Move over cherry pie because this Fresh Cherry Salsa recipe has gone wildly savory. I know what you are thinking, really cherries in my salsa? Once you try the delicious combination of sweet cherries, fresh ginger, spicy jalapenos and zesty lime together you are going to wonder why it took you so long to try this lip-smacking combo. This perfectly balanced fresh fruit salsa is a little sweet, savory, spicy and surprisingly versatile.
When juicy summer cherries are in season, we could just eat this cherry salsa by the spoonful! Try serving it with tortilla chips, on a charcuterie board, over grilled pork chops, paired with fish and seafood, and so much more. It's happily gluten-free, refined sugar free and vegan. Best of all, this homemade salsa can be made ahead. There is no cooking involved so it's perfect for summer entertaining.
Jump to:
The Secret Is in the Balance
Fresh Sweet Cherries
We used Michigan "sweet cherries", sometimes called a purple or snacking cherries. Some common suitable sweet types of sweet cherries for this recipe include the Emperor Francis, Napoleon, Bing, Chelan, Lapins, Rainer (but they come with a hefty price tag), Tulare, Lambert, and more.
You want to choose a sweet cherry for the natural sweetness. This way you do not need to add any sugar to this fresh cherry salsa recipe. Sour cherries are best for when you want to enjoy a sweet and tart flavor for pies, cherry plum fruit crumble, jam and more.
Ginger
Freshly grated ginger adds a little warming zing. Surprisingly delicious! If you have some left over, it is delicious in the sauce for our air fryer salmon bites. You can also use ⅛ teaspoon of dried ground ginger in a pinch. Remember dried ginger is much stronger than fresh ginger.
Jalapeno Pepper
It helps balances the sweet and spicy flavors.Dial in the heat up or down to your personal preference. Of course, feel free to add your favorite spicy pepper of choice but note that each has a different Scoville scale (heat level) so you will need to adjust how much accordingly.
Lime and Lemon
The juice and zest ingredient add a bit of freshness and acid that pulls all the flavors together. In addition, it keeps the cut cherries from oxidizing or browning.You can use all lime or lemon. We liked the subtle citrus flavor of using both.
Green Onion
Onion transforms this easy homemade fruit salsa into a savory one. Unlike a regular white or yellow onion, a green onion is milder to enjoy in a fruit cherry or mango salsa.
Cilantro and Alternatives
If you are from the anti-cilantro group (smiling), you know who you are! Leave it out or add a little flat leafed parsley instead.
More Than Just a Chip Dip
Of course, you can't go wrong with serving fresh cherry salsa with your favorite tortilla chips. Hey, let's not stop there. There are so many more ways to serve it.
- Serve fresh fruit salsa over grilled chicken!
- Spoon over rosemary pork chops or pork tenderloin.
- Try it over grilled crostini slathered in ricotta or cream cheese. Another brilliant way to serve guests up is to open a block of cream cheese and just pour the cherry salsa directly over the cream cheese block. Serve with grilled crostini on the side and let everyone help themselves.
- Fun addition to a cheeseboard!
- Serve with fish tacos.
- Add some to a platter of firecracker grilled shrimp for a tasty appetizer.
Cherry Salsa Tips and Tricks
How to pit a cherry? You can use a knife to cut the fresh cherry in half and then pop out the pit. Purchase a cherry pitter. However, the way that we can never get to work is using a chopstick to push out the pit while holding it over a bottle. Good luck with that method!
How do you choose a perfectly ripe cherry? The best sweet ripe cherries are firm but have a slight give when pressed, shiny and smell sweet. Choose cherries that are void of any spots, mold or soft spots. If they smell sour, musty or are mushy, pass those up.
How to avoid watery salsa? Make sure your cherries are washed and dried thoroughly before chopping.Don't add salt until you are ready to serve because the sodium will force the juice out of the cherry.
Can you make cherry salsa in advance? Yes, you certainly assemble fresh homemade salsa up to 3 days in advance. However, it is best eaten on the day it is made. When we are hosting an evening gathering, we either make fresh cherry salsa in the morning or the evening before. Then, season to taste just before serving.
Should we cut the cherries in half or roughly chop them? It depends on how you plan to use them. We left ours just sliced in half because we were planning on spooning the fresh salsa over our grilled 5 spice pork loin chops. If you are planning on serving as an appetizer with crispy tortilla chips, we suggest chopping them up smaller, so it is easier to scoop and eat.
Make It Your Own
- Add other fruits like blueberries, peaches, nectarines, apricots or even watermelon to the salsa.
- Try adding a chopped avocado for a creamy bite.
- Explore new herbs like basil or tarragon. Maybe you would prefer chopped shallots or red onion instead of green onions.
- Have you ever tried 5 spice powder with cherries and ginger? It's a match made in heaven. You have got to give it a try!
- Add some crunch with roasted corn or toasted nuts.
- Throw in a few cooked, rinsed and drained black, garbanzo or cannellini beans
- Kick up the heat with more jalapenos or other chili peppers.
- Add a drizzle of honey or maple syrup, if your cherries are not sweet enough.
Questions From Our Kitchen to Yours
Fresh is best but yes, you can use frozen cherries that have been pitted. They are available all year around but will leave more juices in your cherry salsa. Be sure to thaw to cherries separately and thoroughly. Please make sure you drain them well and dab them with a paper towel to remove the excess liquid. Then, taste one. If it is not sweet enough, you may need to add a little honey or maple syrup to the cherry salsa to balance the flavors of savory, spicy, sour and sweet.
Store fresh cherry salsa in a non-reactive sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. We do not recommend freezing it due to texture changes.
