Satisfyingly fresh, and a little spicy, this Pico de Gallo recipe is the best one you’ll find! Making your own pico de gallo at home is easy, calling for just 6 ingredients and coming together in about 15 minutes.
Whether you like to use pico de gallo as a burrito topping or to dunk crunchy tortilla chips in, you can’t go wrong with this fresh treat. This recipe is great for any season.
Get the pico de gallo recipe as well as some juicy tips that make dicing and chopping much easier and way faster.
Fresh, juicy and delicious, homemade pico de gallo is a must-have recipe for your collection.
For us, I wanted to make our own pico salsa because it allowed me control over the ingredients. We eat mostly organic foods at our house, which works perfectly for a fresh recipe like this one.
You’ll love this recipe because it’s
- Easy to prepare in around 15 minutes with no cooking involved
- Tastes great on everything from tortilla chips to burritos to hashbrowns with eggs
- Makes large batch quantities to feed a crowd at your next party
Find creative ways to use pico de gallo, such as a topping for homemade mozzarella sticks!
Ingredients
When possible, use the freshest ingredients to make this pico de gallo recipe. Since this is inherently a fresh salsa that is meant to be eaten fresh, I make pico the same day or within a few days of buying the ingredients.
Tip:
Don’t put fresh tomatoes in the refrigerator, as it changes the DNA, rendering tomatoes flavorless as well as changing them to a mushy texture.
Gather these ingredients to make pico de gallo at home:
- Red onion (about half), 1 cup, diced fine - Not only does red onion look good in pico salsa, but tastes amazing! You can use white onion, though red onion gives this dish a much better flavor.
- Lime, 1, fresh squeezed juice - There is nothing quite like fresh squeezed lime juice, and it makes all the difference here. If you don’t have fresh limes, use store-bought lime juice.
- Roma tomatoes (about 5-6), 2 ½ to 3 cups, seeded, diced fine - Be sure to remove the chambers and seeds or it will make your pico extremely wet, bordering on mushy. Whatever you do, don’t refrigerate tomatoes. They become flavorless and mushy, because refrigeration actually changes the DNA of tomatoes.
- Jalapeño, 1, seeded, diced fine - Whether you remove the seeds or not is a matter of preference. If you like spicy, after removing the seeds, veins and pith, finely dice the flesh/body. Separately, roughly dice the seeds, veins and pith and add everything to the mixing bowl. Otherwise, if you want a mild version, remove and discard the seeds, veins and pith. Then, finely dice the flesh, adding only it to the bowl.
- Cilantro, ¼ to ½ cup, roughly chopped small - Love it or hate it, cilantro is a staple in this Mexican salsa. Roughly chop the cilantro fairly small before adding to the mixing bowl.
- Salt, ½ teaspoon - A little salt always goes a long way in salsas, considering you may be pairing this pico with salty chips or cheese. Start with ½ teaspoon salt and taste test. You can always add more, but you can’t remove it.
Tip:
The acidity of lime juice actually cooks the onion a little. Because of this, the first step I recommend is to dice the onion finely and then squeeze the lime over the onion. After mixing it together, let it sit while you finely dice the Roma tomatoes.
Instructions
- Finely dice the red onion and add it to the mixing bowl. Squeeze the lime over the onion and mix to coat.
- After removing the seeds and finely dicing the Roma tomatoes, add them to the bowl.
- For the jalapeño, if you like it spicy, finely dice the jalapeño whole—seeds and all—and add it to the bowl. Otherwise, after removing the seeds, veins and pith, finely dice the jalapeño and add it to the bowl.
- Roughly chop the cilantro small and add it to the bowl.
- Add the salt and stir to combine. Taste test to see if you need more salt. You can always add more later but you can’t take it out.
- Serve immediately.
Serving Suggestions
Pico de gallo at home means you get the freshest version possible! Think of creative ways to serve pico at your next brunch or holiday get-together.
- Breakfast - Serve freshly made pico de gallo over crispy hashbrowns with eggs and cheese.
- Appetizer - Throwing a party? Make a large batch of homemade pico de gallo to accompany crispy tortilla chips of the white, yellow and blue corn kind.
- Snack - Make a quick afternoon snack with pico de gallo as the topping for mini tacos, cheese quesadilla or with tortilla chips.
Pico de Gallo Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Red onion (about half an onion), diced fine
- Juice from 1 lime, fresh squeezed
- 2 ½ to 3 cups Roma tomatoes (about 5-6), seeded, diced fine
- 1 Jalapeño, seeded if you don’t want it spicy, diced fine
- ¼ to ½ cup Fresh cilantro, roughly chopped small
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Finely dice the red onion and add it to the mixing bowl. Squeeze the lime over the onion and mix to coat. Tip: I learned that the acidity in lime juice actually cooks the onion a little, so do this step first before anything else.
- After removing the seeds and finely dicing the Roma tomatoes, add them to the bowl.
- For the jalapeño, if you like it spicy, finely dice the jalapeño whole—seeds and all—and add it to the bowl. Otherwise, after removing the seeds, veins and pith, finely dice the jalapeño and add it to the bowl.
- Roughly chop the cilantro small and add it to the bowl.
- Add the salt and stir to combine. Taste test to see if you need more salt. You can always add more later but you can’t take it out.
- Serve immediately.
Leave a Reply