Name: How to Make Pico de Gallo
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 medium tomato, diced; 1 onion, finely chopped; ½ fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped; 2 sprigs fresh cilantro, finely chopped; 1 green onion, finely chopped; ½ teaspoon garlic powder; ⅛ teaspoon salt; ⅛ teaspoon pepper

Sometimes when you eat authentic Mexican food, they give you this salsa stuff made with tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos. You can add a squeeze of lime juice to pico de gallo, but I prefer this basic recipe. Once you serve this with your Mexican dish such as tacos, you will want it with all your Mexican dishes!

How to Make Pico de Gallo

tomato,

onion, finely chopped

jalapeno pepper,

cilantro,

green onion, finely chopped

garlic powder

salt

pepper

Combine tomato, onion, jalapeno pepper, cilantro and green onion in a medium bowl. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir until evenly distributed.


Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.


Holy Hannah... After the changes I made, this is borderline perfection!!! I used two tomatoes (large dice), a half of a large red onion (really fine dice), one green onion (finely chopped), very little jalapeño, 3 sprigs cilantro, Low-Sodium salt, and some lime juice (didn't measure - just went to taste).  I mixed it all in a colander, to drain juices.  I might end up chawin' this all down before the Fiesta tomorrow!!!

Apparently a lot you customizers ignored her recipe and description. SHE HERSELF called it a basic recipe.. great as it is plus open to changes to perfectly suit your own taste. Why customize it then rate it low? This is an excellent simple recipe with a multitude of customization options! Thank you grneyedmustang! I wanted a good basic recipe to learn and start with... and you gave me just that! And it is wonderful as it is!

Very good, but needed a little tweaking. First of all, 2 sprigs of cilantro is not NEARLY enough for my family. I used 2 tablespoons of cilantro, chopped in the food processor. I also only used about 1/4 of a white onion and 3 green onions, added the juice of 2 limes, and used 2 cloves of fresh garlic instead of powder. (This was for a double batch BTW.) That said, it was an awesome pico! Everyone loved it, even my 2-year-old. With the adjustments to make it more authentic, it's definitely a keeper. Thanks for the inspiration, Paula!

A very good recipe indeed.  I would suggest adding fresh lime juice to taste. Also, word to the wise:  When working with fresh jalepenos, always wear protective gloves if you don't want the juice in your skin for days!  Especially if you wear contact lenses!  OUCH!

This is a good basic pico de gallo. However my family likes more cilantro flavor, so I used a half bunch and added fresh lime juice and minced garlic, rather than powder. Yummy with chips, tacos, or even mixed into bland chicken salad.

To be fair, this recipe is not "bad", it is just missing lime juice (fresh!) and please use fresh garlic (1clove minced) for a great big difference.  Otherwise it is a good point of direction for those looking to make pico.

Very good!  I will double the recipe next time...the cilantro is a MUST... whatever you do don't leave it out.  If you don't have this ingredient go to the store and get it because it is what gives pico de gallo a unique flavor.

Excellent!!  I added way too many peppers from my garden, but was making a HUGE batch, so I got a little crazy.  This recipe is good right after mixing and FABULOUS after a few hours........but not so good after a day or two.  It gets really watery.  Make it in the afternoon for supper and ENJOY!

My family loves this recipe.  You can put pico de gallo on anything and make it tast wonderful.  We make it now instead of salsa.  It doesn't fall off the chip or squish out of a fajita like salsa does.

Avocado (aguacate) does NOT go in pico de gallo. Of course, people can do whatever they want with a recipe. Add chocolate if you want, it won't be authentic but if you are into it... go ahead. Lime, however, DOES go. Garlic ... I rather press a garlic clove into the pico de gallo than using garlic powder. Green onion ... again, not authentic but I don't see why I'd hurt anything. This recipe is good but it is missing the lime and I always skip the salt for health reasons. It really doesn't need it anyways.

this recipe would have 5 stars if it was written as i doctored it up. i doubled the recipe and used a half bunch of cilantro - popped that in the food processor, 1 garlic clove, a full onion, 3 green onions (all minced in the food processor) 6 roma tomatoes, chopped, a pinch of salt and pepper, 2 fresh limes squeezed and 3 minced jalapenos (seeded). with this recipe you get a cereal- bowl amount of pico and it isnt that dry  is is packed full of flavor and slightly watered as it should be. enjoy!

