This Pico de Gallo recipe is made with fresh tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, cilantro, and lime juice. It’s a classic Mexican salsa that’s ready in under 10 minutes and is great served with tortilla chips or in tacos and burrito bowls.
Pico de gallo is an authentic Mexican salsa made with a handful of fresh vegetables that can be eaten as an appetizer or with other Mexican dishes that need some acidity and brightness.
It pairs nicely with carnitas and grilled meats, and in tacos, fajitas, and burrito bowls.
My favorite way of enjoying fresh pico de gallo is with crunchy tortilla chips and a cold drink. There’s just nothing better!
What does Pico de Gallo mean?
In Spanish, pico de gallo literally means “rooster’s beak.” Why this salsa is called that, I’ll never know. But what I do know is that it’s absolutely delicious and I could easily eat it with breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
What is in pico de gallo?
Pico de gallo is made with 6 ingredients:
- tomatoes
- onions
- cilantro
- jalapeños
- lime juice
- salt
For the best flavor, use ripe red tomatoes when possible.
White onions are traditionally used to make this dish, but you could use yellow or red onions if you’d like.
The spice level of pico de gallo is totally up to you. I used a jalapeño to keep it on the milder side, but you could use a serrano pepper to make it even spicier.
How to make pico de gallo
Pico de gallo is a “salsa cruda”, or fresh salsa, which means no cooking is required! It’s super simple to make and just requires some dicing and mixing.
The secret to making the best pico de gallo is letting it rest for a bit before digging in. I recommend letting it rest in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours to let all the flavors meld together. Of course that’s not required and it can be served immediately, but I personally think the flavor is even better once it has been resting for a little while!
Best ways to serve pico de gallo
There’s no denying that pico de gallo is the perfect appetizer to serve on game day, at parties, and on holidays like Cinco de Mayo. But if you’re just making this in your everyday life and want to know how else you could eat this other than with tortilla chips, here are a few ideas:
- on sheet pan nachos
- in tacos
- with chicken taquitos
- mixed into guacamole
- on chicken tostadas
- with cheese quesadillas
Frequently asked questions
Can pico de gallo be made ahead of time?
Yes, up to 1 or 2 days in advance. Any longer than that and I find that all the colors from the salsa start to bleed together in a not so great way. The integrity of the fresh vegetables start to break down and it’s simply not as good as when it was first made.
How long does pico de gallo last in the fridge?
About 1 week. Any longer than that and everything gets a little mushy, watery and kinda gross.
Can pico de gallo be frozen?
I don’t recommend it. The texture of the tomatoes will likely turn mushy once frozen and thawed, so it’s best to eat this salsa fresh.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ripe red tomatoes, diced (about 2 cups)
- 1 medium white onion, diced (about 3/4 cup)
- 2 large jalapeño peppers, diced (seeds and veins removed if you don't want it spicy)
- 1/3 cup tightly packed cilantro, chopped
- 2 limes juiced (about 4 tablespoons)
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl.
- Mix together, taste, and season with more salt if necessary.
- Enjoy immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Isabel’s Tips:
- For the best flavor, use ripe red tomatoes when possible.
- White onions are traditionally used to make this dish, but you could use yellow or red onions if you’d like.
- The spice level of pico de gallo is totally up to you. I used a jalapeño to keep it on the milder side, but you could use a serrano pepper to make it even spicier.
- The secret to making the best pico de gallo is letting it rest for a bit before digging in. I recommend letting it rest in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours to let all the flavors meld together. Of course that’s not required and it can be served immediately, but I personally think the flavor is even better once it has been resting for a little while!
Nutrition Information
Perfect PICO DE GALLO! I am a 54 year old Mexican-American and my family loves it!! Tastes just like my Great-Grandmother’s recipe. PERFECT.
Best pico recipe!!!
My family LOVES pico de gallo. I only am allowed to make this recipe. It is the best! Thanks for sharing your recipes with use.
This is an absolutely wonderful recipe! I found this recipe early in the summer and have been making it continuously all summer. The only issue making the pico is trying to make the spiciness more consistent. It is obviously not the recipe. It is more the cook.
One amazing Cook! I hope to see her doing a cooking show one day on a large broadcasted channel!
Thank you Jim! That would be awesome!
Absolutely the best recipe for Pico de Gallo. It is simple and the results are amazing. I make it at least once a week throughout the summer. Roma (Plum) tomatoes are usually good to use. They seem to ripen quickly and they are plentiful in our area.
How long will it keep in the refrigerator?? There are just two of us and even if I downsize the recipe it takes a while to eat it all….
Hi Kathleen! I would suggest no more than a week. If you have lots of leftovers, you can actually make our 5-minute fresh salsa with it! It uses the exact ingredients and is a great way to use those leftovers.
My family loves this so much. I an not make enough of it at a time. Tonight is the night for homemade everything isabeleats night. Thanks so much.
Make this for a quick meal, I add Persian cucumber, radishes Slices, fine slice Romain lettuce, avocado and Mexican cotija cheese, lemon and a Mexican raw salsa. On the side garlic, lemon cilantro white rice… and was so delicious I think I’ll use this on cod fish as well. Thank you♥️❤️♥️🙏💜🎶🎼🌵
My daughters made this pico for our Christmas day meal and we all loved it
Delicious! Perfect portions.
Just made this for tomorrow’s Taco Bar at work. Wow! The proportions are perfect, the flavor is amazing! Without your measurements I would have used waaay less cilantro and onion, which would have been a huge mistake. I’m definitely going to start coming here for meal ideas!! Thanks Isabel 🙂
-Doug
Indianapolis, IN
Thanks so much, Doug. I’m so glad everything turned out great!
Thank you, your page design is very nice,as is the recipe…great instructions…don’t know how to like the page, but here is a LIKE
Aww, thank you so much Raquel! 🙂 So happy to hear that.
Pico de gallo also means rooster’s peck or bite. It refers to the spiciness or hotness of the peppers. It’s like a rooster pecking at your tongue.
Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how tiring it was looking for a pico de gallo recipe and seeing that it was not by a person of Latinx heritage.
🙂 Thank you. I TOTALLY understand
lovely post