Editor's note: Chef Roberto Santibañez, the chef/owner of Fonda in Brooklyn, New York shared this recipe as part of a festive taco party menu he created for Epicurious. He recommends serving this salsa with his Carnitas or Carne Adobada Tacos .

The Spanish name for this salsa means "rooster's beak," and originally referred to a salad of jicama, peanuts, oranges, and onions. But today, whether you're in Minneapolis or Mexico City, if you ask for pico de gallo, you'll get the familiar cilantro-flecked combination of chopped tomato, onion, and fresh chiles. This tart, crisp condiment (also known as salsa Mexicana) has become so common on Mexican tables that it seems like no coincidence that its colors match those of the national flag. Besides finding firm ripe tomatoes and seeding them, the key to this salsa is adding plenty of lime juice and salt, and not skimping on the chiles. Because without a burst of acidity and heat, you're just eating chopped tomatoes.

Recipe information

Total Time
15 minutes
Yield
Makes 2 cups

Ingredients

3/4 pound tomatoes (about 2 medium), seeded and finely diced (1 1/2 cups)

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup finely chopped white onion

1 small fresh jalapeño or serrano chile, finely chopped, including seeds, or more to taste

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice, or more to taste

1/2 teaspoon fine salt, or 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

Step 1
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Season to taste with additional chile, lime juice, and salt.
Step 2
This salsa keeps in the refrigerator for up to one day. Before you serve it, stir it well and drain any excess liquid that has accumulated in the bowl.

Leave a Review

Reviews (13)

Yum. Simple, straight forward. This tastes like what I grew up with in Texas. It is exceptional with garden-fresh tomatoes. But sadly, the flavors wane substantially after just 1 day - make enough for now, but don't bother saving the leftovers - they will be mediocre tomorrow.
- Anonymous
- Chevy Chase, MD
- 8/11/2012
Oh my..... I've never made homemade salsa and I have to say, this was amazing. I followed recipe exactly as written.
- tlginptc
- Atlanta, GA
- 1/19/2014
Very simple recipe, good flavor. Will most definitely be one of my go-to recipes.
- marideth
- Ocean, NJ
- 7/4/2014
pretty good, added an extra jalepeno and cilantro for my personal taste. great start to a recipe that you can revise
- podunk1220
- kansas city,MO
- 8/23/2014
I'm on the hunt for an out-of-this-world pico de gallo recipe. While this was not it, this will be my go-to base recipe for the time being. Fresh and good. Make sure to drain as much liquid from the tomatoes as possible during seeding and chopping. Let the lime juice and seasonings stand out by eliminating tomato liquid completely. Day 2 the flavor was still good in our case.
- soup_ster_1
- Miami, FL
- 11/3/2014
This is a fantastic and super simple recipe! I doubled the recipe because I consider salsa to be a food group in and of itself and wanted to have some for a few days. I also doubled the jalapeño as I like more kick. I must disagree with one of the other reviewers in that I found the flavor to be better the second day and still better the day after that! So much so that the next time I make it, I will make it the day before I need it so the flavors can meld overnight.
- 5StarSpicy
- Seattle, WA
- 5/23/2015
I prepared this exactly per the instructions, and it was excellent! I like spice, so I'll probably add more jalapeno next time. Will definitely make again.
- CookininLA
- Los Angeles, CA
- 2/18/2016