Pico de gallo is a simple, fresh salsa (sometimes called salsa fresca, Salsa Mexicana, or salsa crudo) that goes well on anything. It’s one of the most common salsas you’ll find north of the border due to its versatility and excellent taste.
This salsa is excellent if you want to balance out any fatty or starchy ingredients due to its high acid content and fresh, clean flavors.
Tips for Making Great Pico de Gallo
Dicing the Ingredients
The key to making an excellent pico de gallo is the size of the dice. The smaller the dice, the easier it is to manipulate with a tortilla chip, and the more the flavors will meld.
One-quarter to one-eighth inch is best. Bigger than that, and it’s just a tomato salad.
Seeding the Tomatoes
To make short work of seeding the tomatoes, just cut them into quarters, slice out the core, then scrape the seeds out with a spoon.
Adjusting the Heat
You can easily adjust the heat in your pico de gallo from almost no heat to as hot as your peppers will allow by removing the seeds, then cutting out the white veins on the inside.
The veins being the most important thing to remove if you’re looking for mild. The veins carry more capsaicin (the element that gives you the burning sensation) than the seeds.
Pre-squeezed Lime Juice is Blasphemy
Finally, don’t use pre-squeezed lime juice from the store. Buy real limes and squeeze them yourself. Real limes are better. They give a more vibrant and intense flavor.
Pico De Gallo
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup white onion - finely chopped
- 2 medium jalapeno peppers - stemmed, seeded, and deveined, finely chopped
- 1 large lime - juiced
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 1/2 lbs. Roma tomatoes - cored and seeded, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro - finely chopped
Instructions
- Chop everything, then mix it all together.
- Let sit covered in the fridge for a couple of hours to allow the flavors to marry.
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