This homemade pico de gallo recipe, or salsa fresco (and sometimes called Mexican salad or tomato and onion salsa), is a favorite easy dip for parties or game day dips / appetizers, but especially for summer recipes when everything is garden fresh! It’s perfect paired with our easy guacamole recipe!
HOMEMADE PICO DE GALLO
Homemade pico de gallo is a healthy snack for kids, a last minute cookout recipe, or anytime you need a quick and easy dip for parties or gatherings.
Before we get to the recipe…
What is the difference between salsa and pico de gallo?
Pico de gallo is a salsa fresca with uncooked, hand chopped vegetables and herbs like tomatoes, onions, garlic, jalapeno, and garlic. Salsa is a more pureed liquid texture. With pico de gallo, you can distinguish the different elements of the dip, but with salsa it is pureed into a more liquid tomato dip.
Pico De Gallo vs Salsa vs Picante
Pico de gallo, salsa and picante are all made from a combination of tomatoes, peppers, and other ingredients (like garlic, onion, and herbs). Pico de gallo is a chunky salsa, where you can distinguish all the ingredients in the recipe. Salsa is a more pureed liquid tomato dip and picante is the thinnest dip, like a sauce, of the three. A pico de gallo sauce is chunky and picante sauce is runny.
Pico De Gallo Ingredients
The fun thing about pico de gallo is that you can play around with it and try out different ingredients like:
- Fresh tomatoes
- Onion (red or white)
- Cilantro
- Garlic
- Jalapeno
- Lime
- Lemon
- Serrano peppers
- Corn
- Apple cider vinegar
- Avocado slices
If you like homemade pico de gallo with corn, try out:
Easy Black Bean and Corn Salad
How do you keep pico de gallo from getting watery?
To keep pico de gallo from getting watery, chopped and salt the tomatoes before adding the other ingredients. Mix all the other ingredients in a separate bowl and then spoon the tomatoes into the mixture with a slotted spoon.
Can you make homemade pico de gallo with canned tomatoes?
You can use canned tomatoes, but it takes away some of the freshness of the pico de gallo. If you use canned tomatoes, be sure to drain the juice. However, if you like a more liquid pico de gallo, you can leave in some of the tomato juice from the can.
Can you make pico de gallo without lime?
A traditional pico de gallo recipe is made with lime. If you don’t have lime, you can make pico de gallo with lemon or even apple cider vinegar, too. You can leave out the lime completely, but the acid does give it a little extra fresh zing.
How long is homemade pico de gallo good for?
How long does homemade pico de gallo last in the refrigerator? Pico de gall will last refrigerated for around 4 days. Any longer than that and the tomatoes may start to get mushy and the pico gets watery. In some cases, the longer the pico de gallo sits in the refrigerator, it may start to develop a bitter taste.
This is an easy recipe to make with kids!
Want kids to practice cutting skills and chopping? Use a safe knife set like this!
How do you eat pico de gallo without chips?
If you don’t want to eat pico de gallo with chips, try it with:
- Corn tortillas
- Flour tortillas
- Pita bread
- Crackers
- Scrambled eggs
- Lentils
- Rice
- Grilled vegetables
- Fish
- Celery
- Alone as a salad!
- Quesadilla
- Burritos
- Hamburgers or turkey burgers
- Hot dogs
- Tacos
- Bake potato
- Taco meat
- Pulled pork
- Chicken breast
- Avocado
- Guacamole
- Boiled eggs
Can you freeze homemade pico de gallo?
You can freeze homemade pico de gallo, but the texture will change. The best thing about pico de gallo is that all the ingredients are fresh and coarsely chopped. After it is frozen, the texture will become mushy. However, you can blend frozen pico de gallo and make a salsa that is more pureed and less chunky.
OK, let’s get to how do you make pico de gallo from scratch…
How To Make Pico de Gallo
You can make this easy pico de gallo recipe without jalapenos if you like a more mild salsa dip. Our recipe calls for removing the jalapeno seeds, but if you like spicy then leave the seeds and the pepper membrane in your pico.
If you don’t like cilantro or have a reaction to it, you can also make this pico de gallo without cilantro. If you want a cilantro substitute pico de gallo, you can use fresh chopped parsley instead.
Homemade Pico de Gallo
This pico de gallo made from scratch is not only an easy appetizer to throw together at the last minute, it also makes for a healthy summer snack for kids, too!
Ingredients
- 6 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 cup red or white onion, diced
- 1/2 cup cilantro, minced
- 1 jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed and minced*
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lime, juiced
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add diced tomatoes and salt. Stir. Set aside. (If you like your pico de gallo with more juice, just mix tomatoes in with everything else.)
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together onion, cilantro, jalapeno, and garlic. Using a slotted spoon (to remove liquid), add in chopped tomatoes.
- Add lime juice and mix until completely combined.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve immediately or store in refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Notes
If you don't have lime, you can make this pico de gallo with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar also.
*If you like a spicy pico de gallo, leave in jalapeno seeds and jalapeno membrane (white part on inside of the pepper).
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 30Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 43mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 1g
Nutrition information is estimated. Changes to the recipe and use of different brands may cause changes to the nutritional information to vary slightly from the ones provided here.
