You're Seriously Missing Out If You Don't Sprinkle Tajín On Pineapple

Fresh pineapple makes for a delicious and nutritious snack, but it can get boring fast if you always eat it straight. You don't have to pull out a cookbook to spice up your pineapple though. You can simply drizzle it with caramel or top it with whipped cream. The only issue with these and other pineapple upgrades is that they usually make it sweeter. Sometimes, you want a more complex snack. That's where Tajín comes in.

Tajín is a simple spice mix made predominately from three dried ground chili peppers (chiles de árbol, guajillo, and pasilla), sea salt, and dehydrated lime juice. And when you pair it properly, something it does perfectly with pineapple, it sings. When looking specifically at fresh, ripe pineapple, it's the salt and lime that have the biggest impact. A little salt brings out pineapple's sweetness and helps cut down its "tingle," while the sourness and flavor of the lime plays well with pineapple's natural tartness. Then, after each delicious bite, the chili powder adds a dash of mild heat to pineapple's aftertaste.

Tajín, which is both the brand name and shorthand for Tajín's original Clásico seasoning, has three key flavors. The first you taste is salt. Tajín uses small salt nuggets because it's mainly used as a topper. These little bits are just large enough not to melt into food, so you always experience a short, sharp burst of saltiness. On fresh, ripe pineapple, that burst quickly gives way to sweetness like a delicious one-two punch. 

If you cook your pineapple to remove its tingle-causing bromelain, sprinkle the Tajín on after it's done. Grilling is a popular method, but pan searing and roasting are equally yummy. Just don't soak pineapple in salt water before cooking or the salt in Tajín can overwhelm you.

Tajín's next flavor, sour lime from the dehydrated juice, rushes in quickly after the salt. This is Tajín's longest-lasting and most-impactful flavor, so it's essential to pair it with citrus-friendly foods. This includes the king of street tacos, the pineapple-centric tacos al pastor. Its final flavor, the heat from the chilis, is its subtlest. You need to use a fair bit of Tajín to feel the heat, and even then it's still mild. To put it in greater perspective, Tajín had to add the phrase "this is not a candy" to bottles because children were eating it straight.

Pineapple isn't the only ripe, raw fruit that tastes amazing with Tajín. The brand directly recommends it on oranges, mangoes, and watermelon. Watermelon is an especially popular pairing, to the point that some supermarkets in southern states such as Texas stock bottles of Tajín next to watermelon when it's in season. Tajín's flakiness also pairs well with pears' grainy texture, and its heat and sour lime work wonders on elevating cantaloupe and honeydews' subtle flavor. You can also use Tajín to literally spice up your next fruit-based recipe, try sprinkling it on a homemade version of Disney parks' famous Dole Whip for a little sour kick and mild heat.

But you don't need to limit yourself to fresh fruit. Tajín is an excellent addition to vegetables, especially corn when it's part of a grilled Mexican street corn recipe. It's also a perfect topping to your next bowl of homemade guacamole since it already calls for lime juice. You can even rim classic margaritas with it instead of plain salt to call to mind a dressed tequila shot. You can truly use it anywhere you think could use a hint of sour lime, a dash of mild heat, and a punch of salt.