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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

Did you love this Pico de Gallo? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!