Pico de Gallo is a fresh salsa with juicy ripe tomatoes, onions, lime juice, and a hint of heat from jalapenos!
This dish is a perfect appetizer, great served with tortilla chips or added to tacos! Pour some margaritas and bring out the tortilla chips.
What is Pico De Gallo?
Pico de gallo is a type of fresh salsa (also known as salsa fresca). Tomato, onion, fresh lime and salt bring it all together.
Pico de Gallo vs. Salsa Pico de Gallo is not cooked or blended like restaurant style salsa, it is served fresh with large chunks and less liquid. The ingredients fresh, ripe and serve raw (which is why it’s ).
Ingredients for Fresh Salsa
TOMATOES
As these are the base of this recipe choose the ripest tomatoes you can find. Any kind works from Roma to cherry tomatoes.
ONIONS
Fresh white onion is added. If you find it too strong in flavor, chop it and soak in cold water (rinsing a couple of times). I use this same method when making fajitas to take a bit of the bite out of the onion.
JALAPENO
Fresh jalapeno adds a bit of heat to this recipe. If you’d like a milder salsa, be sure to scrape out the seeds and membranes before dicing.
CILANTRO
This is an ingredient people tend to have a strong opinion about! I personally love it and it truly makes the flavor of this dish. If you absolutely cannot eat cilantro, you can leave it out.
LIME, SALT
Let the tomatoes and onions shine. Just a squeeze of lime and a bit of salt is all that’s needed.
How To Make Pico De Gallo
To make this pico de gallo recipe:
- Chop Finely: Dice the tomatoes and drain while the rest of the ingredients are prepared to remove excess juices.
- Combine: Add all ingredients with the tomatoes to a bowl, and toss to combine.
- Rest: Allow pico de gallo to sit for at least 20 minutes before serving for the flavors to blend.
Optional Add-Ins
Here are some fresh and delicious additions to pico de gallo:
- Avocado – for a creamy addition
- 2 cloves fresh garlic – finely minced
- Red onion – substitute for white onion
- Red, yellow, or green peppers – finely diced
- Cucumbers – finely diced, seeds removed
- Mango – turn this into a mango salsa by replacing tomatoes with mango or pineapple
Leftovers?
This will last about 24-48 hours in the fridge. After that it will still be fine to eat but will get a bit wilted.
As you might suspect, freezing this recipe will change the texture so I highly recommend enjoying it fresh if possible. If you do have leftovers that you need to freeze, rather than scooping it up with chips, it makes an excellent addition to soups, stews or chili while cooking!
Serve Pico de Gallo with…
Spoon it over enchiladas, serve it with tacos (chicken, shrimp or beef).
Add a bowl next to a plate of loaded nachos. It’s fresh, it’s delicious and it goes with pretty much anything!
More Ways to Enjoy Fresh Tomatoes
- Garden Fresh Bruschetta
- Fresh Tomato Salad
- Fresh Tomato Soup
- Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Roasted Tomatoes
- Tomato Pie
Did you love this Pico de Gallo? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Pico de Gallo
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds ripe tomatoes diced
- ¾ cup onion finely diced, or to taste
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 jalapeno seeded and diced
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Dice tomatoes and set in a strainer to drain while preparing the remaining ingredients.
- Add all ingredients to a small bowl and toss to combine.
- Allow to sit at least 20 minutes for flavors to blend.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer
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I love your black bean and corn salad. Specially your salsa. I’ve shared it on my facebook.
EXCELLENT RECIPE!!!!!
About how many cups tomatoes have small ones mimi
This is approximately 2 cups of diced tomatoes. Enjoy Mimi!
I can literally eat pico de gallo with a spoon! I love that yours is tomato-dominant rather than onion dominant. Sometimes in restaurants it’s more onions than tomatoes which I am not as fond of. This look perfect!
You know for sure I was thinking about you this morning when I posted this recipe! :) Looking forward to a pico de gallo, tortilla chips and margarita date with you!