Pico De Gallo

Everyone loves a good Pico De Gallo salsa since it’s quick and easy to prepare. It requires minimal cooking and can be made in less than 10 minutes.

The best part is that you can customize it to suit individual tastes. For example, if you like your salsa spicier, you can add more jalapenos. If you prefer a milder flavor, you can use less jalapenos or remove the seeds and membranes. The choice is yours!

In case you’re wondering, the translation of Pico De Gallo is “Rooster’s beak”. Pico means ‘beak’ and ‘gallo‘ is for ‘rooster’. But in Mexico we call this recipe “Salsa Fresca” or “Salsa Cruda” (raw salsa).

Ingredients:

The key to making the best Pico de Gallo recipe is to always use fresh and ripe ingredients:

· Roma or plum tomatoes – This is what I normally use but any other ripe tomato will work as well, even cherry tomatoes.

· The onion – It can be white, yellow, or red onion.

· Fresh Pepper – You can make it as spicy as you would like by adjusting the type of chile that goes into it. You can use more jalapeños or use spicier ones like serrano peppers or chiles güeros (the yellow peppers sold next to jalapeños).

· The Lime – It has to be fresh lime juice mis amigos! If you don’t have fresh limes in whatever part of the world you are at, then bottle juice will do.

· Fresh cilantro – There are no substitutes for this ingredient and it’s key! Do not skip it and use as much as you want! Make sure it’s the freshest (no limp stems) so that you don’t get that “soapy” taste.

· Kosher salt & black pepper to taste. Don’t be afraid to load it up but do start tasting it little by little.

Variations

Add avocado, 1 or 2 chopped garlic cloves

Don’t like cilantro? You can use fresh parsley (flat leaves). It may not be exactly the same as cilantro but it’s the best alternative.

What’s my secret ingredient? The secret ingredient I’ve been using for so many years (and people don’t even know it’s there) it’s store bought tomato sauce and Olive oil!. Add few tablespoons of each for extra, depth, texture, and flavor. I truly recommend it!

It does make the salsa a little juicier so if like a dry salsa, then skip it by all means.

Directions:

Chop the tomatoes, onions, jalapeños (or serrano peppers) in small chunks. Make sure they’re all about the same size. Add to a large bowl. Mince the cilantro and add to the bowl.

Add two tablespoons of tomato sauce (optional) and lime juice. Season with salt & pepper according to taste.Stir to combine and serve immediately. Or store in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve with your favorite Mexican dish.