A tasty mango salsa recipe made with sweet mangos and spicy chili peppers, including jalapenos, serranos, and habanero peppers. This is a cooked version of the salsa. It's the perfect appetizer or party food, and you can easily adjust it to your own preferred heat and spice level. Great, also, for topping grilled meats.
Summer is well on the way and to me, summer means SALSA, so I've been busting out some great Salsa Recipes lately. I recently posted a spicy Habanero Salsa Recipe, which turned out AWESOME, btw, as well as a Fresh Mango Salsa Recipe that I made with habanero peppers, jalapenos and serranos.
Loved it!!
This is a continuation of that Fresh Mango Salsa, only we're taking that recipe a step further and we're processing, then cooking the salsa.
Cooking? Yes!
What's the Difference Between Fresh Vs. Cooked Salsa?
Fresh salsa is made with raw ingredients that have been either chopped or processed with some sort of acid, usually vinegar or citrus, then served as an appetizer. There is no cooking involved.
A cooked salsa, on the other hand, heats the processed ingredients and simmers them to let the flavors mingle and develop.
Why Cook Your Salsa?
Fresh salsas are great for their pure, almost raw flavors, but cooking the salsa brings them all together into a certain harmony, allowing them to work together as a whole. With each ingredient flavor blended as such, the overall flavor of the salsa becomes mellower and more nuanced.
You'll still noticed the individual flavors of each ingredient, but each will be more subtle.
How to Make Mango Salsa - The Recipe/Method
Making this salsa requires a bit more time than making the fresh version of the salsa, but not much more. It's quite straightforward.
The first thing you'll need to do is gather up your ingredients, including mango, chili peppers, onion, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, red wine vinegar, and a bit of salt and pepper.
Peel and chop the mango, then chop the peppers, onion, garlic and cilantro. All you need is a rough chop.
Pop them into a blender or food processor and process them until the mixture is nice and smooth.
With a fresh salsa, you can leave it chunkier if you'd like, but with a cooked salsa, you want a smoother consistency to help the flavors blend more evenly. NOTE: If you feel the salsa is too thick, add in a bit more vinegar or water to help thin it out.
Next, add the ingredients to a pan and bring it to a quick boil. Reduce the heat and let the whole thing simmer for 20 minutes or so. Remove it from the heat and let it cool.
Adjust it to your personal taste with a bit of salt and pepper then let it cool completely.
I like to store my cooked salsas in the refrigerator in a sealable container to let the flavors mingle and develop even more. It's even better the next day, so make a good sized batch ahead of time if you're having a party.
A few notes on making salsa.
Choosing Chili Peppers for your Mango Salsa - Tweaking the Recipe
As you already know, I LOVE my salsa nice and SPICY. I LOVE a good heat factor, so I chose to include 1 jalapeno pepper, 2 serrano peppers and 1 habanero pepper. You'll definitely get some HEAT here.
However, if you'd like to dial back the heat level, skip the habanero pepper. You can also reduce or skip the serranos, and go with jalapeno peppers only. You'll still get a nice kick from them.
And as mentioned, if you feel the salsa is too thick for your tastes, add in a bit more vinegar or some water to help thin it out.
Serving Up Your Mango Salsa
You want to bust out the chips, right? So do I! But! Consider serving a salsa like this over grilled foods. It really adds a pop of heat and flavor to many a dish. Try it over grilled chicken or pork, or toss a few scoops with grilled shrimp.
Try it out on tacos, too. It's the perfect topping!
Can You Freeze Mango Salsa?
Yes! Fresh mango salsa doesn't freeze very well, unfortunately, but cooked salsa can be frozen without issue. Use a freezer proof container, or pour the salsa into freezer bags and seal it.
Take it out of the freezer a day ahead of time to let it thaw and serve it up as normal.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! If you make this, take a pic, share it with the world! Please tag #ChiliPepperMadness. I'll love you forever!
Check out our other Salsa Recipes, my salsa loving friends.
Check out These Related Recipes
This is the second recipe in a trio of different recipes you can make with the exact same ingredients. See:
Please comment and give it a review in the form below if you enjoy it! I'd love to hear from you. Thanks!
Fiery Mango Salsa
Ingredients
- 2 small mangos peeled and chopped
- 2 serrano peppers chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper chopped
- 1 habanero pepper chopped
- 1 small sweet onion chopped
- 2 medium red tomatoes chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- Juice from 1 lime
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar or more for a thinner consistency
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a food processor. Pulse the mixture several times until you achieve your desired consistency.
- Pour the fresh salsa into a pan and bring to a quick light boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Cool, then store in the refrigerator in airtight containers. The flavors will develop the longer you let it sit.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Bob W says
I made your fresh mango salsa a few days ago and it was great! I made some grilled tuna steak and topped it with the salsa and it was delicious. I'll be trying this cooked version soon to see how it compares - thanks for the great recipes!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome, Bob! Glad you liked it! Let me know how this one turns out for you.