Pico de gallo is one of the versatile dishes that can be added to any meal. You can make them as appetizers, sides, dips, or toppings in Mexican-inspired food. This is naturally vegan and gluten-free too.
Pico de gallo is a very popular Mexican sauce and an appetizer primarily. This typically includes chopped fresh tomatoes, finely diced onions, serrano (for heat), jalapeno, cilantro or parsley, and lime juice. This five-ingredient (excluding salt) pico de gallo doesn't take more than 7 - 8 minutes yet adds flavor to any meal.
It's different from salsa in that the tomato juice is less concentrated. It has less juice concentration. It's also much more finely chopped than salsa. And for that reason, it goes well with tacos and fajitas. Also, you can remove the ingredients that you don't like, such as jalapeno or cilantro leaves (if you can't tolerate their flavor).
How to serve the pico de gallo?
- Add this as a topping to Mexican-inspired meals (Tex-Mex cuisine) like tacos, vegan fajitas, burritos, burrito bowls, etc.
- You can serve them as a dip with your nachos or tortilla chips.
- Add this to your tortilla wraps or pinwheels for the best punch of flavors.
- Serve this as a side dish to vegan meals, even if it's not Mexican. Pico de gallo will go well with any cuisine, any meal.
- Or eat this as a meal if you are in diet mode. Or replace your unhealthy snacking habit with a small portion of this healthy salad.
Possible variations
Add it to your black bean salad with corn and spice it up with a little cumin flavor, and it will be a delicious Mexican black bean salad.
Replace the tomatoes with other fruits like mangoes (Mango pico de gallo or mango salsa), strawberry pico de gallo, etc.
Add bell peppers to the dish to have a crunchy bite.
Play around with the ingredients and create your version, too. Please share comments below if you have made some unique flavors.
How to make pico de gallo?
Chop tomatoes (use Roma or other plum tomatoes) into small dice, about half an inch on each side. Take out the juice seeds and keep them aside to use in other recipes.
Chop one medium-sized onion along with a handful of cilantro leaves.
Remove the stem and seeds from two serrano or jalapeno peppers and slice them into thin pieces.
Take a handful of cilantro leaves or flat parsley leaves and chop them finely.
**Note - Be careful as chile peppers can irritate if you touch your eyes with your hands (even after washing with soap)! Consider putting on gloves while chopping the peppers or jalapeno.ย
Place the chopped veggies in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and drizzle fresh lime juice. You can substitute lime with lemon juice, too.
Recipe Card
Pico De Gallo
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 - 4 tomatoes deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 red onion finely chopped
- 1 - 2 jalapeno de-seeded
- 4 -5 tbsp cilantro leaves finely chopped
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Chop all the ingredients finely.
- Take a mixing bowl and add all finely chopped ingredients.
- Add lime juice and salt to taste.
- You can also add black pepper powder. (optional)
- Mix them all nicely.
Video
Nutrition
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