Morelian Gazpacho Fruit Salad Recipe

By
Robin Grose
Robin Grose
Food writer who lived in Mexico City for 20 years, learning key flavors and techniques to create Mexican food recipes.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 01/18/23
Cropped Hands Holding Fruit Salad In Bowl
Kimberly Low / EyeEm / Getty Images
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 20 mins
Servings: 4 servings

Morelia, the capital of the central Mexican state of Michoacán, has developed a distinct version of pico de gallo fruit salad. Though it shares a name with a Spanish dish, it is nothing like the cold tomato-based soup we generally associate with the term gazpacho.

Morelian Gazpacho is, like other fruit picos, a common street food consisting of a mix of fruit types. This rendition from Michoacán, however, has smaller pieces and one rather unexpected ingredient: onion! Stay with me, here, though, because the tiny amount of onion is very finely chopped and not really noticeable as a discreet flavor; it’s more of an acidic element that helps to counterbalance all the sweet fruit. You can always omit mentioning the onion to folks who are trying it for the first time. (After they try it, though, they are going to want the complete recipe.)

If it’s a hot day, your body’s going to crave this, so please give it a try.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chopped jicama

  • 2 cups fresh mango

  • 2 cups fresh pineapple

  • 2 cups chopped watermelon

  • 2 Mexican limes

  • 1/4 small white onion

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground hot pepper, such as chile piquin or similar, or 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper)

  • 1 cup finely shredded or crumbled white cheese, such as queso fresco, cotija

  • 2 cups orange juice

  • 1 dash ground hot pepper, optional

  • 1 tablespoon hot sauce optional

Steps to Make It

*Do not use "chili powder" (spice blend intended for making chili soup) in this, as that product contains other seasonings that don't fit in with the flavors here.

  1. All the fruit should be fresh (not canned) except for maybe the pineapple, which could be canned if fresh is not available. Chop it all into small cubes of roughly the same size – no larger than, say, half an inch in size. Put all the chopped fruit into a large bowl and squeeze all the juice from the limes over it.

  2. Dice the onion as small as you can – we want it to add it as a flavor element to this dish without its being noticeable as an ingredient. Add onion to the bowl of fruit, together with the salt, ground hot pepper and/or black pepper, cheese, and orange juice.

  3. Dish into bowls or, for the street food effect, transparent disposable cups. Offer additional ground hot pepper and/or bottled hot sauce for those who wish to zip up their gazpachos even more. Serve with a spoon.

Recipe Variations

  • Include cucumber (without seeds) and/or cantaloupe in the mix of fruit, in place of or in addition to those listed in the main recipe.
  • Omit the ground hot pepper and use fresh instead: dice a seeded and deveined jalapeño pepper as finely as you can and mix it in.
  • For an additional tart note, stir in a tablespoon or so of vinegar in addition to the lime juice.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
301 Calories
8g Fat
53g Carbs
9g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 301
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 8g 10%
Saturated Fat 4g 21%
Cholesterol 21mg 7%
Sodium 743mg 32%
Total Carbohydrate 53g 19%
Dietary Fiber 8g 28%
Total Sugars 37g
Protein 9g
Vitamin C 173mg 865%
Calcium 265mg 20%
Iron 1mg 8%
Potassium 751mg 16%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)