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Make this Pico De Gallo recipe anytime you want a fresh and crisp topping for tacos, burritos, grilled meat, or a scoopable dip with tortilla chips.
What is Pico De Gallo? (Vs. salsa)
Pico de gallo (AKA salsa fresca) is chunky and made with raw, fresh ingredients, whereas restaurant salsa is smoother and has more liquid.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Bright, tangy, and a little bit spicy, this is the best Pico de Gallo, and full of flavor with a mild kick.
- Skill Level: Prep, toss, chill, and serve. This Mexican food staple is so easy to prepare, it’s beginner-friendly.
- Time-Saving Tip: Buy pre-chopped onions, tomatoes, and canned chopped jalapenos.
- Yield: Make a double or triple batch and use it all week long.
Ingredients Tips for Pico de Gallo
- Tomatoes: Go for the freshest, firmest tomatoes you can find so they hold up better. Garden tomatoes are the best, but you can also go for beefsteak, vine, or Roma tomatoes.
- Onions: White onions are sweeter and less pungent than red onions or yellow onions; use your preferred amount to taste. Soak the chopped onions in cold water and rinse them to decrease the flavor a little bit. Sliced green onions are perfect if you want a Pico de Gallo that’s extra mild but still has a little color.
- Jalapeño Peppers: Fresh jalapenos add crunch, and if you keep the membranes and seeds in, they can be very spicy. Remove seeds for a milder dish. For a mild, tart flavor, use pickled jalapenos.
- Herbs: Cilantro is the standard for fresh Mexican flavors, but you can use parsley if cilantro isn’t your thing.
- Lime & Salt: Use sparingly to marry the flavors. Smoked salt, garlic powder, lime zest, or cracked black pepper all add dimensions of flavor to homemade Pico de Gallo.
Variations
- This recipe is perfect for extras like green chiles, corn, radishes, avocado, bell peppers, serrano peppers, black olives, or finely diced mangoes. Just be sure the pieces are all cut to uniform sizes for easy scooping (I love this chopper for exactly that!).
- Mix Pico de Gallo with sour cream or guacamole for a creamy-style Pico.
Ways to Serve Pico De Gallo
Serve Pico de Gallo as a low-calorie, nutritious dip with fresh veggies like celery, bell pepper scoops, and chips or crackers. Give beef or chorizo tacos extra zing, or use Pico de Gallo as a topping on grilled chicken or fajitas.
Storing Pico De Gallo
- Make this homemade salsa a day ahead, and the flavors will blend even more! Stir before serving.
- Keep leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. It might be softer than fresh, but it can still be added to breakfast burritos or quesadillas.
- Freezing isn’t recommended due to the high water content of the ingredients. But Pico de Gallo is so easy to make fresh.
More Fresh Tomato Recipes
Did you love this Pico de Gallo? Be sure to leave a rating and comment below!
Pico de Gallo
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds ripe tomatoes diced
- ¾ cup finely diced onion or to taste
- 1 whole lime juiced
- 1 whole jalapeno seeded and diced
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Dice tomatoes and set in a strainer to drain while preparing the remaining ingredients.
- Add drained tomatoes, onion, lime, jalapeno, cilantro, salt, and pepper 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, Dip, Party Food, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine Mexican© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Love this recipe! It’s my go-to for fresh garden tomatoes. This time I didn’t have enough tomatoes so I swapped in some cucumbers and oh my! SO delicious. -SWP Employee
How many tomatoes is needed for the 4 1/2 pounds of tomatoes when tripling the recipe?
It can vary based on the size and variety of tomatoes. Each pound of Roma tomatoes is about 3 to 4 per pound so you’d need about 16 for 4.5lbs.
Whole family loved it
Thx
So glad your family loved it Sherry!
I will never use this site again. I printed out 18 pages of ego print to get 4 pages of receipe.
There is a print button on the recipe that will print just the recipe.
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!