This refreshing strawberry salsa combines the sweet flavor of strawberries and agave with savory onion, chocolate nibs, and mint. Lime juice is added tang and sharpens all the flavors. It's a great appetizer served with chevre (goat) cheese and crackers or spooned over grilled asparagus.
This bright salsa needs only 15 minutes meal prep but benefits greatly by resting for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together.
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Did you grow up eating a lot of strawberries? I did not.
We had artichokes when few other kids my age knew what they were. And I remember my mom serving oysters on the half shell one night as an experiment.
But no strawberries. Maybe they weren't grown anywhere within easy shipping distance but I don't remember even seeing them at our local grocery store. (Not that I spent a lot of time in the produce section of the grocery store as a kid.)
So, this time of year, I'm in catch-up mode using them in salads, strawberry scones (sometimes with ginger), and sauces. Not stopping there, I make strawberry-coconut soup with mint and this 5-minute strawberry sherbet.
And when I find perfect juicy strawberries at my farmer's market during strawberry season, I make this strawberry salsa.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
Salsa recipes are a great way to use fresh seasonal fruit whether it's traditional salsa, green salsa, spicy jalapeño mango salsa, or pineapple salsa. And they can be used in so many ways.Here's why I love this one:
- This salsa is a great way to use fresh juicy strawberries and is a crowd pleaser every time I serve it.
- Make it in 15 minutes or less but let it sit for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to develop and meld.
- Lots of ways to use it (see the below section for ideas!)
- Flexible recipe for adding jalapeno peppers or serrano peppers if you want a little heat in your salsa.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minute meal or less.
For all of the ingredients, measurements, and directions to make this easy strawberry salsa recipe, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Fresh ripe strawberries - Use your best juicy strawberries for this salsa. For the freshest strawberries, get them at your local farmer's market.
- Sweet onion - Vidalia onion is perfect in this recipe, but any white onion works fine. Do not use yellow onions.
- Fresh mint
- Lime juice
- Agave nectar
- Chocolate nibs - These are crumbled bits of dried cacao beans used to make chocolate. They're unsweetened and are a great foil for the natural sweetness of strawberries.
- Dried Ancho Chile - Don't use the powder, but instead break up a dried whole ancho chile, and sprinkle some in the salsa. Ancho chile is a very mild chile, and adds an earthy smoky flavor to the salsa, keeping it from being too sweet.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🤩 Why This Recipe Works
- This recipe is a perfect combination of sweet strawberries with earthy chocolate nibs and ancho chile flakes makes this salsa a standout winner.
- Sweet onions add savory and a little texture to the salsa.
- Both mint and lime juice make the flavors pop.
👩🍳 Preparation Tips
- Use a good quality knife. This is one of the most important tools you can have in the kitchen. I use a chef's knife for all the prepping except hulling the strawberries. For that, I use a small paring knife. Read this post for my top 20 must-have tools and equipment for vegetarian cooking.
- Use a non-reactive bowl for macerating the salsa. Strawberries are considered acidic so it best to use stainless steel, ceramic, or glass bowls for this.
- Chill the salsa. This extra time for the flavors to blend together really makes a difference to the flavors.
💡Ideas for Variations
- If you prefer heat to your salsa, finely mince either 1 tablespoon of jalapeño pepper or Serrano pepper and add to the salsa. Serrano pepper is spicier than jalapeno peppers. The ancho chile flakes in this recipe are not spicy.
- Just before serving, toss the salsa with 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and a final twist of freshly ground black pepper.
- Other fresh herbs you can use in place of the mint leaves include fresh basil, parsley, or chopped fresh cilantro.
- Swap out the sweet white onions for red onion.
- Use a drizzle of honey in place of the agave.
🙋♀️ FAQ
Serve with goat cheese (chevre) and crackers or crispy tortilla chips.
Or if you don't care for goat cheese, use Boursin soft cheese.
Add a small scoop to pureed strawberry soup or mango soup as a garnish.
Toss into a spinach salad.
Spoon over grilled asparagus.
For fish and meat eaters, add to your next fish tacos
Serve over the top of ice cream. If you choose this, eliminate the sweet onion.
This strawberry salsa is best when fresh, but if you have leftovers you'd like to store, transfer them to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
I don't recommend it. Freezing strawberry salsa turns the salsa into more of a sauce. The texture will soften and be mushy.
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Easy Strawberry Salsa Recipe with Chocolate Nibs
Equipment
- Paring knife
- Medium non-reactive bowl such as stainless steel, glass, or ceramic bowls
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups hulled and diced fresh strawberries
- ½ cup finely diced sweet onion Vidalia onions are perfect here!