Yep! Its a keeper!  Thanks for a great one!  Im roasting the jalapeno next time.

Great! I agree with the majority, however... it tastes even better with fresh lime juice, fresh garlic, and more cilantro. I served this with Fish Tacos from this site. My boyfriend ate the remainder of the pico de gallo with tortilla chips.

This is a perfect starter for Pico.  I add some balsamic vinegar, white vinegar and cucumbers (seeded).  I also use half a bunch of cilantro.  I use a red onion instead of white for the sharper taste.  I make a large batch of this and add it to my families eggs in the morning, sandwiches for lunch and tonight I have some fresh shrimp and will add this to the shrimp with some steamed rice.   Using this in place of canned (high salt) sandwich spreads saves money and is a healthy alternative.

Equal parts tomato and onion was way off to me.  After adding more tomato, less onion, fresh garlic rather than the garlic powder and a good splash of lime juice this was much improved.

This is fantastic.  The only things I did different was used red onion instead of a regular onion, drained my tomatoes after dicing to prevent it from becoming too watery and did a squeeze of fresh lime juice like she suggests in the introduction.  YUM!  Definitely a keeper!

Perfect Pico! Added more (3/4 teaspoon) garlic powder instead, was delicious!!!

Thank you for the recipe! I was so excited to try it, but unfortunately, it just wasn't right for me.  I found the onion/tomato ratio way off.  I even added another tomato and it was still so very strong on the onion flavor that we couldn't eat it without our eyes watering.  I used the food processor and used fresh garlic, the juice of a lime and extra cilantro, as per other reviewers.  I would try this again but I would only use half the onion and would add an extra (3) tomato.

Spread this over a pan of nachos, added some shredded cheese and broiled it in the oven for a couple of minutes to melt the cheese. Delicious!

Used 1 clove garlic instead of garlic salt and added the juice of 1/2 fresh lime :)

For even better taste and color add diced red, green, yellow and orange bell peppers.  I also use both yellow and red onion......Yummmy!!!

I really wanted to like this recipe. I had been craving pico de gallo when I had it at a mexican restaurant on a recent trip. I found this recipe to be very bland. It needs extra stuff...perhaps lime juice, fresh galic might have made a difference, and maybe avocado...needs improvement, but a good base.

I thought this was very good...I did add a little chili powder for extra spice.

Excellent!  Tastes just as good as the stuff I buy!  No more store bought for me!

Very basic recipe for Pico De Gallo, a great starter though. Added fresh lime juice from 2 limes and about 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro and 2 green onions and BAM! From basic to fantastic!

Very good pico, I added more jalepenos to spice it up. Made my forehead sweat...mmmmmm....Love it!

Terrific recipe, and not too spicy-hot (for wimps like me)!  I have tried for years to like cilantro, but just can't.  My loss, I think.  My daughter doesn't care for green onion.  Also my loss because I love it.  We added fresh lime juice after trying it without.  It added a little zing.  We used freshly picked vine-ripened tomatoes.  I think that's the secret to this recipe.  Now what will do when tomato season is over?   :(

A good starter / idea base for pico de gallo.  I agree with other reviewers that this recipe needs lime juice.  I used the juice from one small (almost key lime) lime and felt it was the right amount.  I used more cilantro, double the garlic powder, and threw in another half tomato.  I also used all green onions.  Keep in mind that the yield is relatively small.  It's so good people will gobble it down quickly, so I suggest doubling it!  Many people eat this with chips, but I like it alone as a side salad.

Amazing! I added lime juice to this recipe as suggested by others.

Very boring! Nothing like authentic pico de gallo. I agree...you forgot the basic ingredient to pull it together...lime juice. Not nearly enough cilantro. It is really not even basic. Sorry!

HOLYCOW !  Better than any restaurant salsa.  This coming from a person who dislikes tomatoes but I can eat them in recipe !  Thanks for posting it.  :)

I agree with some of the previous posters that this is a good basic recipe.  I did not think there was enough cilantro or garlic the first time I made it.  This last time I added about 3 more sprigs of cilantro, 1 tsp. of minced garlic and 1 TB of lime juice.  This improved it quite a bit and by the next day the flavors had mingled well and it was a bit more wet.  

