Fresh and Spicy Peach Salsa

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Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Alright, as with any salsa, the golden rule is: The riper your ingredients, the better your salsa. (Shop local. Hit your farmers’ market. Grow your own!) You guys know the deal.

Be sure to pick the plumpest, juiciest looking peaches and tomatoes you can get your paws on. A good, ripe peach should be mouthwateringly fragrant and really smell like a peach when you sniff it.

This is one of my favorite fruity salsas. The sweetness of the peaches is offset by spicy Serrano chilis, lime, cilantro, and an unexpected party guest: cool, crisp cucumber.

I don’t add a lot of additional spices to this, just a little fresh garlic and some chopped shallot (which is milder than onion). Dial the amount of chili up or down to suit your taste.

Ideally, make this a few hours ahead to let the flavors meld. The whole thing is ridiculously refreshing and delicious. It’s a great way to enjoy the flavors of summer.

If you wanted to, you could even try cooking this recipe down for a saucier salsa. (My best guess: I’d omit the cucumber, add a little sugar, then simmer for an hour or so, stirring frequently, until the mixture is reduced by about half.)

Serving ideas

Serve it with chips (try my Easy Baked Tortilla Chips Dusted with Chipotle Salt).

Use it to top grilled chicken or pork. Tuck a layer into wraps or fajitas. You can even semi-puree it and serve it as gazpacho.

The short version of the recipe goes like this

Whack up all the fruits and veggies into bite size pieces. Combine. Let sit for a few hours if you can bear to wait. Inhale. Enjoy.

Read on for more info on chopping, etc.—as well as some unabashed fruit porn.

Spicy Peach Salsa

3 cups ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced (about 4 tomatoes)
4 cups ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and diced (about 5 large peaches)
2 shallots, minced
1 English cucumber, diced (about 4 cups)
2 serrano chilis, diced
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
1 bunch cilantro, minced
1 Tbls. rice wine vinegar
kosher salt to taste

Serves 8-10

Chop, chop, chop!

Grab your tomatoes. (I’ll admit it: These are hothouse tomatoes. When I went to the market for this post, I couldn’t find a good looking, local tomato to save my life.) Give them a rinse under cold water and dry them off.

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Whack them in half.

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

And then in quarters. Scoop out the seeds and discard. (Some people prefer to leave them in.)

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Dice them up. Don’t make yourself nuts trying to get them all the same size. (After all, it’s salsa.)

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Toss the tomatoes in a large bowl.

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Peel your peaches.

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

I peel mine in a big, spiral ribbon using a paring knife.

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Chunk the peaches up into bite-sized pieces.

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Peel and chop the shallot. (I usually do slightly smaller pieces of the shallot.)

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Slice and dice the English cucumber. I leave the peel on, but feel free to remove it.

(English cukes are those long cukes that usually come shrink-wrapped in plastic in the U.S. I like them because they’re nearly seedless. They also tend to be less bitter than regular cukes, and their skin is usually thin. If you can’t find one, you can definitely use a couple of regular old garden cucumbers. Just peel them and scoop out the seeds before you chop.)

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Roughly chop the serrano chili. Now, serranos are just above jalapenos on the Scoville scale (which measures the hotness factor of different chilis). Definitely swap your chili up or down on the scale to adjust the heat.

Did you know?
A lot of the heat from chilis lives in the seeds and ribs of the chili. I like my salsa on the hot side, so I use the whole chili—ribs and seeds and all. If that’s not your thing, slice the peppers long-ways and remove the ribs and seeds before chopping. (Always wash your hands after. If you want to be extra cautious, don’t feel bad about wearing gloves.)

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Chop the garlic and cilantro and toss them in, too. Add a pinch or two of kosher salt. (Go easy. You can always add more after you taste it, but you can’t get it out once you put it in.)

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Add the rice wine vinegar and squeeze in the lime juice. (For extra lime-y flavor, add the lime zest to the salsa, too.)

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

I always tend to use a citrus reamer on the limes, because it helps you wring every last bit of juice out. (Don’t have one? Grab one on Amazon for about five bucks.)

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

And…mix away!

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Give it a taste and add more salt if you think it needs it.

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Ideally, let the salsa sit for an hour or two in the fridge to let the flavors mingle. It will get a little juicier as it sits (the salt will draw out some of the moisture from the fruit and veggies).

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Enjoy!

Chunky Peach Salsa at The Hungry Mouse

Nutrition

Serves 8-10

Fresh and Spicy Peach Salsa

Ideally, make this a few hours ahead to let the flavors meld. The whole thing is ridiculously refreshing and delicious. It's a great way to enjoy the flavors of summer.

Save RecipeSave Recipe

Ingredients

3 cups ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced (about 4 tomatoes)
4 cups ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and diced (about 5 large peaches)
2 shallots, minced
1 English cucumber, diced (about 4 cups)
2 serrano chilis, diced
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
1 bunch cilantro, minced
1 Tbls. rice wine vinegar
kosher salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients to a large bowl.
  2. Mix to combine well.
  3. Give it a taste and add more salt if you think it needs it.
  4. Ideally, let the salsa sit for an hour or two in the fridge to let the flavors mingle. It will get a little juicier as it sits (the salt will draw out some of the moisture from the fruit and veggies). Enjoy!
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Jessie Cross is a cookbook author and creator of The Hungry Mouse, a monster online food blog w/500+ recipes. When she's not shopping for cheese or baking pies, Jessie works as an advertising copywriter in Boston. She lives in Salem, Massachusetts with her husband and two small, fluffy wolves.

11 COMMENTS

  1. I LOVE how fresh and delicious this looks. I can just picture it now, sitting in a beach chair, sipping on a drink and enjoying some chips in this delicious salsa. Definitely filing this one away, thank you for sharing :)
  2. I made this for a potluck today and it was met with great reviews. I made a few changes (white wine vinegar instead of rice - because that was what I had). I also doubled everything in the recipe except for the peaches and used six cloves of fresh garlic. I left the cilantro leaves relatively large (just a rough chop) because they looked so good and I used all local produce.

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