Homemade Pico de Gallo Recipe
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This simple-to-make homemade pico de gallo recipe comes together in minutes and is the perfect topping for Latin-inspired meals. The flavors in this are perfectly complementary to an assortment of recipes.
If you love different toppings and salsas as much as I do, you must try my Guacamole Recipe or Homemade Salsa.
Pico de Gallo
Pico de gallo is a simple relish consisting of tomatoes, onions, peppers, cilantro, lemon or lime juice, and seasonings. This salsa can be traced back to the ancient Aztec cuisine. It is sometimes referred to as salsa Bandera as the red, white, and green colors from the ingredients in the relish represent the same colors as the Mexican flag.
This is a beautiful condiment to serve on top of or alongside tacos, burritos, rice, and beans, or any Latin-inspired dishes. It’s even good serving it up with a side of crisp tortilla chips.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Tomatoes – Use fresh in-season tomatoes.
- Onions – You can use a yellow, white, red, or sweet onion in this recipe.
- Peppers – I prefer to use serrano peppers. However, you can use jalapeños.
- Lemon – A little lemon juice will help add some clean acid and decrease the spice.
- Cilantro – These will add some lemon-lime flavors to the pico de gallo.
- Cumin – This is optional, but a little bit of ground cumin will enhance the flavor of this recipe.
How to Make a Homemade Pico de Gallo
Fillet the tomatoes by removing the outside flesh of the tomato from the seeds. Slice off the bottom of the tomatoes to use as well.
Add the tomatoes, onions, peppers, lemon juice, cilantro, cumin, salt, and pepper to a large bowl.
Mix until it is completely combined. Adjust any seasonings with more lemon juice, cumin, salt, or pepper.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this homemade salsa up to 1 day ahead of time.
How to Store: Place covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This recipe will not freeze well.
How to Re-serve: You may need to drain off some of the liquid and re-season it before serving it again.
Chef Notes + Tips
- Feel free to use any breed of fresh tomatoes, like Roma, heirloom, or even cherry tomatoes.
- Try using a habanero pepper if you want more spice in this recipe.
- This salsa will taste even better the next time as it allows time for the flavors to infuse.
- You can substitute with two 15-ounce cans of drained diced tomatoes.
More Mexican Food Recipes
Homemade Pico de Gallo Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 seeded small diced vine-ripe tomatoes
- 1 peeled small diced large yellow onion
- 1 seeded small diced serrano pepper
- 1/2 cup finely minced fresh cilantro
- Juice of 1 lemon or lime or about 3 tablespoons
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Fillet the tomatoes by remove the outside flesh of the tomato from the seeds. Slice off the bottom of the tomatoes to use as well.
- Add the tomatoes along with onions, peppers, lemon juice, cilantro, cumin, salt, and pepper to a large bowl.
- Mix until it is completely combined. Adjust any seasonings with more lemon juice, cumin, salt, or pepper.
I keep this delicious stuff in My Fridge all the time. I make it fresh about 3 times a week. Some one comes by there is a quick snack for them. We put it on everything and eat it by the spoon fulls too. Good stuff here and a Must for any BBQ!!!