This went great with our quesadillas.  One suggestion, add a little lime juice.  Thanks Paula


Would probably make again except . . . 
1) Use some fresh lime juice
2) More cilantro
3) Either a sweeter onion or less yellow onion (really strong onion flavor so would want to pull it back a little)

A good basic recipe. I changed most of the amounts though. I used half a large onion, two tomatoes, a large handful of cilantro, omitted the green onion, and two cloves of fresh garlic in place of the garlic powder. Also I added lime juice, red wine vinegar, a little oil, and fresh ground sea salt and pepper to taste. It was good enough to eat some right away but I'm looking forward to tomorrow!

Be sure to add a squeeze of fresh lime juice and you'll love this recipe. Simple and yummy. I did cut back on the oinion, using just the green onion rather than a whole one plus a green. To tone down the spiciness (I am a heat-wimp, I fear), I used chopped green chilies instead of the jalapeno.

WOW, what an easy recipe to follow that truly gives my tacos that Mexican flavor!! Tks for sharing!

With some modifications, this is a really good &amp; simple pico de gallo recipe. Like others have said, half an onion is plenty for this recipe. Use one or two cloves of FRESH minced garlic instead of the garlic powder and you'll be happy that you did. :) We prefer ours with much more cilantro &amp; a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Thanks for sharing the recipe!  :)

I used 2 tomatoes &amp; 3 seeded jalepeneos red &amp; green onions &amp; fresh garlic &amp; OMG. Don't dare omit the whole lime! I couldnt get it made fast enough!

This was awesome!  I did use 1T minced garlic instead fo the powder and added 2T of lime juice with 2 medium tomatoes.  This is a definite keeper!

Great to keep on hand all the time. I used fresh garlic and also added quite a bit of jalepeno pepper just because we like a lot of spice. Thanks for the recipe Paula!

You know I find that the very best tomatoes to use in this kind of salsa recipe are Roma tomatoes. They small and firm. I always take out some of the seed so you don't end up with watery salsa.

Wow!  This is great.  We made without jalapenos.  Yum

Its better with 3 parts tomato, 2 part onion, 1 part jalapeno and salt to taste. Serve fresh. This a good recipe but Im not a big fan of cilantro.

So much better than what I've had at restaurants!  I omitted the pepper for my 6-yr-old and accidentally forgot the garlic.  I added 1 packet of True Lime.  Everyone requested that I make it the same way from now on.  It was outstanding!!!

This is decent, but a very basic recipe.  As many others have mentioned, adding fresh lime juice and minced garlic rather than garlic powder makes a huge difference.  This is a great addition for any fiesta.  Thanks for the recipe!

I must have done something wrong, because mine turned out pretty yucky. I will try this again sometime, perhaps I misread an ingredient. I ended up making my botched pico de gallo a layer in a baked bean dip instead, which was perfect:). 

I was looking for a basic pico de gallo recipe and this was just the right thing.  I will try many of the suggestions from other reviewers too, but sometimes the simplest form is the best.  Thanks!

Very good.  I added the juice of half a lime to the mixture.

Easy and very tasty!  I did add lime and used fresh garlic.  Thanks for sharing!

This was my first time making Pico de Gallo myself, it is very simple and I was very pleased with this recipe and plan on making more again this week. The only change I made was I opted to use fresh garlic in place of garlic powder.

A refreshing and tasty salsa to use over tacos and any mexican dish for that matter. I used one medium red tomato, half of a white onion, chopped, half of one jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced, 2 sprigs of fresh local grown cilantro, a little green onion, diced,  and 2 fresh garlic cloves, finely minced. I also added a little rock salt (pinch), black pepper and 1 whole lime for that extra flavor and "kick." Lime was actually needed in this to complete it. In my opinion, the more cilantro and lime juice, the better the flavor. I always use FRESH ingredients. I can doctor up the taste in this to make it less spicy and add more ingredients if I want a larger amount. This amount called for in this recipe was good enough for the two of us. This made one good batch size (soup bowl) and I chilled it before using it and also to let the ingredients set. I served this with, "Carne Asada Tacos," and "Spanish Rice," also from this site. Delicious!

Great recipe for a simple pico de gallo, I often use it in place of salsa and add avacado to it to make guacamole.

Ok. Too spicy for the kids.  Needs less jalapeno.  Needs lime juice.

