Pico de gallo is easy to make an incredibly versatile! Bring it to your next gathering for a perfect pre-dinner snack, throw it on your tacos, nachos, burritos, put it on your steak, use it to marinade…the list goes on and on. The ingredients are pretty traditional and chances are you have everything you need at home to make this pico de gallo recipe.
Difference between pico de gallo and salsa
The word pico de gallo is Spanish for ‘roosters beak’ and is a traditional and common tomato based salsa used in Mexican cuisine.
While pico can be classified as a salsa, it is differentiated from traditional red salsa due to its chunky consistency. Salsa, in the traditional sense, is thinner and more liquid. It is also smoother in consistency.
Important tid bits!
- Composed of only a few ingredients there is so much you can do with this simple pico de gallo recipe. The basic ingredients include tomato, red onions, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. You can change it up as you wish. Add some jalapeños for extra spice.
- Use cilantro and lots of it. This is a very important flavor to add to your pico de gallo. Make sure the cilantro is fresh and chopped very finely before adding it to the salsa.
- Always use fresh tomatoes for your pico de gallo as opposed to canned. I generally use Roma tomatoes but any fleshy tomato should work fine. You will need to deseed the tomatoes, so the more flesh on it the better.
- I always use freshly squeezed lime juice to give it that little hit of extra flavor.
- The point of pico de gallo is to use as a topping or dip. Therefore, it is important to dice up your ingredients nice and small. It’s tough to balance large chunks of tomato on the tip of a tortilla chip. Keep everything cubed to no more then 1/2 inch sized cubes. I always mince my garlic and onion so that they don’t over power the pico.
Homemade Pico de Gallo
This pico de gallo is extremely simple and versatile. Perfect as a dip or topping on your tacos.
Ingredients
- 3 medium Roma tomatoes diced
- 1 medium Red onion diced
- 1 tsp Garlic minced
- ½ cup Fresh cilantro finely chopped
- 4 tbsp Freshly squeezed lime juice approximately 2 limes
- 1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- ¾ tsp Salt or to taste
- ½ tsp Black pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Dice up the tomatoes and onions, mince up the garlic and finely chop up the parsley.
- Add the tomato, onion, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to a mixing bowl and mix it well.
- Place it in the refrigerator to rest for about 20 minutes then mix it up again and taste. Add more salt and pepper if required.
- Store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
