If you’ve never chopped a purple beauty bell pepper before, here’s your warning: it looks completely different once it’s diced. That gorgeous deep purple skin gives way to this pale green-white interior, which caught me off guard the first time (turns out the color is skin-deep, literally). I’m telling you this so you don’t panic mid-recipe and think you bought the wrong pepper. You didn’t. It’s just doing its thing.
You see, I *tried* to use a purple beauty bell pepper last year when I saw them at the farmer’s market, but I made the critical mistake of cooking them. Since the color is only on the skin, once the skin is cooked it actually goes green and, honestly kind of sad –it’s like the “beauty” of the variety all fades! So, this year when I saw them I knew it was my opportunity to try again, and this time, I was ready.
This purple pepper blackberry salsa came together in my mind because I also saw blackberries that were exquisite at the same stop, and the color pairing just couldn’t be denied. I knew they’d be a perfect match!
The salsa itself is dead simple: diced purple pepper, roughly chopped blackberries, red onion, a good amount of lime juice, cilantro, and jalapeño if you’re feeling it (I always am). Let it sit for ten minutes before you serve it. I know waiting is annoying when you want to eat immediately, but that rest lets the lime start breaking things down and the flavors actually talk to each other instead of just existing in the same bowl.
Where this goes from good to “wait, can I have the recipe” is the whipped goat cheese underneath. That’s what takes this from snack to actual appetizer. Whip your goat cheese with olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, and a little maple syrup until it’s fluffy, not the dense log-straight-from-the-package texture. A hand mixer does this in about ninety seconds. Spread it across a shallow plate or dish, leave a well in the center like you’re building a moat, and spoon the salsa in. The tang from the goat cheese against the sweet-tart salsa is doing a lot of the actual work in this recipe, so I don’t recommend skipping it. (You can also pull this off completely plant based, check my notes in the recipe!).
And one last note with that thought — if you don’t have purple beauty peppers because they aren’t in season, that is okay! Green or red could work great here as an alternative and the flavor is worth it regardless of the color variety bell pepper you are working with.
This one’s raw, gluten-free friendly, refined sugar-free, and comes together in about twenty minutes of actual hands-on work. If you make it, tag me @herbyeater on TikTok or Instagram!
Purple Pepper Blackberry Salsa & Lime Whipped Goat Cheese
Equipment
- Cutting board
- Chef’s knife
- Mixing bowl
- Hand mixer or food processor
- Shallow serving plate or board
Ingredients
For the Goat Cheese:
- 8 oz soft goat cheese room temperature (225g)
- 2 tbsp olive oil plus more for drizzling (30ml)
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice 15ml
- 1 tsp lime zest
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- Pinch of salt
For the Salsa:
- 2 purple beauty bell peppers finely diced (~1½ cups / 200g)
- 1 cup blackberries roughly chopped (150g)
- ¼ cup red onion finely diced (35g)
- 1 jalapeño seeded and minced (optional, for heat)
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro chopped (10g)
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice 30ml
- 1 tbsp olive oil 15ml
- ¼ tsp salt or to taste
To Finish:
- Flaky salt
- A few extra cilantro or basil leaves
Instructions
- Start with the whipped goat cheese. Combine goat cheese, olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, maple syrup, and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Whip with a hand mixer (or pulse in a food processor) for 1–2 minutes, until light, fluffy, and spreadable. Set aside.
- Salsa next. Finely dice the purple bell peppers and red onion. Roughly chop the blackberries, keeping some texture. Mince the jalapeño if using.
- Combine pepper, blackberries, onion, jalapeño, and cilantro in a bowl. Add lime juice and olive oil, and toss gently so you don’t crush the blackberries.
- Season the salsa with salt and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Smear the whipped goat cheese across a shallow plate or board using the back of a spoon, leaving a shallow well in the center.
- Spoon the salsa into the well, letting some spill over the edges naturally.
- Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of flaky salt, and a scatter of cilantro or basil leaves. Fan crackers around the edge and serve immediately.