This Fresh Cherry Salsa is sweet but savoury, spicy but fruity. Serve with goat cheese or whipped feta cheese as an appetizer, or as a side with grilled fish, chicken or chips!
Fresh cherry salsa is a must-try! If you've found yourself wondering what to do with extra cherries, here's one delicious idea!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Cherry salsa is naturally sweet with a little heat, and it is always enthusiastically devoured!
- With only five ingredients, this cherry salsa is quick and easy to chop, combine and serve.
- Roughly chopped cherries with red onion, cilantro, jalapeño peppers and lime juice makes an amazing salsa. You'll be surprised at just how incredibly good this salsa tastes!
🛒 Ingredients
This cherry salsa is sweet but savoury, spicy but fruity.
fresh cherries: any sweet variety of cherries will work. I use a dark red cherry because I like the red and green colour contrast in this salsa.
red onion: for lots of tangy flavour and a little bite
jalapeño pepper: adds that necessary heat
cilantro: for pungent Mexican flavour!
lime juice: freshly squeezed is always best
goat cheese: cherry salsa spooned over a log of soft, creamy goat cheese makes an amazing appetizer.
🔪 Instructions
Cherry Salsa is quick and easy to make.
- Combine roughly chopped cherries, finely chopped red onion and cilantro, minced jalapeño pepper and freshly squeezed lime juice.
- Just before serving, spoon the salsa over a log of soft goat cheese. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.
Ways to use cherry salsa
You can serve this fruit salsa in many ways!
- While it's particularly good with cheese, this is a salsa you'll want to make again and again to serve with fish, chicken strips or tortilla chips.
- Serve it as a crostini topping. Spread goat cheese on toasted baguette slices and top with a spoonful of salsa.
- It's delicious as a fresh fruity appetizer with goat cheese and rice crackers.
- Try it as a crostini topping with the same whipped feta cheese used in this Strawberry Whipped Feta Crostini.
- Get out the tortilla chips! Salty chips and sweet cherry salsa make a perfect pairing.
- Add a scoop of salsa on the side when you serve Grilled Fish Tacos, Pistachio Crusted Salmon, or Grilled Cajun Chicken Thighs.
- It's delicious served as a winter holiday appetizer using either preserved or frozen cherries, too. Look at those festive holiday colours!
Cherries are abundant in June and early July. I like to make sure we have our fill of fresh ones every year at this time as there are so many ways to use them.
⏱Make ahead of time
You can make this salsa a day before you plan to serve it if you like. If you find that a little liquid collects in the bottom of the dish, simply drain it off.
Spoon the salsa over the log of goat cheese just before serving time.
When you spot cherries in your local market, snap them up, have your fill, and save a few to make this cherry salsa!
How to store fresh salsa
Store in a glass container with a lid in the fridge for 3 - 5 days. Fresh fruit salsas do not freeze well, as freezing will change the texture of the fruit.
🗒 More salsa recipes to try
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📖 Recipe
Fresh Cherry Salsa with Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and roughly chopped
- ¼ cup red onion, finely chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 medium jalapeño, minced
- 2 tablespoon lime juice freshly squeezed
- 8 oz log soft goat cheese
Instructions
- Combine first five ingredients in a medium bowl. Spoon over the top of a log of goat cheese and serve with crackers.
Leslie
Question: Can this be made ahead and refrigerated? If so, how much in advance? 24 hours?
Elaine
Hi Leslie, Yes, you can make this 24 hours ahead of time as you suggested. Just spoon it over the goat cheese when you serve it.
Carey Lakusta Gilbertson
Can you use Brie instead of goat cheese?
Elaine
Hi Carey, I'll be Brie would be delicious with this cherry salsa! Great idea.
Sara T
Oh my goodness...this looks amazing and I'm so hoping to get some cherries to try it!
Flavour & Savour
Hi Sara,
If you don't have fresh, I think it would be good with preserved or cannned cherries, too. I'm going to try it at Christmas time with those.
Ayngelina Brogan
I love sour cherries, I just used it in a dessert but I like the idea of using it as an appetizer.
Flavour & Savour
Using cherries in a savoury recipe was something new for me too. Loved it!
Laura
This looks amazing! I just love cherries but have never used them in a savoury dish.
Flavour & Savour
Usually we jut gobble them up, but this time I set some aside to make this salsa. So glad I did!
Kari - Get Inspired Everyday!
I'm really hoping our local cherries will be in at Farmer's Market tomorrow so I can try this out!
Flavour & Savour
We've been eating this all week! So good!