- 2 ½ tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 teaspoons agave nectar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt or ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground coarse black pepper
- 2 teaspoons chocolate nibs
- 1 teaspoon finely crumbled dried ancho chili
Instructions
- Use a paring knife to pierce each strawberry around its stem to remove it. This is called hulling strawberries. Slice them in half, and then each half into thirds and dice. The size of the dice depends on how you plan to use the salsa. For spreading on crackers with cheese, use a smaller dice. If the salsa will be added to a salad or served over grilled asparagus, go with a larger dice.Transfer the strawberries to a medium bowl.
- Dice the onion into pieces smaller than the strawberries. Add to the strawberries.
- Stack the mint leaves on top of each other and tightly roll them up. Use a chef's knife to thinly slice across the width of the roll. Be sure to use only fresh, undamaged leaves.Add to the strawberries and onion.
- Add the lime juice, agave nectar, salt, pepper, chocolate nibs (if using), and crumbled dried ancho pepper (if using), and toss everything together.
- Allow to rest on the counter for the flavors to marinate and meld together. Serve at room temperature.
Notes
Preparation Tips
- Use a good quality knife. This is one of the most important tools you can have in the kitchen. I use a chef's knife for all the prepping except hulling the strawberries. For that, I use a small paring knife. Read this post for my top 20 must-have tools and equipment for vegetarian cooking.
- Use a non-reactive bowl for macerating the salsa. Strawberries are considered acidic so it best to use stainless steel, ceramic, or glass bowls for this.
- Chill the salsa. This extra time for the flavors to blend together really makes a difference to the flavors.
Ideas for Variations
- If you prefer heat to your salsa, finely mince either 1 tablespoon of jalapeño pepper or Serrano pepper and add to the salsa. Serrano pepper is spicier than jalapeno peppers. The ancho chile flakes in this recipe are not spicy.
- Just before serving, toss the salsa with 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and a final twist of freshly ground black pepper.
- Other fresh herbs you can use in place of the mint leaves include fresh basil, parsley, or chopped fresh cilantro.
- Swap out the sweet white onions for red onion.
- Use a drizzle of honey in place of the agave.
Storage Tips
- This strawberry salsa is best when fresh, but if you have leftovers you'd like to store, transfer them to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Viviane Bauquet Farre
Absolutely stunning reds! What a fun sweet alternative to more conventional salsa recipes. Your food photography really makes the colors jump!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much Viviane! Food photography is something I'm really working on these days, so I really appreciate your comment 🙂 Your photography is always so beautiful.
Hannah
Your strawberry salsa is inspired, Susan! I can't wait to make it. Love your addition of nibs. What great strawberry info, too! I've wondered where strawberries get their name from - good to know straw is actually involved. Have a great weekend!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I love reading about things like this - like the provenance of names of things. Thanks for stopping by, Hannah! Hope you're having a great weekend!
LiztheChef
Who knew??
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Not me, that's for sure. I love little interesting trivia about food 🙂
Lynda - TasteFood
How creative! The nibs are an inspired twist.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I'm using nibs now in all kinds of things. They hung around my kitchen for a year, and now it's like I'm discovering them for the first time 🙂
Wendy Read
Oh yes! This looks so good, and I always have an abundance of strawberries here to experiment with. Thanks for posting 🙂
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Wendy!! And this is sooooo easy. I'm sure it would last longer too, if you didn't dress it until 30 minutes before serving.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Awwww, thanks Suzanne. Strawberries make me happy too. I can never get enough of them it seems.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I saw your blog hop and was thinking about this one or the Farmhouse Strawberry cake from earlier this month. Thanks so much Matt for noticing this one!! I love your site!
Liz
Oh, man, this looks (and sounds) amazing!!! I just adore a fruit salsa!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I gotta say - it's so refreshing and sooo good. I just eat it up plain half the time.
Choc Chip Uru
I love your style of being informative about your ingredients as well as providing a killer recipe - may I just say hooked? 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
juniakk @ mis pensamientos
ahhh i love the idea of making strawberry salsa! YUM! i bet this would be perfect topped on some light white fish!
angela@spinachtiger
I picked tons of strawberries this year and I'm going with the theory that they used straw between the rows. Who knows? All these facts are so interesting. It makes so much sense that they are part of the rose family. I read this year that to keep strawberries, put them water with some vinegar. Soak strawberries with apple cider or white vinegar 1 part to ten parts water for a minutes. Drain. Put in fridge. It prevents mold spores. It worked for me. I just defrosted a gigantic bag of strawberries given to me and I'm going to turn them into this salsa and go from there.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I love this idea! I'm assuming you'd need to make sure they're completely dried after their quick soak. The vinegar would kill the spores - so it makes sense. I'm going to try it with my next batch. Thanks so much for contributing your idea!