Update: Hey guys, I’m re-posting this Pico de Gallo recipe because I’ve added a video to the post — it’s my first recipe video!! You’ll find the video down below, right before the recipe box. Please let me know if the video is helpful and if you’d like to see more of them!
Every kitchen needs a no-thinking-involved Pico de Gallo recipe.
Because if you don’t have to think about how to make it, you can focus on the infinite number of ways you can use it.
There’s a recipe sheet at the bottom of this page that can be printed out, but if you sear the following pic in your memory you’ll always have what you need to make a delicious, versatile Pico de Gallo.
Authentic Pico de Gallo Recipe
So in the above photo we’re using:
2 tomatoes
1/2 onion
1 jalapeno
15-20 sprigs cilantro
juice of 1 lime
And of course, a bit of salt. You’ll probably need close to 1/2 teaspoon of salt for this batch, but I usually start by tossing in a heaping 1/4 teaspoon and then doing some taste testing.
Give the tomato, jalapeno, and cilantro a good rinse. I usually twist off and discard the bottom, thicker portion of the cilantro stems, but I use the upper portion of the stems that hold the leaves together. (How to chop cilantro.)
And regarding the jalapeno, I usually start by adding half of it and then adding more if I feel the Pico needs more heat. Of course, a lot of this depends on the mood of the jalapeno, so I’m in the habit of sticking the tip of my tongue on this spot:
Do this regularly and you’ll get an instant snapshot of how combative your jalapeno is feeling, especially compared to other jalapenos. I wouldn’t recommend doing this with hotter peppers like habaneros, but I like doing it with jalapenos and serranos.
This particular jalapeno was relatively mild, so I knew I would probably be adding all of it to the Pico batch.
Finely chop the tomato, onion, jalapeno, cilantro and add them to a mixing bowl.
Add the juice of a single lime and a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Mix well.
And now the most important part: taste it!
Pico de Gallo reaches its full potential when the tomatoes are kept in check by the other ingredients. So if you take a bite and get a mouthful of tomato-ey flavor you can balance it out by adding more onion, jalapeno, or lime juice.
This batch needed more jalapeno, salt, and lime juice. So that’s close to a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and all of the juice from a single lime (close to 2 tablespoons worth).
When the ingredients are in balance, Pico is the perfect example of the sum being far greater than the individual parts. It has a light, effervescent flavor that will work wonders on all sorts of dishes.
We use it on Tortas:
And on Nachos…
And on these Molletes:
And even on some Avocado Toast:
Once you’ve made it you’ll never have to dig around for another Pico de Gallo recipe. Awesome!
Okay, as promised, here’s the recipe video. It’s my first recipe vid so feel free to use the comments section below if you have feedback on it and please let me know if you’d like to see more of them!
Click Play to see how easy it is to make Pico de Gallo!!
Buen Provecho.
Authentic, Well-Balanced Pico de Gallo
Ingredients
- 2 tomatoes
- 1/2 onion
- 1 jalapeno
- 15-20 sprigs cilantro
- juice of 1 lime
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)
Instructions
- Give the tomatoes, jalapeno, and cilantro a good rinse. Peel the onion and de-stem the tomatoes and jalapeno. I usually twist off and discard the bottom, thicker portions of the cilantro stems, but keep the upper portion of the stems that hold the leaves together.
- Finely chop the 2 tomatoes, 1/2 onion, and jalapeno into 1/4" sized chunks. Finely dice the cilantro. For a milder version you can start by using only 1/2 of the jalapeno and adding more incrementally if you want more heat.
- Combine the tomato, onion, jalapeno and cilantro in a mixing bowl. Add a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of salt and the juice of a single lime. Mix together well and taste for seasoning. Add additional salt and lime if necessary (I added more salt to this batch).
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Notes
We use a similar technique in our Cucumber Radish Salsa.
I love the site and love the recipes I’ve tried! I can’t seem to find or see the search button.
Hi Claudia, I’m glad you are finding some keeper recipes! If you click the recipes tab there’s a search box at the top of the page. It should be there on both mobile and desktop devices. Cheers.
Love the simple recipes. Made Pork chili verde, and Pico de Gallo tonight. I’m up in Alaska, so we don’t get much home cooked Mexican meals unless I make them myself.
Thanks Tom, I love hearing from people in faraway places who are making their own Mexican food!
