For the perfect sweet and spicy combination, you have to try this easy mango-habanero salsa! 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.
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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 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 salsa that requires no advanced skills or hours upon hours to prepare.
- Ultra versatile. Serve it as a dip or use it to top your favorite Mexican dishes.
Ingredients
If you've made salsa, these ingredients should all be familiar, but my secret ingredient for an extra delicious fruit salsa is fresh ginger. Like in my tropical pico de gallo, fresh ginger gives a fruit salsa a wonderful spice character with a slightly peppery and sweet touch.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Let’s walk through how truly simple it is to make your own mango-habanero salsa.
Step 1: We begin by adding the mango 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 mixing bowl and add in 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 margarita -- say my jalapeño-mango margarita -- and enjoy the evening.
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 habanero.
But that's not all. This mango salsa is also delicious on top of all sorts of Mexican dishes, especially lighter fare like chicken, pork and seafood. Think fish or lobster tacos, chicken enchiladas, grilled shrimp fajitas or jerk pork nachos.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely — I’ve made this salsa with frozen mangoes, and it turned out delicious. In fact, these images feature frozen mango. Fruit is frozen at its peak ripeness, so it will still have great flavor. Sometimes the mango selection at the grocery store can be sparse with only unripened mangoes. Frozen mango is a great substitute in that case.
Similar to an avocado, give the mango a gentle yet firm squeeze, and if it yields to pressure, it’s ripe. You may also notice a fragrance coming from the fruit. If the mango is squishy, it’s overripe, and you should discard it.
Mangoes are best as fresh as possible, so I would only keep this salsa for two to three days. Besides, this salsa is too delicious to last in your refrigerator much longer than that.
Expert Tips
- While heat is subjective, I consider this a mild to medium salsa, depending on the heat of the habanero you use. For a spicier salsa, you can add another habanero pepper.
- 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.
- I recommend wearing kitchen 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.
- To get the most out of your lime, I recommend firmly rolling it on the countertop first. This helps get the juice moving.
- 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. 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 chips because you won't be able to stop dipping!
Cheers!
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Mango-Habanero Salsa
Equipment
- Food processor
- Mixing bowl
- Citrus juicer
- Microplane grater
Ingredients
- 3 cups diced mango frozen or fresh (see note)
- 1-2 habanero peppers stem removed and chopped (see note)
- ½ lime juiced
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add the diced mango to a food processor. Process until the mango reaches your desired consistency for a salsa.
- Move the processed mango to a mixing bowl. Add the habanero pepper, lime juice, red onion, grated fresh ginger, cilantro and salt. Stir to combine.
- Store in an airtight container and chill until ready to serve. While you can eat it right away, I like to give it a few hours to allow the flavors to meld. Enjoy!
Notes
- For the mangoes, 3 cups of diced mangoes is approximately the equivalent to three to four fresh mangoes or 1 pound of frozen mango. If using frozen mango, thaw first.
- One habanero pepper gives you a mild to medium salsa, depending on the individual pepper's heat. If you'd like a spicier salsa, I recommend starting at one pepper, taste and then decide if you need to add another. Keep in mind, the heat develops as it sits in the refrigerator.
- I recommend wearing gloves when handling the peppers as it can irritate the skin. If you do not have gloves, make sure you wash your hands very well before touching your eyes. The pepper's oil can really stay on your skin.
- To easily grate ginger, I like to peel it, freeze it and then use a microplane grater. Frozen ginger grates like a dream, though you can grate it unfrozen. I keep it in my freezer at all times to have on hand, but it doesn't take long for it to freeze if you don't have any at the moment.
- Pick a lime that has some give when you squeeze it and firmly roll it on the counter before juicing. This helps ensure you maximize your lime juice output.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for two to three days.
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Love a fruit salsa recipe! This one sounds perfect to make for our camping trips!
It would work fabulously for that!
Mango and habanero is such a great combo in this salsa. I love it on fish tacos!
They were made for each other!
This is the best mango salsa I have ever made. The sweet mangos with the habaneros is the perfect combination . This was great to eat alone but we also used it on top of grilled Tuna .
That sounds like the perfect way to enjoy it! I'm so glad you loved it.
Yum. The perfect ratio of sweet to spicy. We devoured it.
Thanks for sharing, Debra! So glad to hear that.
Thank you so much for sharing this super tasty mango salsa! It's super easy to make and fam says it's perfect! Will surely make this one again!
You are so welcome, Allyssa! It makes me so happy to hear everyone loved it.
I love the ginger mango combo in this salsa. Can't wait to try it with fish tacos.
You will love the two together!
I love mango habanero salsa. The sweet and spicy salsa really blends well with my Doritos or other nachos chips.
So glad you enjoyed!
This salsa was the perfect topping for our veggie tacos tonight!! It was spicy and sweet and totally elevated our tacos!
It sounds like a delicious combo!
So delicious on fish! I put it on grilled swordfish this weekend and we all loved it. Light and fresh with some nice zing!
That sounds like a wonderful way to enjoy it!
The sweet mangos with habarnero peppers is the perfect sweet and spicy combination. Making this again for my book club this week! Yum!
Everyone will love it!
My favourite flavours in a salsa!
They're so refreshing together!