Here’s an easy pico de gallo recipe that takes no time at all to make, from prep to table in under 20 minutes. That’s a lot of flavor in a little time. We love this salsa fresca as a spicy side (a great alternative to a plain Jane salad), and it’s also super tasty on top of tacos, burritos, and other Mexican dishes.
🌶️ Quick Recipe Snapshot
| Flavor Profile | Fresh tomato, sharp raw onion, cilantro and lime, with a green jalapeño bite through it |
| Primary Heat Source | One jalapeño, finely diced |
| Heat Level | Low to medium. Jalapeños run 2,500 to 8,000 SHU, and one across six servings stays gentle. Deseed for less, serrano for more |
| Texture | Chopped, not blended. Chunky and juicy, and drained so it stays on the chip |
| Best Uses | Tortilla chips, tacos, burritos, grilled chicken or fish, or as a side in place of a salad |
| Customization Ideas | Serrano for more heat, Roma tomatoes for less liquid, extra lime, or parsley if cilantro isn’t for you |
Flavor Notes
Nothing here gets cooked. That’s worth remembering when you pick the pepper, because raw jalapeño is bright and green and grassy, pretty much what the tomato, the cilantro, and the lime are all doing too. It blends right in. Swap in something fruity, smoked or dried and it’ll stick out a mile.
Don’t skip step 4. Salt draws the water out of the tomatoes, so after ten minutes in the fridge there’s a pool sitting in the bottom of the bowl. Tip it out. Drained pico stays on the chip. Undrained pico slides straight back into the dish and leaves you with soggy chips and a wet plate. That’s the other thing that makes this pico de gallo rather than salsa. It’s chopped, not blended. The texture is the point.
Adaptation Ideas
- Set the heat when you dice: Most of the heat is in the white membrane, not the seeds. Cut it out for a mild salsa. Leave it in and you’ll know about it.
- Step up to serrano: Serranos run 10,000 to 23,000 Scoville heat units next to the jalapeño’s 2,500 to 8,000. Call it three times the heat, and up to nine if you land a hot serrano against a mild jalapeño. Same bright green flavor though, which is why the swap works so well. Here’s the full comparison.
- Use Roma tomatoes: Meatier, less water, fewer seeds. Less to drain off, and it holds together better in the bowl.
- Tame the onion: If raw white onion is too sharp for you, dice it and give it a quick rinse under cold water. Red onion is milder to start with, and it looks better.
- More lime: An extra teaspoon if you want more tang. Cheapest fix in the recipe, and usually the right one.
- If cilantro tastes like soap: Some people are wired that way and there’s nothing to be done about it. Use flat-leaf parsley instead.
Serving Ideas
- With tortilla chips: The obvious one. Drain it properly and it’ll stay put.
- On tacos and burritos: Cold and sharp against something warm and rich. Hard to beat.
- Over grilled chicken or fish: Spoon it on at the table. Anything off a hot grill wants something fresh next to it.
- On eggs: Scrambled, fried, or rolled into a breakfast burrito.
- Instead of a salad: Put a bowl out with the main course. Same job, a lot more going on.
Storage Notes
Make it the day you’re serving it. It’s raw tomato and raw onion with lime and salt on them, and it doesn’t hold. Two days is pushing it. By then the tomatoes have gone soft and the cilantro has wilted.
It keeps leaking liquid the whole time it sits, too, so drain it again before it hits the table. And if you’ve got the time, give it a few hours in the fridge instead of ten minutes. Ten minutes is enough to pull the water out. A few hours and it stops tasting like chopped vegetables and starts tasting like pico. Make it in the morning, serve it in the afternoon.
Better still, don’t make it until you need it. Chop everything the day before and keep it in separate containers in the fridge. Add the lime and salt ten minutes before people arrive and it’ll taste like you just made it. Don’t freeze it, though. Raw tomato comes back as mush.
Like This Recipe? You’ll Love These Too:
- Jalapeño Salsa Verde: Tomatillos provide a delicious tang — a delicious one-two punch with the brightness of those jalapeños.
- Peach Habanero Salsa: It’s not just tropical fruits that pair well with the habanero.
- Spicy Blueberry Salsa: Sweet, fiery, and earthy. This is a salsa you can eat on its own as a dessert.
50 quick, bold sauces and salsas: classic salsas and fun twists, BBQ sauces with a kick, and dippers with bang. Simple to make, big on flavor.
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Easy Pico De Gallo Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tomatoes diced
- 1 white onion diced
- 1 jalapeño pepper finely diced
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, toss the diced tomatoes, onions, and jalapeños together.
- Mix in the cilantro, lime juice and salt and toss thoroughly.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, drain the excess liquid from the bowl.
- Serve.
