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Authentic Pico de Gallo Recipe

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.

Pico De Gallo in a bowl served with tortilla chips

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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.

Ingredients for Pico De Gallo

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.

How to make pico de gallo with tomatoes, onions, cilantro and jalapeno

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.

The best pico de gallo in a bowl

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.

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:

Mexican Pico De Gallo served as salsa fresca in a bowl surrounded by chips

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:

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

4.98 from 354 votes
Pico De gallo in a serving bowl with tortilla chips
Pico De Gallo is a popular Mexican salsa that's loaded with fresh tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, and lime juice. Pico De Gallo is excellent over tacos, burritos, nachos, or served with chips.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients 

Servings: 6 as an appetizer
  • 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

20kcal Calories4g Carbs1g Protein1g Fat1g Saturated Fat199mg Sodium199mg Potassium1g Fiber3g Sugar745IU Vitamin A16mg Vitamin C10mg Calcium1mg Iron
Nutrition Facts
Authentic Pico de Gallo
Amount per Serving
Calories
20
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
1
g
2
%
Saturated Fat
 
1
g
6
%
Sodium
 
199
mg
9
%
Potassium
 
199
mg
6
%
Carbohydrates
 
4
g
1
%
Fiber
 
1
g
4
%
Sugar
 
3
g
3
%
Protein
 
1
g
2
%
Vitamin A
 
745
IU
15
%
Vitamin C
 
16
mg
19
%
Calcium
 
10
mg
1
%
Iron
 
1
mg
6
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: pico de gallo
Skill Level: Easy
Cost to Make: $
Calories: 20
Natasha's Kitchen Cookbook

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Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the creator behind Natasha's Kitchen (established in 2009), and I share family-friendly, authentic recipes. I am a New York Times Best-Selling cookbook author and a trusted video personality in the culinary world. My husband, Vadim, and I run this blog together, ensuring every recipe we share is thoroughly tested and approved. Our mission is to provide you with delicious, reliable recipes you can count on. Thanks for stopping by! I am so happy you are here.

Read more posts by Natasha

4.98 from 354 votes (268 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




Comments

  • Diana
    November 26, 2024

    Are you working on some low carbohydrate recipes? Your recipes are so delicious and easy to make, and entire low carbohydrate cookbook by you would be fantastic.

    Reply

    • Natasha's Kitchen
      November 27, 2024

      Hi Diana, thank you! However, we are not working on that at the moment. But thanks for your suggestion and feedback!

      Reply

  • ellie Hatton
    November 26, 2024

    Thank you for this recipe I have used this a few times and my family loves this

    Reply

  • Kevin
    November 13, 2024

    This is exactly how I make my pico except that I probably double the lime juice and I add a tbl spoon of minced garlic. Amazing!! I like the jalapeños to be very finely chopped. I wish there was a kitchen tool or appliance I could use for the peppers and cilantro. Those take the longest to chop.

    Reply

    • Janice Kay Short
      December 4, 2024

      Hi Kevin, I bought a 1.5 cup electric mini food processor this year for $20 and love it. It will dice and mince onions, garlic, jalapenos, ginger, cilantro as fine as you want them. It purees and pulses and performs other timesaving functions too. Small space saver, sharp blade, easy to use and wash. You can get a 3-cup capacity too if you want to make hummus, guac, dips. I got a Mueller, love their engineering and quality, but Amazing shows it as unavailable now. You can try mueller.com. In the past I have had Black & Decker, Hamilton Beach, Proctor and Silex, all worked well at very reasonable prices. Saves so much time. I’m you would really using one.

      Reply

  • Di
    October 27, 2024

    Used the last of my garden tomatoes, took to a party, it was gone in record time. Everyone enjoyed it! Love love when a recipe turn out this well!

    Reply

  • Marcus
    October 27, 2024

    Perfect

    Reply

  • Vicki Calhoon
    September 29, 2024

    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!,,,

    Reply

  • Sherrie
    September 28, 2024

    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!!

    Reply

  • Leegan
    September 12, 2024

    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.

    Reply

  • christopher e ponta
    September 1, 2024

    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 .

    Reply

  • Emily
    August 31, 2024

    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

    Reply

    • Sylvia
      September 22, 2024

      Delicious and turns out great. We had it on brisket tacos. 🌮

      Reply

  • Alisa white
    August 27, 2024

    Just made Pico De Gallo. I sampled for flavor, very good. The best Gallo I made

    Reply

  • Charlotte
    August 27, 2024

    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.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      August 27, 2024

      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!

      Reply

  • Kels
    August 23, 2024

    So easy, great flavor! I didn’t change anything. Making copycat meximelts and needed pico.

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      August 23, 2024

      So glad to hear that, Kels!

      Reply

    • Dusty
      September 8, 2024

      Kel’s, did your Meximelts taste like Taco Bell’s?

      Reply

  • Renee
    August 6, 2024

    This was really good. Family enjoyed it and kept going back for more.

    Reply

  • Judy Kendra
    August 6, 2024

    This was so good! My whole family liked it from one-year-old to OLD!

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      August 6, 2024

      That’s wonderful to hear, Judy!

      Reply

  • Tabitha Meece
    August 5, 2024

    Can this be canned ? Or should it be made fresh every time I need some ?

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      August 5, 2024

      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

      Reply

  • sue armitage
    July 24, 2024

    how long can you keep in fridge after making it?

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      July 24, 2024

      Hi Sue! It lasts for a few days (up to 3 or so) before the tomatoes get soggy and looses it’s freshness.

      Reply

  • Cindy
    July 20, 2024

    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!

    Reply

  • Gina
    July 18, 2024

    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?

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      July 18, 2024

      Hi Gina! It’s very possible that it’s spicy. It really depends on the pepper. Some are more spicy than others.

      Reply

  • Tina
    July 14, 2024

    I will be making this tomorrow. Today I’m going to the grocery store. What tomatoes are preferred for this pico?

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      July 14, 2024

      Hi Tina! I typically use roma tomatoes for their firm texture and fewer seeds but any will work.

      Reply

      • Margie
        August 3, 2024

        Do you have to scald and peel the Roma tomatoes? Also, which kind of onion do you prefer?

        Reply

        • NatashasKitchen.com
          August 3, 2024

          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.

          Reply

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