Full of flavor, this fresh bell pepper salsa is perfect as an appetizer with tortilla chips or served as a side with meat, fish or vegetarian food. Made without tomatoes or citrus, this low histamine salsa comes together in just 10 minutes!
Do check out my mango corn salsa and peach corn salsa for more tasty options!
Perfect for summer BBQs and picnics, this salsa with no tomatoes or chili peppers makes the most of fresh produce, herbs and garlic. But don't worry about it lacking in flavor! Green apple gives that tart, sweet taste, alongside onion, garlic and cilantro.
Making this red pepper salsa couldn't be more simple, with just a few steps. Then pair with recipes such as my spiced boneless skinless chicken thighs or my honey ginger grilled chicken at your fun BBQ with friends and family!
And don't forget to serve with my air fryer pita chips or homemade seed crackers for something to scoop it up with!
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Flavorful tomato free salsa. This no tomato salsa makes the most of fresh sweet peppers, green apple and onion. A tasty salsa with peppers is ideal for those who cannot tolerate tomatoes.
Versatile. Enjoy with tortilla chips, crackers, bell pepper scoops or even in a sandwich (yes, I love it that way!).
Quick and easy. All you need is a bit of chopping and dicing of fresh bell peppers and other produce to make this fun capsicum salsa recipe. No cooking required!
🌶 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Bell peppers - also known as capsicum or just 'peppers', we use red and yellow in this recipe, but feel free to add some green peppers in too! This recipe uses sweet bell peppers rather than hot jalapeno peppers to make it a low histamine diet recipe and for those who aren't keen on spice.
- Green apple - I suggest using a green apple rather than red as it gives a nice tart flavor to the salsa in place of tomatoes.
- Olive oil - extra virgin olive oil is best for its depth of flavor.
📖 Swaps and variations
Add corn. Salsa is quite versatile, so if you like to add some corn then you can!
Swap apple cider vinegar for lime juice. For those who can tolerate citrus, you can add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice (likely not my low histamine readers).
Swap onion for red onion or green onion. Use the type of onion that works best for you!
🔪 Step by step instructions
Making this homemade bell pepper salsa is very simple, with just a few steps.
Step 1: Make the dressing
Add the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, salt and black pepper to a small bowl and whisk to combine (image 1).
Step 2: Dice the salsa vegetables
Dice the bell peppers, apple, cucumber, onion and cilantro (image 2). Combine the diced vegetables with the dressing in your serving bowl. Stir to mix the ingredients.
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Dice the bell peppers, cucumber, apple and onion quite finely with a sharp knife of roughly even sizes.
- Dice the apple just before serving as it will brown quite quickly.
- Add more garlic, onion or cilantro to taste preference.
📋 Frequently asked questions
If you prefer you can easily roast the bell peppers and then dice, or use roasted bell peppers from a jar if that is suitable for you.
Yes, it's a no tomato salsa and so suitable for those who cannot tolerate or just don't like tomatoes.
You can add hot peppers, such as a jalapeno pepper. This wouldn't be suitable for my low histamine readers.
🍽 How to serve bell pepper salsa
Salsa is always perfect for summer BBQs and potlucks, and this tomato less bell pepper salsa is so versatile!
- Serve with tortilla chips or crackers for that fun scoop of goodness!
- Pair with my honey chicken burger or coconut chicken kebabs for outdoor grilling.
- Top fish or chicken dishes such as my cod with mango salsa or my chicken with rosemary and thyme.
🥗 More salad recipes
Find so many fresh summer salads here, including my popular beet and butternut salad and my refreshing apple and cucumber salad and cucumber mango salad. Some recent recipes to enjoy:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Bell Pepper Salsa (Tomato Free)
Ingredients
- ½ cup red bell pepper diced
- ½ cup yellow bell pepper diced
- ½ cup English cucumber diced
- ¼ cup onion diced
- ¼ cup green apple diced
- 2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 garlic clove minced or finely diced
- ¼ cup cilantro (coriander), finely diced
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Instructions
- Add the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, salt and black pepper (if using) to a small bowl. Whisk or stir to combine.
- Dice all the vegetables and herbs, then add to your serving bowl. Drizzle over the olive oil dressing and stir to mix through the salsa.
Notes
- Dice the bell peppers, apple, cucumber and onion into roughly the same size pieces.
- I suggest dicing the apple just before serving as it can brown quickly.
- Adjust with more garlic or cilantro to preference.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- garlic and apple cider vinegar, which score 1.
- you may prefer to use white onion that scores 0.
- coriander scores 0, but with a ? as a liberator and a note, 'only small amounts are well tolerated'.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
Ronni Chipps says
Love it reminds me of the flavor of Chipotle corn salsa
Claire says
Lovely to hear that you enjoyed the salsa!
Clare says
Not being able to eat raw tomatoes or citrus, I genuinely thought I’d not be able to eat salsa again, so I’m excited to give this one a try!
Claire says
Hope you enjoy it Clare! It's very easy to make for a picnic or snack.
Ronni Chipps says
I too can't eat anything citrus ... so thought the same thing.... do you know why you can't I have always wondered why I can't and never had anyone to ask well I have asked but no one knows so far?
Claire says
If you have histamine issues, then citrus is typically understood to be higher histamine. But I would suggest to work with a dietitian for your personal circumstances.
Liz says
This is my go-to summer salad/accompaniment and I keep coming back to it multiple times a week as I love it so much! I sometimes swap in red onion and add mountains of coriander as I love it. I usually pair it with garlic and ACV chicken and rice - but I can't wait to bring it to a BBQ this summer as I know others will love it too!
Claire says
Lovely to hear you enjoy the salsa so much Liz! It's so easy to make, and I hope you enjoy it with summer BBQ food too!
Lagene says
I did not expect to like this because I don't like peppers or cucumbers--but it is delicious! Thank you so much for the wonderful recipes!
Claire says
So glad you like it! It's so light and fresh for summer I think.
Jen says
This was very yummy! Easy to put together and hits the salsa spot!
Claire says
So glad you liked it Jen! Perfect for summer I think 🙂