We recommend using a sweet cherry to balance the flavors of savory, spicy, sour and sweet. It's best to look for the type of sweet cherries that are easiest for you to find in the market. For example, sweet Bing or Chelan cherries are nice. Do not use sour cherries like Montmorency cherry as it will have your mouth puckering. Then, you will have to add additional sweeteners to balance the flavors.
Well, that is up to you! You can make this recipe mild or as spicy as you like. If you like extra mild, you may want to skip the jalapeno altogether because the fresh ginger gives natural warmth to this recipe. On the other hand, if you enjoy the heat, add more jalapeno or spicier chilis to your liking. We like it somewhere in the medium range. Depending on how spicy the jalapeno and its size, we usually add ½ chopped jalapeno pepper.
100th Annual National Cherry Festival in Michigan
It's going to be hustling and bustling in Traverse City, Michigan from July 4th to 11th, 2026. It's America's 250-year Anniversary AND Michigan's Centennial celebration of cherries combined into one delicious week of fun.
There is a lineup of fun family activities, parades, air shows, concerts, fireworks but more importantly, cherry picking, cherry pie eating contests, desserts, jams, and much more.
If you think you can beat the Guinness Book of Records for the record distance of 95 fee and 6.5 inches in the cherry pit spitting contest, register on July 6th at the event! (smiling)
More Cherry Recipe Ideas
Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.
Fresh Cherry Salsa
Equipment
- knife or cherry pitter
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups cherries
"Sweet" Pitted and sliced - 2 whole Green onion
sliced thinly - 1.5 teaspoon Ginger
freshly grated - ½ to 1 jalapeño
chopped finely or to desired heat level - 4 tablespoons lime juice
freshly squeezed - 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- Salt
to taste - 1 tablespoon Cilantro garnish as desired - optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add the pitted and sliced or chopped sweet fresh cherries, green onion, grated ginger, jalapeño and salt to taste. If serving right away also add the lime juice and lemon zest and garnish with cilantro if desired.
- If you plan on making the salsa in advance, hold the salt and lime and lemon zest and add just before serving.
Video
Notes
- You can pit and slice and all your ingredients, except for the lime/lemon juice, zest and salt so that your cherry salsa stays fresh and does not become watery. The citrus juice starts to break down the salsa as it sits so add that just before serving.
- This salsa is also delicious made with blueberries, strawberries and watermelon.
- You better the double the batch as it goes fast. Don't tell us we did not warn you!
- If you already own a cherry pitter, lucky for you. For the rest of us, the fastest way I have found to get the pit out of the cherry is using a small tipped pastry tip. Also, the old fashion knife method works out A-okay too. We tried the chopstick at the end over a bottle trick and just made a mess.
Nutrition
Homemade Gluten Free Baked Tortilla Chips
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Spray your baking pan with oil
- Cut your gluten-free flour soft tortillas (can also use corn or regular soft flour tortillas) in rectangles or any little shape you desire.
- Lay your cut soft tortillas on the baking sheet. Spray lightly with olive oil and season with salt and any flavors of choice like cumin, chili, taco mix, etc.
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Keep an eye on them as they brown fast.
- Enjoy!
Ken says
Cherry salsa -- this is sort of Willi Wonka ?
HWC Magazine says
It is so good! Try it over grilled pork chops and you can thank us later.
Monica M. says
This is so interesting and not something I've seen before. My husband loves cherries and it's so nice to take advantage when they're in season. What a fun way to enjoy them in this salsa.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Monica! Loving the in seasonal fruits and this is one way to really celebrate their peak sweetness. Wishing you a super weekend.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
I just saw cherries in the market yesterday…perfect timing to stop by and see your salsa.
HWC Magazine says
Oh super! This cherry ginger salsa is just lovely with grilled pork. Have you seen our new recipe for Grilled five spice pork loin chops? Take Care
Julie @ HostessAtHeart says
I just love cherries and this sounds like a perfect snack. Love the sweet and spicy combo and it's show stopper pretty too!
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Julie! We love that this cherry ginger salsa has the notes of the sweet, savory, spicy notes all in one mouthful.
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
I love cherries every which way. This would definitely be one of them!
HWC Magazine says
Thanks Abbe, we are huge cherry fans too. Wishing you a super weekend.
kitchenriffs says
Love fruit salsas! Such nice flavor. Cherry is a terrific choice -- this looks wonderful. Thanks!
HWC Magazine says
Thanks John! Life can be a bowl of cherries, indeed! Take Care
Jasline says
I just went cherry picking today, this looks like a good way to use up some cherries! Delicious!
HWC Magazine says
How fun! Wish we could have joined you. Thanks so much and hope you have a super week!
Gerlinde de Broekert says
What a great idea using cherries for salsa, I can't wait to try this. Thanks for the recipe.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Gerlinde. These beautiful cherries were just looking so delicious we knew right away that we needed to enjoy them fresh.
Juliana says
Oh cherries...I never thought in making salsa with cherries...after seeing this recipe I can see why I should try...I think I can just eat spoonfuls of this salsa...thanks for the recipe Bobbi!
Have a wonderful week ahead 🙂
HWC Magazine says
Juliana, actually this cherry ginger salsa taste amazing just by the spoonful...not that I would know that or anything.. wink wink. Quality assurance purposes only.
YiReservation says
What a fun dish to make! I love cherry but have never turned it into a dish. This cherry salsa looks like a perfect snack to serve at my next party! Thanks for the recipe.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Yi! We see so many dishes for sweet desserts made with cherries but not too many fresh so we thought we would change that up a bit! Wishing you a Happy Dragon Boat Festival!