Pico de Gallo is loaded with fresh tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, and lime juice. Learn the secret to the best Mexican Pico de Gallo; one simple tip makes it taste authentic.
We love making the most of summer fruits and veggies with loaded salsas like Mango Salsa, our popular Cowboy Caviar and of course Ceviche! This Pico de Gallo recipe is our favorite way to use up garden grown tomatoes.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
What is Pico de Gallo?
Pico de Gallo is a popular Mexican salsa. It is also known as “Salsa Fresca,” or “Salsa Cruda.” It is traditionally made with equal parts tomatoes and onion, with fresh cilantro and a generous squeeze of lime juice. We add jalapeno for a spicy kick but you can leave it out for a milder pico.
You can easily adjust this recipe to suit your preference; add more tomatoes for sweetness or another jalapeno pepper if you love fiery salsa. We’ve even tried adding peaches for a peach salsa, which turned out really well.
How to Make Pico de Gallo:
There’s no cooking involved with this salsa recipe, so even the least skilled cook would be hard-pressed to mess this one up. DICE up your ingredients and place in a non-reactive bowl, SQUEEZE in the lime juice then season with salt and pepper and STIR to combine.
Pro Tip: Use gloves or a ziploc bag to cover your hands when seeding and handling hot peppers.
The Secret to the Best Pico de Gallo:
Have you ever wondered how to make your Pico de Gallo taste restaurant quality and more authentic? This family secret comes from Blanca Villasenor who also shared her authentic Ceviche recipe. The key to a traditional pico de gallo is in letting it rest. Combine all of the ingredients, cover and refrigerate for a day. The tomatoes will juice up and the flavors will meld so every bite is flavor-packed.
Salsa Mix-Ins:
You can easily bulk up and change the flavor profile of pico salsa by dicing in one of these fresh fruits or vegetables. I’d love to know about your creative add-ins.
- Bell Pepper
- Cucumber
- Mango
- Peaches for a peach salsa
Serve Pico de Gallo With:
Salsa Fresca is often served as a topping for breakfast foods, enchiladas, tacos, nachos and more. It is so versatile! It’s also perfect as an appetizer with chips. We love pico with:
- Breakfast Burritos – a fresh pico will take these over the top
- Mexican Chicken Casserole – as a topping
- Chicken Tacos or these Juicy Beef Tacos
- Tortilla Chips or Tostadas
Our Favorite Summer Appetizers:
If you love pico as much as we do, you won’t want to miss these all-time most popular appetizers recipes:
- Spinach Artichoke Dip – always gets rave reviews
- Avocado Shrimp Bites on cucumber slices
- Crisp Zucchini Bites – do not skip the sauce
- Roasted Salsa – amazing and freezer-friendly
- Spicy Guacamole – with a spicy kick
Pico de Gallo is seriously irresistible and our love for this wonderfully fresh salsa runs deep. My only complaint is that it disappears too quickly so I highly recommend making a double or triple batch.
Authentic Pico de Gallo
Ingredients
- 1 lb tomatoes, (3-4 medium), diced
- 1/2 medium onion, (1 cup chopped)
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced (optional)
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
- 2 Tbsp lime juice, from 1 lime
- 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, diced tomatoes, onion, jalapeno pepper and chopped cilantro.
- Stir in 2 Tbsp lime juice and lightly season with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper, or season to taste. Enjoy right away or cover and refrigerate overnight.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
I love your recipies, Natasha! Love your cookbook too. It is nice to make things that I have on hand and don’t need to go shopping to make dinner. Keep up your wonderful work!,,,
Excellent short basic authentic recipe, everyone loved it, I used Serrano peppers and squeeze cilantro as it’s hard to find cilantro in wyoming in the fall, you rock!!
A simple ratio to follow, 3tomato:2onion:1jalapeno.
Also, if you want to get creative, lemon pepper adds a wonderful flavor to pico. I’m fortunate to cook in a restaurant that makes it fresh daily, so I get to take home a generous amount every night. I just eat it with a spoon. Lol.
Love it .
Like all of your recipes .
going to make your guacamole in a few minutes .
I added 2 jalapenos’ I like it a little hotter .
A Mexican friend came over to teach me how to make carnitas. I made this to go along with them, and she said it was great
Delicious and turns out great. We had it on brisket tacos. 🌮
Just made Pico De Gallo. I sampled for flavor, very good. The best Gallo I made
Was wondering about the tomatoes, are they to be deseeded or not. It doesn’t say in your instructions but I was wondering as the tomatoes you have shown are regular vine tomatoes and not Romas. However the picture shows that these tomatoes might have been deseeded due to looking dryer than regular tomatoes.
Hi Charlotte, I don’t ever de-seed my tomatoes for pico de gallo. I don’t think it’s worth the extra trouble and I don’t mind the seeds in there. I hope you love this recipe!
So easy, great flavor! I didn’t change anything. Making copycat meximelts and needed pico.
So glad to hear that, Kels!
Kel’s, did your Meximelts taste like Taco Bell’s?
This was really good. Family enjoyed it and kept going back for more.
This was so good! My whole family liked it from one-year-old to OLD!
That’s wonderful to hear, Judy!
Can this be canned ? Or should it be made fresh every time I need some ?
Hi Tabitha, I haven’t tried canning this one. I don’t have any canned salsa recipes but I do have a roasted salsa that freezes really really well. We make huge batches of this in summer and enjoy it all winter long. Freeze portions flat in the freezer in ziploc bags and thaw under cold water or in the fridge. I hope that helps
how long can you keep in fridge after making it?
Hi Sue! It lasts for a few days (up to 3 or so) before the tomatoes get soggy and looses it’s freshness.
I’ve made this countless times and although it’s best after time to marry flavors in the fridge, it’s hard to wait. I add a clove of garlic and tsp of sugar or agave to offset acid of tomatoes. Love it!
I just made and didn’t realize I was suppose to remove the seeds from the jalapeño. Now I’m scared! Do you think this error will make it entirely too spicy?
Hi Gina! It’s very possible that it’s spicy. It really depends on the pepper. Some are more spicy than others.
I will be making this tomorrow. Today I’m going to the grocery store. What tomatoes are preferred for this pico?
Hi Tina! I typically use roma tomatoes for their firm texture and fewer seeds but any will work.
Do you have to scald and peel the Roma tomatoes? Also, which kind of onion do you prefer?
Hi Margie! I do not. We use them as is with the skin. Traditionally, white onions are used to make salsa, but you can also use a yellow or red onion.