Conch salad brings the flavors of the Caribbean right to your kitchen! This raw seafood salad is refreshing and full of chopped conch meat, crunchy veggies, and bright and zesty orange and lime juice. Ready in 20 minutes, serve this light appetizer with corn chips, plantain chips, or alongside your favorite summer meal.
Homemade Bahamian conch salad is one of those dishes that will make you feel like you are on a vacation in the Caribbean. It’s refreshingly bright, filled with fresh seafood, and has a slightly spicy flavor with a nice tang! Also try my frozen tuna steak in air fryer , baked pollock and air fryer frozen tilapia recipes.
What is conch?
Conch is a type of giant sea snail that’s indigenous to the seas around the Bahamas. All of the conch meat is edible, and it’s often cooked into fritters, burgers, chowders, and of course, salad.
In Bahamian culture, the whole conch is used. The meat is used in cooking, of course, and the conch shells are sometimes transformed into a horn by cutting a hole in the top of them.
What is a Bahamian conch salad?
Bahamian conch salad is a vibrant and crunchy salad made using raw pound conch meat. The flavor is made up of a mixture of onions, bell peppers, orange juice, lime juice, and spicy peppers giving it a fresh, zesty, and slightly spicy taste.
This Dish is a Bahamian staple, so if you want to know what it’s like to eat like a local, it’s the perfect place to start. Conch meat is a good source of protein, meaning that although this tropical conch salad feels like a light bite, it will give you all the fuel you need.
Why We Love This Homemade Caribbean Conch Salad
Disclaimer: Consuming any raw meat (or egg) does come with certain risks. Be sure to use fresh high-quality conch and serve this dish shortly after preparing. Do not make more than 24 hours ahead.
You know those dishes you get on vacation that you simply cannot stop thinking about when you get home? Well, this Bahamian Conch Salad is #1 at the top of my “when can we go back because I need to eat THAT” again list.
Refreshing, crunchy, tangy, and bright Conch Salad is a raw seafood dish we look forward to eating every time we visit the Bahamas. Seriously, the moment we step off the plane, we head straight to the harbor where the Conch Man is making fresh salads to order.
Ingredients for conch salad
- Raw conch meat – tenderized and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- Garlic – peeled and minced.
- Cucumber – diced.
- Roma tomatoes – Make sure that you use ripe tomatoes. We need the juice
- Fresh orange juice.
- Lime juice.
- Fresh lemon juice.
- Onion – you can use sweet onion or white onion
- Scotch bonnet pepper – chopped. – or any other hot pepper like goat pepper, habanero pepper, or even jalapeno pepper that will give you that spicy flavor. Or if you have a mixed crowd for heat, have some pepper sauce on the side to give the option for additional heat.
- Bell/green peppers – you can use green bell pepper or orange or even red.
- Salt and black pepper.
- Cilantro – chopped.
How to make Bahamian conch salad
- Tenderize conch with a meat mallet. Dice into bite-sized chunks. Soak conch in 1 cup lemon juice for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
- Drain off lemon juice and place conch in a bowl. Add tomatoes, onion, green pepper, cucumber, seasoning blend, and seasoned salt; mix thoroughly.
- Transfer conch mixture to a container. Add remaining 1/4 cup lemon juice, tomato juice, and lime juice; mix well. Stir in vinegar and hot sauce. Refrigerate until flavors combine, about 1 hour. Serve cold.
What to serve with conch salad
Try serving your Bahamian conch salad as a main meal or a starter for a feast, featuring Bahamian conch fritters or a fragrant lobster curry.
If you’re looking for a specialty Bahamian drink to have with your salad, you can’t go wrong with a tasty gully wash also known as “sky juice”, made with coconut water, gin, and condensed milk.
Substitutions
Other seafoods: Bahamian conch salad is best made with conch, of course, but it can be challenging to get hold of sometimes. If you can’t find any, try making the salad with shrimp, lionfish, or crab meat.
Vegetables: The important thing about the veggies is that they are crunchy and fresh tasting, so bear this in mind if you decide to substitute any of the vegetables.
Fruits: If you want a more tropical version, try adding some chopped-up pineapples or mangoes to the mix. You can also add some avocados at the end.
Storing
Bahamian conch salad can be better the next day because the flavor has more time to blend, and the conch will tenderize more. Do not keep it in the fridge for longer than two days, though.
The salad is served cold, so you don’t need to warm it or reheat it when you serve it.
So are you ready to dive into this beautiful conch salad?
Frequently asked questions
What is conch meat?
Conch is meat from large sea snails that are usually found in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, or near the Bahamas and Jamaica. It can be eaten raw – like in this salad or used to make fritters or inside of soups or stews for added flavor and texture.
Where does this salad originate from?
This salad is a staple in the Bahamas. Conch meat is native to this area as well as other coastal locations.
What is this salad made of?
This conch appetizer is basically a ceviche. It’s a salad featuring raw conch meat, chopped bell pepper, tomato, onions, hot peppers, and lime and orange juice.
Is it safe to eat raw seafood?
Raw seafood is generally safe to consume but only if you aren’t immune comprised or pregnant. Small children and elderly people are generally advised not to eat raw meat or seafood since there is always a potential risk involved with eating it.
Where to buy?
Conch meat is an uncommon ingredient to find in most grocery stores. Your best bet is to look for it in your local seafood markets or check out if online delivery services have it in stock.
Recipe Tips!
Bahamian Conch Salad Recipe!
Equipment
- Dutch oven
- Mixing bowls
Ingredients
- 2 raw conch
- 1 tomatoes
- 1/2 bell peppers
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 orange, juiced
- 1/2 Onion
- 1 habanero pepper
- taste to salt
Instructions
- Chop all the vegetables in to small pieces. Add finely chopped conch meat. Add salt. Mix very well.
- Add juice of lime and orange and serve.