Glad the Pico worked out for you — Pork Chili Verde is on my recipe to-do list and I’m hoping to fiddle with it soon. I hope your batch turned out tasty. Cheers.
love it
This is the real deal. People will ask you for the recipe and then won’t believe you because it is simple and has no garlic. Which I do not recommend adding.
I’m wondering how you can cut jalapeños without wearing gloves & no burning skin?? I learned the hard way years ago when my hands burned for a couple days after handing raw jalapeños! Might be good to have a reminder for people that don’t know this. I love your recipes…thanks for sharing!
Thanks for your feedback Kathryn! I will make a note of this as it’s become habit for me and I even stick my tongue in the middle of the jalapeno doh!
If you have a scrape or open wound on your hand then the jalapeno will cause burning — or if you touch your nose or eyes after handling chili peppers you’ll get some burning. But for relatively mild peppers like jalapenos and serranos I think it’s fine to just handle them normally and give your hands a rinse afterwards — definitely worth mentioning though so I’ll add a warning about that.
Cheers.
Excellent video Patrick. Simple and to the point. I would like to see more videos.
Okay great, thanks for your feedback David.
I always added garlic but I like this recipe without. Thanks! Also normally made a lot and refrigerated but smaller and more often… never thought of it. Fantastic! Thanks for the recipe and your site.
Cheers Gaylen — yeah I definitely prefer it without garlic.
I totally appreciate the video with the simple and delish recipe. You’ve reminded me must how easy it is to make pico. I should do it more often. Thanks!
Okay great, thanks Dorothy!
Hi Patrick,
A bit of a challenge and the fix. I get your recipes via email and clicking on them is no problem but with a video included I have to open the mail in my ‘browser’ to view it.
On to the video.. more please. It made me realize how simple Pico-de-gallo is to make leaving me with no choice but to make it. Also, put your face in the video so we can see the master of MexicanPlease.. just don’t start yelling ‘BAM!’ when you add the salt.
Cheers and looking forward to more.
John
Ha don’t worry, there will be no BAM from me! Thanks much for the feedback John and thanks for mentioning the browser fix that is good to know on my end. Cheers.
I love the video ! Thank you
Thanks Feriba!
Good stuff Pat! I have an ad blocker on my browser which “hides” your video. When I paused the ad blocker, the video appears. Figured I would let you know.
Hey thanks for mentioning that JP I didn’t know that would happen — I guess it’s that initial ad in front of the video hmmmm….
Hey, nice video. What are you chopping on? A countertop? Very nice, very fresh recipe.
Thanks Jeff! I’m using one of those Epicurean cutting boards in this vid. Cheers.
Patrick — your Pico de Gallo recipe inspired me to use up the rest of my jalapeno harvest along with Romas and a couple of big heirloom tomatoes I got from the local produce stand. The yellow and green of the heirlooms made a pico that was not only delish to eat, but beautiful to look at! Thanks!
Ahh that sounds great Skyye! Somehow I need to get my site to allow people to upload pics of everything they’re making!
Hi there,
I almost never use recipes off blogs because I always want reviews of people that actually made the recipe.
For New Year’s Eve, I made this recipe, “Pico de Gallo” and “The Spicy Ground Beef Nachos” – the spicy ground beef portion – and they were DELICIOUS!! Wow! I will never again buy that pre-made taco seasoning for beef in a pouch. My guests loved it! I am so glad I took a chance! I am looking forward to trying more of your recipes. I love Mexican food but I never had the chance to eat it very often. Even when I lived in Texas when I was young. (I am in Canada now). Thank you!!!
Thanks Ryely, so glad you found some keeper recipes! I love that ground beef flavor and use it in Beef Tacos all the time — something about chipotles seems to work so well with ground beef. Cheers.
Just found your site. Love it! I grew up in Arizona, so I’m more used to Arizona/Sonoran Mexican food. Things like fried shredded beef tacos, cheese crisp, etc.
But my question really is about tomatoes. Are plum tomatoes authentic to Mexican cuisine?
Thanks,
Linda
Hi Linda, yes they are quite common in Mexico. You can certainly use regular tomatoes in any of these recipes and still get a good result, but plum tomatoes have less seeds and less water and I think this makes them a better candidate for salsas and sauces. Cheers.