Almost, but not quite. Use more cilantro, garlic cloves rather than powder and fresh lime juice (squeezed from 1 lime). Also, the white onion is too strong for this dish; add more green onion instead. Pico de gallo, however, is based on taste preference, so adjust amounts to your specifications. 

I used Anaheims (for flavor) and Cerrano (for heat if desired) peppers instead of Jalapenos. I prefer to use Roma tomatoes for this because I like the flavor and they're usually less watery than traditional vine tomatoes and lead to less juice but more solid and flavorful chunks. They're less acidic so they probably won't keep as long as other tomatoes, but the addition of lime juice to the recipe sort of makes up for that and the lack of juice from the tomato switch, for the most part. As far as fresh versus bottled lime juice goes. To the average palate it won't make much of a difference and in making large batches or canning I'd say bottled is superior because it's typically pasteurized and that means fewer live microorganisms going into your cans, also it's less work than squeezing your own. But for small batches I'd go with fresh limes because it's more cost effective. One final thought is that I use white onions for applications like this because they have a more crisp gardeny flavor than yellow or reds that compliment the tomatoes well...but that's all just my opinion.

good base. Except i used 2 tomatoes, 1 clove in stead of powdered garlic, omitted the green onion and added some oil.

We enjoyed this a lot. I felt like it was missing a little seasoning so I threw in some taco seasoning, which added a little kick to it. Also squeezed in half a lime. Great recipe though, as you can adjust things easily according to your taste.

To be fair. I did make this recipe with the guidelines. I didn't have a medium tomato, I had Romas. I used 7. I seeded and removed the membrane from 5 of them, and the other 2 I used the seeds and membranes for the "juice factor". This recipe, was good but as with the other comments, I folded....it did need fresh lime, and more of a kick and a bit more heat, to our liking. So...here's what I did. I used the Romas, as mentioned. I used 5 springs of cilantro, 1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and membrane removed, juice from 1 large lime and 1/2 tsp cumin, as well as the correct measurements of the other ingredients. I give this an actual 3 star, but with the modifications I did, it was a 5 star, soo to be fair, I am giving this recipe a 4 star, and will make again, with modifications. 

This is terrific!  I did add a tablespoon of Lime Juice and used fresh minced garlic instead of the powder.

Made this per recipe and was very good.  Then I took the suggestion of lime juice (1/2 a good sized lime), avocado, and increased salt using Janes Crazy Mixed-Up Salt and more pepper and more cilantro... then it was exceptional!  Thanks for the great recipe.

This is so delicious and I have all the fresh herbs to go in this

Absolutely delicious just the way the recipe is written. Thank you for sharing.

If u really want to add some flavor to this, add some chopped advocado, and lime juice!

Good basic recipe. Get creative and add some of your own favorite flavors. I mixed all ingredients, put in a bowl then sprinkled sun dried tomato feta on top. Yummy

I used a red onion and added avocado and mango

This is a pretty good basic recipe.  I would add some bell pepper and leave out the green onions.   Also for those of you who think it's too watery, I always chop my ingredients, especially the tomatoes, into a  collender to drain off the excess liquid.  Fresh lime juice is definitely a must.  Also fresh garlic.  A dash of olive oil also adds a little more flavor.

Drain, drain, drain the tomatoes otherwise it is a watery mess. Tasty.

This recipe is wonderful after it marinades for 24 hours in the fridge before serving.

I liked this. I've always wanted to make it but never knew quite how. I used half an onion instead of a whole, more cilantro and I used some lemon juice because I didn't have any lime on hand. It turned out great. I give it four stars since I made some mods to make it taste just right. Thanks for sharing this!

kind of mediocre.  and i think it's a little weird that the dish in the picture is not this pico de gallo recipe.

Good but needs: Lime, Fresh Garlic, and I like to add Bell Peppers.

This recipe was good. I give it four stars though because I added other stuff to it. I left out the jalapeno because some of my friends do not like spicy food. I added lime juice to taste. I also used fresh garlic (3 cloves, because we tripled the recipe) instead of powder.   It was a hit and it was healthy.

Solid recipe. Changes I made that bring it to a 5 star rating: 1. Use fresh garlic. 2. Add lime juice (to taste). 3. Add a dash of cayenne pepper (to taste).

good skelaton receipe- I used more tomato, less onion (1/2), 2 jalapeno, 1 tablespoon dried chopped cilantro, juice of one lemon, seasoned with garlic salt to taste.

