Our articles may contain affiliate links. This means we receive commissions for purchases made through those links, at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying Amazon purchases.

Stay connected via Google News

When tomato season is over, you don’t have to give up fresh salsa. This cranberry persimmon salsa swaps summer tomatoes for two of fall’s best fruits, then brings them together with fresh chile, cilantro and lime. The result is tart, lightly sweet and mildly spicy, with the fresh, juicy character you want from a good salsa.

Serve it with tacos, grilled chicken, fried fish or carne asada, or put out a bowl with tortilla chips. It’s an easy way to keep fresh salsa on the table when tomatoes are no longer at their best.

Table of Contents

Why this is a fall fruit recipe you’ll want to use over and over

I first tasted this unusual salsa at an event hosted by Rancho La Puerta, the legendary Baja destination. I liked it enough that I promptly begged for the recipe.

What caught me was how naturally the combination worked. The cranberries bring tartness and a little pop while firm Fuyu persimmons add sweetness and texture. Fresh chile, cilantro, red onion and lime pull everything together so the fruit still tastes like salsa rather than dessert. It’s become a fall fruit recipe I reach for over and over when I want to give a simple recipe a bit of a zing.

Persimmon tips

You may not be all that familiar with persimmon, a fall fruit sold in several varieties. This recipe calls for Fuyu persimmons, a non-astringent variety that is less tannic than many other persimmons. Fuyu persimmons continue to sweeten after they’re picked, so they can be ripe while still fairly firm.

That’s important for this salsa. You want the persimmons soft enough to be sweet and flavorful but firm enough to dice neatly and hold their shape. Don’t confuse ripening with rotting. A ripe Fuyu should still have some firmness to it.

How to use it

Don’t stop at tacos. This salsa is an easy way to add something fresh, tart and a little spicy to dinner. I love it on grilled fish. But you can also spoon it over grilled chicken, fried fish or carne asada, or add it to a roast chicken sandwich. You can even use it alongside Thanksgiving turkey in place of traditional cranberry sauce.

There’s another reason I like this particular combination. Several of its ingredients have a history as aphrodisiac foods, including chile peppers, cranberries and persimmons. Chile has been associated with sexual excitement for centuries, while cranberries and persimmons bring nutrients and antioxidants that make them interesting from a sexual health perspective. That combination of good flavor and ingredients with a connection to sexual health is exactly the kind of food we look for at Eat Something Sexy.

More of my favorite sauce & relish recipes

Pineapple Teriyaki Sauce
Fast & Easy Mojo
Easy Chimichurri
Salsa Agrodolce

Cranberry Persimmon Fruit Salsa

Print Recipe

This easy salsa recipe puts a sweet spin on salsa. Use it on tacos, or as a topping for grilled fish or meat.

Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Mexican

Dish Type salsa

Cooking Style Easy, vegan

Diet and Health Healthy, low calorie, low fat

Seasonal autumn, Christmas, Halloween, Holiday season, Thanksgiving

Ingredient persimmon

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 5

Cooling Time 30

Total Time 20

Servings servings

Calories 117

Author Rancho La Puerta

Ingredients

1 cup Fresh cranberries
2-3 tbsp Sweet rce wine vinegar
1/4 cup Red onion finely chopped*
1/4 cup Cilantro leaves roughly chopped
1/4 Serrano or Jalapeño pepper seeded and minced
Sea salt to taste
4 tbsp Fresh lime juice or to taste
4 Small Fuyu persimmons peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice**

US Customary - Metric

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Cook cranberries very gently in sweet rice wine vinegar until skins pop. Monitor the liquid level to ensure there's always enough and the cranberries don't burn.
Set aside to cool.
Combine all other ingredients in a serving bowl, adding cranberries and persimmons last.
Serve over tacos or other grilled favorites.

Notes

* Substitute with finely chopped sweet onion if you prefer.

**If you can't find Fuyu persimmons, you can substitute with mango to make a tropical mango and cranberry salsa.

A note on the provided nutrition information

The nutrition information provided has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator and is not a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Nutrition

This article was written in 2017 and republished in September 2026 with greater clarification of recipe instructions and a new introduction.

Author
Recent Posts

Amy Reiley

Eat Something Sexy's Creator & Editor-in-Chief Amy Reiley is the award-winning author of five aphrodisiac cookbooks. She has her Master of Arts in Gastronomy, awarded by Le Cordon Bleu and The University of Adelaide. She is also a Certified Nutrition Coach awarded by the International Sports Sciences Association and she is a California Certified Massage Therapist.

Amy is considered a leading authority on aphrodisiacs. Her work in aphrodisiacs is quoted in publications including National Geographic, The New York Times, Epicurious, Wine Enthusiast, Health and Playboy magazines. She speaks internationally on aphrodisiac foods and has brought her knowledge of aphrodisiac history and science to national television shows including The Today Show and CBS Early Show. She is a frequent guest on relationship and lifestyle radio and podcast shows and has been interviewed by BBC and NPR radio, Cosmopolitan radio and popular podcasts including My Dad Wrote a Porno.

Amy is also a freelance food, wine and health researcher and writer as well as a wine competition judge. Her work has appeared in publications ranging from Variety to The Daily Meal. She is an MSN content provider. And she is also a former wine editor for Gayot.com and wine & spirits editor of Las Vegas magazine.

Fun fact: Amy was the creator of the first ever comprehensive food and wine apps, Amy Reiley's Pocket Gourmet and Amy Reiley's Pocket Vineyard for Palm.

Fuyu Persimmon Salsa With Cranberries, Chile and Lime