Easy Strawberry Salsa Recipe with Chocolate Nibs

Refreshing easy appetizer strawberry salsa

5 from 29 votes

Easy Strawberry Salsa Recipe with Chocolate Nibs

Make this fresh salsa with simple ingredients like strawberries, sweet onion, mint, and lime juice. It's perfect served as an appetizer with chevre (goat) cheese and crackers or serve with a bowl of tortilla chips. It takes 15 minutes to make and benefits greatly by resting for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together.

Prep Time15

marinade time30

Total Time45

Course: Appetizer, Condiment

Cuisine: Any

Keyword: Strawberry salsa

Servings:

Calories: 31.3kcal

Author: Susan Pridmore

Equipment

Paring knife
Chef's 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.

Nutrition