Ready to make your tastebuds tingle? This easy orange grapefruit citrus salsa recipe will tantalize your senses and have you ready for seconds in just minutes! Perfect for adding to fish and tacos!
This easy-to-follow recipe guarantees the perfect balance of sweet and tangy flavors! This one is a favorite of mine in the summer. It is the best fruit salsa for fish and pork and pairs well with baked Chilean sea bass, foil baked cod fish, cod fish tacos, and slow cooker pork tacos.
Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 4
- ⚡ Calories: 135kcal
- 🥣 Ingredients: 11 (oranges, grapefruit, pineapple, mango, red bell pepper, red onion, cilantro, honey, orange juice, lime juice, mint)
- 🧰 Equipment: a cutting board, a knife and a mixing bowl
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Sweet citrus and mango against sharp red onion, cilantro and lime, with a bitter edge from the grapefruit
- ✋ Difficulty: All knife work. The only technique is cutting the membrane off the citrus.
Quick Answer
Cut the skin and rind off 2 oranges and 2 grapefruits, slice the segments away from the membranes and dice them. Combine with ½ cup diced pineapple, ½ cup diced fresh mango, ¼ cup diced red bell pepper, ¼ cup diced red onion, ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, 1 tablespoon honey, 2 tablespoons orange juice, 1 tablespoon lime juice and a few torn mint leaves. Mix and serve right away or within 3 days. It takes 20 minutes and makes 4 servings at 135 calories.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- The membrane comes off. Citrus fruit is fibrous and has membranes that hold the fruit together into segments. Taking them off is what makes it a salsa instead of a bowl of chewy pith.
- Honey balances the grapefruit. Grapefruit is bitter, so a tablespoon of honey rounds it out without making the salsa sweet.
- Lime does more than flavor. Lime juice helps to preserve salsa, add flavor without extra salt, and balances out pH levels and prevents bacteria from growing quickly.
- Red pepper and onion for crunch. The citrus and mango go soft, so the diced vegetables carry the texture.
- No cooking at all. Twenty minutes of knife work and it is done, which is why it travels well to a party.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Comes together quickly in 20 minutes!
- The perfect way to add some zing to your next taco night and seafood dinner, or enjoy as an appetizer with chips.
- A wonderful way to get fresh vitamin C and immunity-boosting nutrients like in a wellness shot.
- Fantastic over this detox citrus salad.
- No cooking, just a cutting board, a knife and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Key Ingredients
This fantastic fresh orange citrus salsa is a combination of oranges, grapefruit, mango, pineapple with sweet peppers and onions for crunch! Here is everything you need to get started.
- 2 oranges - For this sweet and refreshing orange fruit, you can use navel oranges, blood oranges, or mandarin oranges.
- 2 grapefruits, peeled, sectioned and cut into bite-size pieces.
- ½ cup diced pineapple and ½ cup diced fresh mango.
- ¼ cup diced red bell pepper, end cut off, core and seeds removed.
- ¼ cup diced red onion and ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro.
- 1 tablespoon honey, 2 tablespoons orange juice and 1 tablespoon lime juice.
- A few leaves of fresh mint, broken into pieces.
See the below recipe card for quantities.
Tip for Cutting Citrus Fruit
Very importantly, citrus fruit is fibrous and has membranes that hold the fruit together into segments or sections. When you cut citrus fruit into citrus salsa, you want to take the membrane sections off.
Cut away the skin of the fruit with a knife to remove the pulp. With the knife, cut the fruit in-between the segment by the membrane and using your hands or knife remove the membrane. Once the membrane is removed then cut the slice the fruit into mini pieces.
Make it your own: Citrus salsa is typically made with grapefruit and oranges and you can also add avocado, jalapeno, or beets to the mix.
How to Make Citrus Salsa
Here are our step-by-step instructions how to make this epic citrus salsa! See the recipe card for full details.
1Cut and prepare the vegetables and fruit, cutting away the membrane of the oranges and grapefruits before dicing.
2In a mixing bowl add the ingredients together. Mix well and serve right away or within 1 day for the best flavor.
As always, be sure to check out the full recipe details in the recipe card below.
Expert Tips
- Work over a bowl. Cutting citrus loses juice, and catching it means you may not need the extra 2 tablespoons of orange juice.
- Taste before serving. If the salsa is bland you can always add a dash of salt and a splash of lime juice.
- Grapefruit too sharp? Since grapefruit is bitter you can add up to one more tablespoon of honey.
- Dice everything the same size so each spoonful gets citrus, mango and crunch together.
- Storage: Use your fresh citrus salsa right away or within 3 days for the best flavor. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Serve it with baked tortilla chips for an easy appetizer.
Serving Ideas
It is the best fruit salsa for fish and pork. Spoon it over baked Chilean sea bass, foil baked cod or slow cooker pork tacos, or serve it alongside avocado fish taco sauce and a bowl of guacamole for taco night. It is also fantastic over this detox citrus salad.
Citrus Salsa FAQs
Many salsa recipes like canned plum salsa has pectin or lemon and lime juice to help preserve and add acidity to salsa. You only need fresh lime juice here with orange juice and honey for the delicious flavor.
If the salsa is bland you always add a dash of salt and splash of lime juice. Since grapefruit is bitter you can add up to one more tablespoon of honey to citrus salsa.
Lime juice helps to preserve salsa, add flavor without extra salt, and balances out pH levels and prevents bacteria from growing quickly.
Use it right away or within 3 days for the best flavor, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The fruit softens as it sits.
It is the best fruit salsa for fish and pork. It pairs with baked Chilean sea bass, foil baked cod, cod fish tacos and slow cooker pork tacos, and it works as an appetizer with tortilla chips.
You can make it a few hours ahead and keep it chilled. For the best texture and flavor serve it the same day, since the citrus keeps releasing juice.
Citrus Salsa Recipe
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 oranges peeled, sectioned, and cut into bite-size
- 2 grapefruits peeled, sectioned, and cut into bite-size
- ½ cup diced pineapple
- ½ cup diced fresh mango
- ¼ cup diced red bell pepper end cut off, core and seeds removed and diced
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoon lime juice seeded and minced
- few leaves of fresh mint broken into pieces
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables by prepping the grapefruit and oranges and chopping the vegetables. Using a knife, cut off the skin and rind of the grapefruit and oranges. Cut the fruit in half and in-between the membrane - discarding the membrane. Cut the slice into mini pieces.
- In a medium-size bowl, combine the diced oranges, grapefruit, pineapple, mango, red bell pepper, onion, cilantro, honey, orange juice, lime juice and mint. Mix to combine and enjoy right away or within 3 days.
Notes
- Cut away the skin of the fruit with a knife to remove the pulp.
- With the knife, cut the fruit in-between the segment by the membrane and using your hands or knife remove the membrane.
- Once the membrane is removed then cut the slice into mini pieces.
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