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Get ready to put this fast and fabulous fresh tomato salsa (pico de gallo) on heavy rotation. It enhances everything from tacos to scrambled eggs to tortilla chips, and all you need to make it is a sharp knife.
Why we love this recipe
Fresh tomato salsa with onion, spicy green pepper, cilantro, and lime juice originates in Mexico. Lucky for us, pico de gallo has proliferated widely throughout the U.S. as well. You can find packaged versions in the refrigerator section of most grocery stores, but there’s truly nothing like making your own for both freshness and customization.
Our version:
- Has a great, punchy balance of flavors
- Incorporates both lime and lemon juice for a more nuanced tang
- Uses optimal prep techniques to get the best possible results
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe. As with all simple recipes, the quality of the ingredients goes a long way toward perfecting the final dish.
- Use beautifully ripe tomatoes. Any kind you like will work fine. Romas and plum tomatoes are excellent grocery store contenders based on their texture, availability, and typical quality.
- You can use red or white onion. White is more traditional, but both varieties provide a nice balance of sweetness, sharpness, and crisp texture.
- One seeded jalapeño leaves pico mild and flavorful. You can add more, leave the seeds and white ribs in, or swap in a spicier pepper variety of your choice if you’d like more heat.
- Lime juice is the traditional choice for adding acidity to pico. I like to use equal parts freshly squeezed lime juice and lemon juice. It’s probably because the citrus we get in my area is shipped from far away, but I find that this combination gives a better-rounded flavor profile.
- This recipe calls for plenty of salt, which brings out the best in all the flavors and helps meld them together. You can, of course adjust it to your taste.
How to make it
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a great batch of pico de gallo. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- Remove cores and seedy pulp from tomatoes. Cut flesh into 1/4-inch dice and place into a mixing bowl.
- Add onion, cilantro, jalapeño, lemon juice, lime juice, and salt.
- Stir together well.
- Let it sit for at least five minutes before serving, ideally longer.
What’s in a name?
Pico de gallo means “rooster’s beak” in Spanish. There’s no strong consensus on where the name comes from, but I adore all the theories equally:
- It’s traditionally been eaten by pinching together the thumb and forefinger, making a beak shape
- The diced ingredients resemble bird feed
- Serrano peppers have a beak-like shape
Other names include salsa fresca (fresh sauce), salsa cruda (raw sauce), salsa bandera (flag sauce, thanks to the red, white, and green), salsa picada (minced sauce), and salsa mexicana. And of course, as with all dishes with a long history and wide geological scope, there are as many versions as there are cooks.
Suggested variations
You can easily swap in other finely diced seasonal fruits and vegetables for up to half of the tomatoes in this recipe. Try:
- Pineapple
- Peach or nectarine
- Mango
- Watermelon
- Red bell pepper
- Jicama
- Corn kernels
Expert tips and FAQs
You can use any beautifully ripe tomatoes in this recipe. Roma and plum tomatoes tend to be widely available and of reasonably good quality. In the summer, feel free to swap in anything from multicolored heirlooms to your own bumper crop. Regardless of the type, remove the seedy pulp before dicing.
You can also use halved or quartered cherry or grape tomatoes if you like, for a different but also delicious vibe. In this case, you won’t seed them.
For those of you looking to replicate Chipotle’s fresh salsa at home, you can use this recipe as written. They shared their pico-making process on TikTok, it’s about the same as what we like to do at home, including the use of both lime and lemon juices.
Yes! While it’s not strictly necessary, I recommend making the pico at least half an hour or so in advance of serving time. The salt will draw a bit of the moisture out of the tomatoes, helping to mingle the flavors. You can make it up to 24 hours in advance and keep in an airtight container in the fridge, and it will remain at peak flavor and texture.
Leftovers will keep well beyond that time frame, up to a week.
How to use it
This salsa makes a fabulous, naturally gluten-free and vegan appetizer with tortilla chips. But there’s so much more it can do. Some of our favorite ways to use it include:
- Topping scrambled eggs
- Using as the salsa or as a separate topping in migas
- Jazzing up black bean vegan tacos, or any other taco, enchilada, or quesadilla recipe
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Fresh Tomato Salsa (Pico de Gallo)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds (680 grams) ripe tomatoes (to make 3 cups diced)
- 1 cup minced red or white onion
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 jalapeño, minced
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Remove cores and seedy pulp from tomatoes. Cut flesh into 1/4-inch dice and place into a mixing bowl.
- Add onion, cilantro, jalapeño, lemon juice, lime juice, and salt.
- Stir together well.
- Let it sit for at least five minutes before serving, ideally longer.
Notes
- You can use any beautifully ripe tomatoes in this recipe. Roma and plum tomatoes tend to be widely available and of reasonably good quality. In the summer, feel free to swap in anything from multicolored heirlooms to your own bumper crop. Regardless of the type, remove the seedy pulp before dicing. You can also use halved or quartered cherry or grape tomatoes if you like, for a different but also delicious vibe. In this case, you won't seed them.
- While it's not strictly necessary, I recommend making fresh tomato salsa at least half an hour or so in advance of serving time. The salt will draw a bit of the moisture out of the tomatoes, helping to mingle the flavors. You can make it up to 24 hours in advance and keep in an airtight container in the fridge, and it will remain at peak flavor and texture.
- Leftovers will keep well beyond that time frame, up to a week.
- You can easily swap in other finely diced seasonal fruits and vegetables for up to half of the tomatoes in this recipe. Try: pineapple, peach or nectarine, mango, watermelon, red bell pepper, jicama, or corn kernels.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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