Good recipe.  I used sweet and red onion and also added 1/4 of a green pepper.  It adds color and crunch.  I also like other reviewers used lime juice garlic salt, garlic and lots of chopped cilantro.  I am glad I made it in my colander as it let the ingredients drain.

Thank you SO MUCH Grneyedmustang for giving us SUCH a great BASIC recipe for all of us to learn our own proportions.

This is a wonderful, BASIC recipe.  Typically almost all Pico de Gallo recipes have fresh lime juice in them (to taste), as well as garlic. Pico de Gallo means "fresh", I think, (but I'm 50 years dated since High School Spanish .
Therefore "Pico" should be made with fresh garlic cloves, (unless no choice), fresh "instead of canned" tomatoes, fresh sqeezed lime juice instead of bottled lime juice.

Now, the best part.  Use this to top SALADS, virtually calorie LOW!  EGGS, ANY Mexican or South American cuisine, (duh!), cooked SHRIMP, TACOS, VEGETABLES, FISH, guacomole, you NAME it!  Tust me, you,ll LOVE it.

Hope this gets you going, cause you may want to make up a BIG base recipe, (without tomatoes, like I do a day before Cinco De Mayo) and add the tomatoe's  about two or three hours before you want to serve the "salsa". Then leave the rest of your base in the refrigerator for another few days adding tomatoes until its gone (sniff!)...  Mine lasts (sans tomatoes) about 3 to 5 days.  HTH!

This is a good recipe.However the only thing missing is bell peppers.Add a couple of bell peppers and it's wonderful.

So simple and flavorful. The only thing I changed was using serrano chiles and no cilantro. Very good and easy to make. Thanks for the great recipe.

This is good but it does need some lime juice.  I had it without and just felt I had to add some so I did, and then it was perfect!  I do love the addition of the green onions ;)  We served this on Slow Cooker Carnitas from this site.  Thanks!

easy and delicious!! I used 2 jalapenos..we like a kick!

I did like this recipe as a starter, but i don't think that it would have been as good if I did not take the previous suggestions and add fresh garlic and lime juice. I also added quite a bit more cilantro than called for. 

it was good, but I learned I would prefer less onion and a little more tomato.

I prepared this last night to compliment some fajitas I'll cook tonight. Like others, I added minced garlic, lime juice and salt.  I chopped everything up separately and then threw all of it into my chopper  and it was excellent! This recipe is a keeper and the ingredients are right in your fridge. 

This is a great starter recipe for pico de gallo! Thank you so much. As I make it more and more often, I will be able to define more specific quantities as I define my preference of taste. Thank you for a wonderful recipe here!

Hubby and I thought this was very good.  I really don't like cilantro, so I left it out.  Otherwise, I did pretty much what the recipe suggested (although I must admit I didn't really measure anything).  I'm saving this recipe to make all the time.

Yummo!  Don't make it in the blender unless you like it pureed and foamy.  Still delicious!

Thank you!  I had a recipe like this &amp; lost it &amp; have not been able to find a good BASIC recipe just like this!!  Of course I will add my own ingredients that my family likes - but this is a great BASIC recipe, just like you said!!  Thank you Thank you!!!  Sometimes we need to learn to appreciate simplicity!!

I thought this recipe was really good. Quick and easy to make. Thanks!

we LOVE fresh salsa and pico, eat it everyday with tortilla chips instead of snacking on junk food. i love cilantro so i add a lot and i use fresh garlic instead of garlic powder, omit the salt and pepper.

Not bad, but definitely bland.  Like suggested by others, I used fresh garlic and added lime juice.  We let it sit for 24 hours.  This recipe definitely needs something...

loved it! just find the right balance of ingredients for yourself and your family.
love this! used all the fresh ingredients from my garden.

Very good.  Added a little extra cilantro (I can't get enough).  Awesome and easy!!

This recipe was great. It was so easy that I was surprised I didn't think of it myself. I, too, only used half an onion, and I also added orange bell pepper and extra cilantro. Muy delicioso!

See how to make a simple and super-fresh Mexican salsa.

How to Make Pico de Gallo

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total: 45 minutes

Servings: 4

Author : Paula Stotts

Ingredients

Instructions

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