Easy Mango-Habanero Salsa

For the perfect combination of sweet and spicy flavors, you have to try this easy mango-habanero salsa recipe! Made with juicy mango, fresh ginger, spicy habanero and bright lime juice, this is the ultimate fruit salsa, and it comes together in less than 20 minutes. You’ll want to snack on this fruity salsa all summer long.

Jump to:

• Why You Need to Make This Recipe
• Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• How to Serve
• Recipe FAQs
• Variations
• Expert Tips
• Perfect Pairing
• Need More Salsa Recipes?
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Why You Need to Make This Recipe

Warm nights call for leisurely meals on the patio, and I can't think of a better way to spend the evening than enjoying this salsa with a refreshing margarita on the side. You'll love this vibrant mango-habanero salsa.

Summer in a bowl: Every bite is full of fresh, tropical flavor. You’ll think you’re on the beach enjoying a big bowl of salsa.

No cooking required: All we do is chop and blend.

Ridiculously quick and easy: Make entertaining a breeze with this chunky salsa that requires no advanced skills or hours upon hours to prepare -- it's truly one easy recipe. Plus, it only requires a handful of ingredients.

Ultra versatile: Serve it as a dip or use it to top your favorite Mexican dishes.

Related: For another fruity dip, try my pineapple pico de gallo!

Ingredients

If you've made salsa, these ingredients should all be familiar. Let's chat about these simple, fresh ingredients to prepare the best homemade mango-habanero salsa.

Ripe mangoes: We want to make sure our mangoes are nice and ripe. An unripened mango will be hard and flavorless. Alternatively, frozen mango works well too.

Ginger: This is my secret ingredient for an extra delicious fruit salsa. Like in my tropical pico de gallo, fresh ginger gives a fruit salsa a wonderful spice character with a slightly peppery and sweet touch. For best results, adding fresh ginger to your fruit salsa is the way to go.

Red onion: A red onion is much milder than a yellow or white onion, and the flavor goes better with tropical fruits. Save the yellow and white onions for a traditional salsa.

Lime juice: Make sure you use fresh lime juice specifically. The bottled juice isn't as bright. Since we're only working with a few ingredients, quality is important.

Cilantro: Like the lime juice, we need fresh cilantro, not the dried variety.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Let’s walk through how truly simple it is to make your own spicy mango-habanero salsa recipe with these easy steps.

Step 1: We begin by adding the mango chunks to a food processor (photo 1) and pulse it until it reaches our desired consistency (photo 2). I don't like soupy salsa, so I just pulse it until it reaches a nice and chunky texture, but you do you. This is our mango-habanero salsa base.

Step 2: Now we move the processed mango to a large bowl and add in the remaining ingredients, including our habanero, fresh ginger, lime juice, cilantro and a touch of salt (photo 3).

Step 3: We simply stir until it's all combined (photo 4).

And that's it! See? Making a homemade fruit salsa doesn't get easier. Now grab some chips and a drink -- say my mango mojito or jalapeño-mango margarita -- and enjoy the evening. You'll just love how the mango's sweet flavor plays with the habanero chile.

How to Serve

If you're simply serving this fresh mango salsa as an appetizer, tortilla chips are great, but you can get extra fancy and sprinkle your chips with a little chili powder and lime juice. Cinnamon-sprinkled chips are also popular with fruit salsa, and the cinnamon pairs beautifully with the ginger and hot peppers.

But that's not all. This habanero mango salsa recipe is also delicious on top of all sorts of Mexican dishes, especially lighter fare like chicken, pork and seafood. Think blackened fish tacos or lobster tacos, chicken enchiladas, grilled shrimp fajitas or jerk pork nachos.

And if you're looking for another appetizer, my mango-habanero chicken wings are an obvious flavor match. It doesn't get better than a platter of salsa and wings.

Recipe FAQs

Variations

For a little extra crunch, add a finely chopped red bell pepper to this chunky mango-habanero salsa. While I think this salsa is perfect as is, bell peppers also work well with fruit salsa.

Play around with your favorite chile peppers. Sweet mango pairs beautifully with spicy habanero peppers, but you could also use a serrano pepper, jalapeño peppers or even scotch bonnet peppers for a Caribbean flair. These three spicy pepper varieties are all delicious.

Swap different tropical fruits to make your own unique fresh salsa. A peach-habanero salsa, for instance, would be tasty too.

As you can probably tell from the photos, I prefer a chunkier salsa, but you're welcome to process the mango until it reaches a thinner consistency. Do what suits your taste.

Expert Tips

Adjust the heat level: While heat is subjective, I consider this a mild to medium salsa, depending on the heat of the habanero you use. For an extra spicy kick, you can add another habanero pepper. Just keep in mind what spice level anyone else snacking on this salsa can tolerate. If they prefer more of a mild heat, one habanero is plenty, and you'll still have a flavorful salsa.

For easier grating: To grate the ginger, I recommend first peeling it and then freezing it. Frozen ginger grates like a dream with a microplane grater. I love to always keep ginger in my freezer, so I have it on hand, but it doesn't take long to freeze if you don't have any in stock.

Wear gloves: I recommend you wear rubber gloves while handling the habanero. If you don’t, wash your hands well, and give it time before you touch your eyes. The chile oil can stay on your fingers for a good while.

Work more efficiently: To get the most out of your lime, I recommend firmly rolling it on the countertop first. This helps get the juice moving.

Turn salsa into a pico de gallo for versatility: Don't have a food processor? You can dice the mango into ½-inch chunks instead and mix with the rest of the ingredients. This will technically be a mango pico de gallo, but you can use it just as you would a salsa.

Perfect Pairing

I love a refreshing blonde ale with this fresh mango salsa. Not only do blonde ales make wonderful palate cleansers to balance the spice, this light, bubbly beer is a classic pairing with fruit. However, if you'd like to accentuate the spice, you can pair this salsa with a hoppy IPA.

Looking for a wine pairing option? A gewürztraminer is perfect with a spicy habanero salsa. This German wine comes with a residual sweetness that counters the spice. We also get some tropical fruit notes that are delightful with our mango and fresh ginger.

And, of course, we’re talking salsa here, so a tequila cocktail isn’t a bad idea. Try my tequila sour or triple citrus tequila smash. Or if you’re a margarita lover, you’ll enjoy my Cadillac margarita, raspberry-peach margarita, blueberry margarita or fresh blackberry margarita.

When you need a fruity, tropical salsa, I hope you try this easy mango-habanero salsa. Just make sure you get plenty of your favorite tortilla chips because you won't be able to stop dipping!

Cheers!

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