Pico De Gallo (Fresh Salsa)

Pico de gallo is one of those delicious little additions that really brightens up recipes.
I used to dislike plain ol’ Mexican rice and beans at restaurants until I discovered pico de gallo. After I tossed some on top of my rice and beans, they were transformed into something fresh. Mix them together and scoop up a bite with a tortilla chip? I could just eat that now instead of ordering a main dish!
I have played around with making pico, and find this ratio of tomatoes to onion and jalapeno to be the best for us. Depending on the level of heat you like, you’ll want to adjust according to your taste-buds.
Like more heat? Add more jalapeno or leave in the seeds and ribs. Not a cilantro fan? Ā Reduce your addition to a tablespoon. Love lime? Add more! Let me show you how I like it.
Chop up four roma tomatoes into small pieces.
Also chop up one small onion (or half of a larger one) into the same size pieces. Uniformity is important in pico! I’m not even kidding.
Add these into a bowl.
Now scrape the seeds and ribs from one large jalapeno and slice it into strips long ways and then cut across them the other way to make small pieces. Removing the seeds and ribs gives you plenty of jalapeno subtle heat without the mouth-scorcher heat.
Add them into the bowl as well.
Now chop up about 3/4 cup of loosely-packed cilantro. When you’re done you’re going to end up with about 2-3 tablespoons of cilantro. I love the stuff so I’m probably closer to 3.
Add this into the bowl along with about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.
Squeeze about a tablespoon of lime over top.
I use about 1/2 of a medium lime.
And mix it all up.
If you’re making guacamole, just add a few tablespoons of this to three or four avocados, add some garlic powder and voila! Guacamole!
Some great ways to use pico de gallo:
- top fish tacos or other tacos with it
- brighten up creamy dishes with it like alfredo sauce or mac n cheese
- Warm a can of black beans and add before servingĀ for a great Mexican side dish
- top baked potatoes with it and light sour cream instead of butter
- Top quesadillas with it
- Stir it into scrambled eggs or top omelets
This week I’m making it to top individual nachos for a Super Bowl recipe. Stay tuned for the recipe!
- 4 roma tomatoes
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1 large jalepeno
- 1 cup loosely packed cilantro
- ½ medium lime
- ½ t. salt
- ¼ t. black pepper
- Chop tomatoes and onions in small, like-sized pieces
- Remove stems and ribs from jalapenos (or leave in if you like it hot!)
- Chop jalapenos into small sized pieces
- Add all to medium bowl
- Chop cilantro and add 2-3 tablespoons to bowl
- Squeeze lime over all
- Add salt and pepper and mix all together
- Will last for up to days. The tomatoes tend to break down after that.
