Do you enjoy pico de gallo as much as I do? It’s a traditional Mexican tomato dip (or sauce) that offers a fresh, healthful, low-calorie flavor boost to almost any Mexican dish.
Pico de gallo goes well with tortilla chips as a party starter or as a taco topping. Huge success in my home!
Making the Best Pico de Gallo
Here are my top suggestions for making the greatest pico de gallo you’ve ever had.
1) Make use of ripe red tomatoes.
Ripe tomatoes are essential for preparing delicious pico de gallo. Pink tomatoes, unfortunately, do not produce good pico de gallo. Although Roma tomatoes are less watery, use the most beautiful red, ripe tomato variety available. Before chopping, core your tomatoes and remove the seeds. Make the most of the red tomato flesh inside!
You can use cherry tomatoes in the winter because they have an excellent flavor all year. Because cherry tomatoes are firmer than others, prepare to slice them into little pieces and allow the completed product some extra time to marinade.
2) Finely chop your components.
If you finely chop your tomato, onion, jalapeo, and cilantro, you will get more flavor in every bite. This is well worth the extra work!
3) Marinate the onion, jalapeño, lime, and salt while chopping the tomatoes and cilantro.
This trick was taught to me by this recipe. I made pico de gallo both methods (marinated onion/jalapeo vs. putting everything together at once). My favorite flavorful batches were the marinated onion/jalapeo ones.
To be clear, it’s possible that my tomatoes were superior in those batches, so I’m not fully positive that the approach made a difference. This “step” does not require any additional time, so I recommend it.
4) Set aside your pico for 15 minutes before serving.
This phase allows the flavors to interact and bring out their greatest qualities. The salt takes the moisture out of the tomatoes and the remaining ingredients while they rest, condensing their flavor.
You’ll understand what I mean if you try your pico de gallo before and after marinating. If you aren’t going to serve the pico de gallo right away, you can chill it for several hours or overnight.
5) Use a slotted spoon to serve.
Tomatoes produce a lot of moisture, so some tomato liquid will pool at the bottom of your bowl. Serving your pico de gallo with a slotted spoon or large serving fork is the simplest method here.
This way, your pico doesn’t convey a lot of moisture. No more soggy nachos!
Ingredients
1 cup finely chopped white onion (equivalent to 1 small onion)
1 medium jalapeo or serrano pepper, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped
14 cup lemon juice
34 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more as desired
12 pound ripe red tomatoes (eight small or four large), chopped
12 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped (approximately 1 bunch)
Pico De Gallo Preparation
Combine the chopped onion, jalapeo, lime juice, and salt in a medium serving bowl. Allow it to marinade for 5 minutes while you prepare the tomatoes and cilantro.
Stir in the chopped tomatoes and cilantro until well combined. If the flavors don’t quite sing, season with additional salt.
Allow the mixture to marinade for 15 minutes or several hours in the refrigerator for the greatest flavor. To prevent transferring too much watery tomato liquid with your pico, serve as a dip or with a slotted spoon or broad serving fork. Pico de gallo can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, covered.
