Homemade Pico de Gallo

This homemade pico de gallo is fresh, full of flavor, and so easy to make! Requiring just 5 simple ingredients, this is the perfect recipe for a summer barbecue. Serve with a frozen margarita!

Anyone else LOVE homemade pico de gallo?! I’ve been craving all the fresh things lately and I’ve been making this recipe from scratch weekly and loving it. It’s fresh, simple and perfect served with chips and my blackberry margarita.

Pico de gallo, also known as salsa fresca, is a type of salsa commonly used in Mexican Cuisine, and translates to “beak of rooster.” It’s made with just 5 simple ingredients (6 if you count salt) and takes all of 10 minutes to make!

For this recipe you’ll need some roma tomatoes, white or red onion, cilantro, jalapeño and fresh limes. That’s it! You can make it as spicy or mild as you like.

There are so many variations to pico de gallo, and considering tomatoes are a fruit, you can easily throw in some chopped mango, peach or even some corn to spruce things up.

Use it in tacos (it’s SO good in my fish tacos), nachos, with Mexican rice, burrito bowls, or just as a dip with your favorite chips. Anything goes!

How to make homemade pico de gallo

First you’ll want to prep all of the ingredients. Remove the core of the tomatoes and discard. Chop them very finely to really get the most out of the flavor. I like to use this veggie chopper for both the onion and tomatoes!

Chop/dice everything else, which includes the jalapeño, red onion and cilantro. If you like spice, you can include some jalapeño seeds and white ribs, but otherwise leave them out.

For best results, you want to chop everything very finely so the flavors really come out.

Once everything is chopped, add it to a bowl with the lime juice and salt and toss to combine. Let the mixture marinate for about 10-15 minutes to let the flavors blend.

This is also helpful if your tomatoes weren’t totally ripe since it allows the lime juice to soften them slightly.

Pico de gallo vs. Salsa

Pico de gallo, also known as salsa fresco, is a type of salsa, but is different than a typical store bought jar of salsa.

The ingredients are similar, both mostly consisting of tomatoes, onion, cilantro and some type of spicy pepper or chile.

Traditional salsa is more pureed than pico de gallo, giving it a thinner consistency. Fresh pico de gallo is diced, not pureed, and has a much chunkier consistency.

What kind of tomatoes are best?

I like using roma tomatoes for this recipe since they’re less watery but really any variety of tomato will work.

You want them pretty red and ripe, but not totally mushy since we’ll be adding lots of other liquid from lime to the recipe.

Serving tip

Tomatoes release a lot of juice after they are chopped, so you’ll likely end up with a lot of juice at the bottom of your bowl.

I personally like it like this, but you can serve with a slotted spoon if you don’t like it too juicy.

Try these next!

• Spicy Fish Tacos
• Vegan Burrito Bowl
• Watermelon Margarita
• Tahini Dressing

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5 from 4 votes

Homemade Pico de Gallo

by: claire cary

This homemade pico de gallo is fresh, full of flavor, and so easy to make! Requiring just 5 simple ingredients, this is the perfect recipe for a summer barbecue. 

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Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 0 minutes mins

Total: 10 minutes mins

6

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• ▢ 10 roma tomatoes*
• ▢ 1 red onion
• ▢ 2 jalapeños diced*
• ▢ 1 cup chopped cilantro
• ▢ ¼ cup fresh lime juice depending on preference
• ▢ ½ – 1 tsp salt

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

• Core the tomatoes and chop finely (discarding the core). I like to use this veggie chopper for both the onion and tomatoes!
• Finely dice the onion and add to a bowl with the chopped tomatoes. 
• Add in the chopped cilantro, lime juice, salt and diced jalapeños. Dice the jalapenos as finely as possible, if you like spice, include some seeds, otherwise discard them. 
• Mix together until combined. Let sit for about 10 minutes to let the flavors blend, then taste and add more salt or lime juice as desired. 

Notes

I like using roma tomatoes for this recipe since they’re less watery but really any variety of tomato will work. You want them pretty red and ripe, but not totally mushy since we’ll be adding lots of other liquid from lime to the recipe.

Serrano pepper works in place of jalapeño if that’s all you have.

Once prepared, this recipe will keep in the fridge for about 5 days.

Serving: 1/2 cup / Calories: 52kcal / Carbohydrates: 11g / Protein: 2.2g / Fat: 0.5g / Fiber: 3.2g / Sugar: 4.6g

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