Ingredients
- 1/2 medium onion
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 jalapeño (optional)
- 4 small tomatoes
- 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro (or 1-2 tsp dried)
- 1 lime (or 1 tbsp lime or lemon juice)
- 1 tbsp garlic salt
Instructions
- Chop the onion, bell pepper, jalapeño (optional), cilantro, and tomatoes. Add all vegetables to a medium-sized bowl.
- Juice one lime into the bowl. If you are using pre-packaged lime or lemon juice, add 1 tbsp of juice to the bowl instead.
- Add 1 tbsp of garlic salt or more to taste.
- Mix well and serve!
Pico De Gallo is one of my favorite snacks! It’s fresh, it’s tangy, it’s spicy and it can be made in literally minutes! Normal salsa is cooked on the stovetop until the vegetables become soft and it turns into a thick, chunky sauce. Pico De Gallo is an uncooked salsa that uses fresh ingredients. Because the ingredients are so fresh, it generally has a much brighter flavor than normal salsa varieties.
This particular Pico De Gallo recipe is my home’s go-to formula. Like most traditional dishes, there are hundreds of variations out there if you do a little digging. I like this one because it keeps the ingredients simple to items that I usually always have fresh and on-hand in my tiny kitchen. I’ve provided a few alternatives in this recipe (that I know work just as well) if you happen to not have whole limes or fresh cilantro.
Making Pico De Gallo In A Tiny Kitchen
This recipe takes about 10 minutes to prepare. Just chop up a few vegetables, add some spices, and stir. You can make this with almost no counter space, no stove top, and clean up is a breeze! All you need to do is lightly wash a knife, cutting board, and (if you didn’t use packaged lime juice) your juicer or reamer. Eat it immediately or prepare it in advance and save it for later.
Depending on what you have on hand, you can substitute lemons for limes in this recipe. Limes have a tendency to lend a much fresher and crisper type of tartness in a recipe, but a lemon will work just fine. This recipe does not freeze, but you can store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It also travels very well and can be served room temperature or chilled.
So you hate cilantro…
This is a common grievance when it comes to this recipe. Yes, you can omit the cilantro. Yes, you can even substitute Italian parsley in place of the cilantro. But be warned: you will always feel like the Pico De Gallo is missing “something.” I recommend that you just try using a little bit of the cilantro—at least a 1/4 of what is recommended—at least once.
Always Season To Taste
Whenever you use fresh ingredients, the flavors will change every time you make this recipe. I recommend tasting your Pico De Gallo often while you are making it several times. For example, each and every jalapeño vary drastically in heat. If you are particular sensitive to heat, you might want to only use half a jalapeño. If you are feeling particularly salty (this happens to me from time to time), you might need to nearly double the garlic salt. Taste your food at each step. When in doubt, use less than the recipe requires and add more to your preference.
That’s it!
Give this recipe for Pico De Gallo a shot and let me know what you think. Don’t forget to come back and give me your rating. If you have any questions or find other substitutions that are yummy, feel free to add those in your comments! As always, if you like this recipe, please share it on social media so other people know about it too. Let’s eat!
