos and black pepper as I’m currently in the elimination fase of the AIP, but both me and my partner loved it. A great alternative to tomato salsa. Thank you!
Kate
Thank you, Aicha! I appreciate your review.
Marsha
What canning/cooking rack this recipe?
Kate
Hi, this isn’t meant for canning.
Becca
I live here in Idaho and the only problem I have is not letting the birds get to my strawberry plants!!
L
We have an over abundance of strawberries from our garden at present. I thought I would try something new and this fit the bill. It is delicious! Thanks very much!
Kate
You’re welcome, L! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Jimmy Jay
Hello Kate & Cookie…
I just made the Strawberry Salsa and added a little Garlic & Herb(no salt) seasoning blend. Wow!!! It really perks up the taste of everything!
Letting it sit over night and then taking it to work for a Monday Snack for the Crew.
Thank You!
Kate
You’re welcome, Jimmy! I appreciate your review.
Laurel levine
I made this for five friends who love great food. I didn’t change anything. They all want this recipe! One thought of putting it on spinach and toasted almond salad with grilled shrimp and tortilla strips!
Zoe
This was so delicious and so easy. It was a huge hit when I took it to a BBQ! Thanks so much.
Kate
You’re welcome, Zoe! Thank you for your review.
Jane T
This was very good! I am not a jalapeño girl, so dialed that part back with only 2 of the more milder versions (I tripled recipe). And it has just enough kick and strawberries were not overpowering. Easy recipe, and very good served with corn tortilla chips.
Kate
I’m glad you were able to enjoy it, Jane!
nb
This was just lovely! I couldn’t get my hands on a spicy pepper and the mild version still had a great flavor, but next time I will definitely make sure I’ve got something with some heat.
Saving for later!
Kate
Thank you for your review, NB!
Carrie Brandon
We love it and plan on sharing with my parents
Theresa
This is so good! My husband put it on salmon and I put it on veggie tacos. Yum
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Theresa!
AIMEE
Can this be made the day before it’s needed, or is it better to be made the day I need it.
Aimee
Paty Palubicki
I made this last weekend for a Saturday for a party and the party got canceled. My husband and I had it with chips and we really like it. after a few days tossed it. I will make it again this weekend for a party on this Saturday for a small group Thank you for sharing
Paty Palubicki
Aimee
I have made this three times already this summer. It is always well received. I only use a small jalapeno, or none at all, as I do not like the heat I added in a little yellow or orange pepper for color. I have also added some fresh peach. It is a delicious, bright change from the traditional salsa and is perfect for the summer.