Homemade Fresh Tomato Salsa (Pico De Gallo) couldn't be easier to make. Using only fresh ingredients, it's a perfect salsa, salad, topping or a dip - Mexican style!
What is Pico De Gallo?
It's the most delicious, super refreshing Mexican salsa made with fresh tomatoes! If you've never tried it before I urge you to give it a go! There isn't more refreshing and simpler side dish, salad, salsa, dip (you name it) out there!
My homemade version of this fresh tomato salsa is pretty close the the original with the exception of an onion. I like to use red onion for that bit of colour but originally it would have been white (the colours of the salsa/salad are the colours of Mexican flag).
Other names you might have come across associated with this homemade fresh tomato salsa are "salsa fresca" (fresh salsa) and "salsa cruda" (raw salsa).
Ingredients
Tomatoes - Go for ripe, firm and juicy type. I like vine tomatoes but feel free to use any you've got to hand, even smaller plum or cherry will do.
Coriander (Cilantro) - One of my favourite herbs for sure but I do realise it's not to everyones liking. I'm afraid there is no substitution here.
Green Chilli Peppers - Go for any green chilli pepper you like. I went for widely available jalapeño. I used 1 chilli in my recipe as am a bit of a wimp but feel free to use more for extra heat!
Lime - If you want to get the most out of your lime take it out of the fridge ahead of time and give it a good roll on the kitchen counter with the palm of your hand. This will get the juices flowing and as a result you will end up with more juice!
Onion - Go for red or white, whichever one you fancy!
Sea Salt - I mostly use sea salt flakes* as little goes a long way here. Season to taste!
What to serve my homemade fresh tomato salsa with?
As it's such a versatile little salad it goes really well with wide variety of dishes but not only Mexican cuisine although that one goes without question!
By far the simplest way of serving it would be as a snack with a pile of your favourite tortilla chips or over nachos! Yum! I'm all over that!
I also like to serve it on a thick slice of sourdough toast on top of mashed avocado (messy but delicious)!
Something for meat eaters!
- It's so good with my Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork
- Pulled Pork Burritos
- Roast Chicken & Black Bean Enchiladas
- Roast Chicken Traybake with Shallots & Wild Garlic Pesto
- Easy Lamb Kofta Meatballs
- Oven Baked Pork Chops with Carrots & Cheese Crust
Something for veggies!
- Easy Veggie Lentil & Bean Chilli (Vegan)
- Cheesy Carrot and Courgette Savoury Muffins
- Easy Chickpeas & Carrot Falafel Burgers
- Portobello Mushroom Burger with Caramelised Onions (Vegan)
- Celeriac Veggie Loaf
- Veggie Lentils & Spinach Lasagne
- Vegetarian Sausage Rolls
- Vegan Sausage Rolls (Gregg's Copycat)
Storing homemade salsa.
I prefer to eat Pico De Gallo on the day it was made. It will, however, keep in the fridge in the airtight container for up to a week. It will lose its initial colour vibrancy but the flavour will be there. To revive it slightly, make sure you give it a little mix.
To serve, take it out of the fridge at least 20 minutes before to warm up to room temperature.
How To Make Homemade Fresh Tomato Salsa?
This salsa/salad couldn't be quicker and easier to put together. Make sure that you use freshest ingredients available, the rest is child's play.
Start with deseeding your tomatoes! Simply cut them in half and using the teaspoon scrape out and discard the watery pulp and seeds. If you chop the tomatoes as they are you will end up with watery mess instead of a salsa! Just saying!
Once you've chopped all your ingredients simply pop them in a large bowl with your lime juice and give them a gentle mix. Season to taste and that's it!
Homemade Fresh Tomato Salsa (Pico De Gallo)
Ingredients
- 4 ripe tomatoes deseeded & flesh finely diced
- 1 small red onion or ½ large one finely chopped
- 1-2 green chilli pepper (jalapeno) deseeded & finely chopped
- 1 bunch of fresh coriander (cilantro) - approx. 25g/ ½cup leaves finely chopped
- 1 lime (juice of)
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Start with deseeding your tomatoes by cutting them in half and discarding watery pulp. Roughly chop the remaining flesh.
- Deseed and finely chop your green chilli, onion and coriander.
- Put all the chopped ingredients in a large bowl, pour over juice of one lime and mix everything gently. Taste and season to taste.
- Serve as a condiment, topping, dip or side salad.
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate, per serving and should be treated as a guideline only.
- Use 1 or 2 chillies depending on how hot you'd like your salsa.
- Feel free to use white onion instead of red one as in traditional Pico De Gallo recipe.
- I like using ripe vine tomatoes in my salsa but you could use any ripe and firm tomatoes you like, even little plum or cherry tomatoes.
- Chop your salsa ingredients as chunky or as finely as you like. I like mine to be roughly similar size (small dice).
- Store in the fridge in airtight container for up to a week. Take it out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
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Shelley says
This is very similar to my recipe and like you, I live on it all summer. Even in the winter with greenhouse vine tomatoes, it is good. I would say for those who hate coriander, while it will not be the same, fresh flat leaf parsley works well with it. I have family who hate coriander, saying it tastes like soap, and I make this for them with parsley and it always goes down well.
Before going vegan, hubby and I would use it as a side with a poached white fish (we usually used haddock, but cod worked well too). I would use lemon with it though instead of lime as it went better with the fish. This was hubby’s fav meal in the summer. I would poach the fish in some milk with a couple of bay leaves and a few peppercorns and cook until the fish was cooked through. I would serve it with couscous that I had poured boiling vegetable stock over and had added some chopped spring onion (scallions) or chives with the pico on the side.
I love it with bean burritos too, tostadas, as well as with tacos, in a taco salad, and just as a snack with tortilla chips and some vegan cheesy dip along with some homemade guacamole. It is great added to a bbq tofu pocket sandwich if there is any left over and it also works well with a pulled shroom roll using king oyster mushrooms and bbq sauce. And I even like it as a weekend brunch item served as a bruschetta, with a little sliced avocado and a Bloody Mary.
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Shelley, Thanks so much for your lovely comment! I absolutely love all your delicious food ideas to serve pico de gallo with, I'm seriously hungry now! 🙂 You're right, flat leaf parsley cools be a substitution for those who absolutely detest coriander and I suppose pico de gallo with parsley is better than no pico de gallo at all! 🙂 x
Kelly | Foodtasia says
Jo, this pico de gallo looks delicious and so refreshing! I could put this on just about everything! Yum!
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you so much Kelly! 🙂 It is my go to side throughout the summer and I do put it on pretty much everything lol. 🙂
Michelle Rolfe says
I love this recipe. Tomatoes have to be one of my all time favourite ingredients and I always have a mixture of them sitting on the kitchen worktop as the whole family grazes on them. Love the addition of lime to give it the extra freshness. Cheers, Michelle
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Michelle! 🙂 I adore tomatoes at the height of summer when they are at their best and this little salsa definitely celebrates that!
Donna says
Looks so refreshing and perfect for summer!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks! 🙂 That's the sort of food I find myself craving most in the summer when it comes to accompanying side dishes.
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
This looks so fresh and tasty!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Kat! 🙂
Monika Dabrowski says
Looks so refreshing and light, perfect for a summer barbecue. Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Monika! 🙂 It is a lovely little BBQ side dish for sure!
All That I'm Eating says
I normally add a red chilli to my salsa, only because that's what I have in the fridge. I like the flavour of green chilli though so I really need to try that next time.
joskitchenlarder says
I use them interchangeably to be honest but here it breaks up the colour scheme nicely and stands out against tomatoes. 🙂