Watermelon Pineapple and Cilantro Salsa

Here is a recipe that offers an explosion of flavor that can be used as a dip or a condiment. Watermelon Pineapple and Cilantro Salsa is sweet, hot and spicy, and because you’re making it yourself, you control the heat and sweet.

The beauty of making your own salsa is that you are using fresh ingredients, so you know what you’re eating. You also control the flavor. If you’re not a huge fan of spicy salsa, tone down the hot honey. Not fan of cilantro? Use flat Italian parsley instead.

Incidentally, if you can’t find hot honey, you can use regular honey instead with a pinch of hot sauce or a minced jalapeño.

Preparing the Fruit

This Watermelon Pineapple and Cilantro Salsa recipe definitely requires sharp knives for dicing the fresh pineapple and cubing the watermelon. Using the right knife makes cutting safer and easier.

To dice the pineapple, use Cutco’s Hardy Slicer. I think they should call this knife the pineapple knife since it works so well for preparing this hardy fruit.

Trim off the crown and bottom of the pineapple. Stand it up on the Cutting Board and cut away the prickly rind to expose the flesh. Cut down the center of the pineapple flesh, lay the halves flat on the cutting board and cut into quarters. Lay the pineapple quarters on their side and angle the knife to cut away the core from each. Cut the quarters into halves, rotate and cut crosswise to dice. For a detailed look at how to do it, watch Cutco’s How to Cut a Fresh Pineapple video.

Cutting the watermelon is pretty similar. Using a Butcher Knife cut the watermelon in half. Lay the halves flat on the Cutting Board and trim away the rind. Then, use a 9" Carver to cut the halves into quarters. Lay them flat on their long edge and slice. Stack the slices and cut into strips. Rotate and cut crosswise to cube. Cutco also has a detailed video, How to Cut Watermelon into Cubes, that can be quite helpful.

Preparing the green onions is as easy as grabbing the 7-5/8" Petite Chef knife and thinly slicing.

How to Serve Salsa

When most of us think of salsa we think of dipping tortilla chips into it. While that’s certainly a delicious way to eat this Watermelon Pineapple and Cilantro Salsa, there are other ways to enjoy it. It is great with grilled protein like pork, chicken or mild fish.

The salsa is ready to eat after making it, but letting it sit for a couple of hours to overnight will really bring the flavors together.