This mild pico de gallo is everything you want in a fresh salsa—bright, crisp, and super easy to make. It’s the perfect topping, dip, or sidekick for your favorite Mexican meals.
- Quick 10-minute prep with simple ingredients
- Full of fresh flavor from tomatoes, onions, lime, and cilantro
- Easily adjustable—mild or spicy, your choice!
- Tastes even better after a short rest
- Perfect for tacos, grilled meats, or just a bowl of chips
Ingredient Notes
Just a few fresh ingredients make this salsa shine—here’s what to keep in mind:
- Roma Tomatoes: A paste tomato like a Roma is perfect for pico because of it’s firmness and low moisture content If using juicy tomatoes like a beefsteak tomato or another slicing tomato, remove the center and seeds to avoid watery salsa.
- White Sweet Onions: These add the perfect mild bite. You can swap with red onion for a sharper flavor.
- Cilantro: Use the leaves and tender stems for max flavor. No need to go overboard—just enough to bring that herbal brightness. If you don’t like the flavor of cilantro, just leave it out.
- Lime Juice: Start with a tablespoon, then add more to taste. Fresh juice makes a big difference!
- Optional Jalapeño: If you want a little heat, finely dice a jalapeño after removing seeds and membrane (gloves recommended!).
Tips & Tricks for Your Best Pico Yet
Making fresh pico is simple, but these tips help take it from good to great:
- Chop small: Uniform, finely chopped ingredients give you balanced bites with every scoop. Avoid big chunks of raw onion—they can take over!
- Use a food processor (carefully): It’s fast, but pulse lightly to avoid turning everything to mush. You want a chunky texture, not a purée.
- Taste as you go: Add salt and lime gradually, then taste and tweak. A little adjustment can completely transform the flavor.
- Let it rest: Letting your pico sit at room temp for 20–30 minutes helps the flavors meld. Worth the wait!
- Drain excess juice if needed: Especially if you’re using juicy tomatoes or serving on tacos—no one wants soggy tortillas.
Storage & Leftovers
Fresh pico is best the day it’s made, but here’s how to keep it tasty:
- Fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The flavor will mellow, and tomatoes may soften over time.
- Room Temp: Okay for a couple hours, especially if it’s cool. If it’s hot (90°F+), aim to refrigerate within 2 hours.
- Reheating: No need! Serve it chilled or at room temperature. Let refrigerated pico sit out 15–20 minutes before serving to bring back its fresh flavor.
What to Serve With Fresh Pico
There are limitless ways to serve it, but we love it with:
- Chips
- On Nachos
- In Burritos
- As a Taco Topping
- On Top of Enchiladas.
- In Taco Salad
- On Top Of Grilled Fish or Chicken!
Recipe Card
Mild Pico de Gallo
Ingredients
- 10 Roma Tomatoes
- 2 white sweet onions
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 1-3 tablespoons of lime juice or lemon
- Salt to taste
- *Optional: Add one seeded and demembrained Jalapeno for a LITTLE heat.
Instructions
- Wash all your tomatoes, onions and cilantro.
- Dry washed ingredients as good as you can.
- Using a food processor, or a knife, CHOP onions into very small pieces and put into large bowl.
- Chop tomatoes into small pieces and add to bowl with onions.
- Chop cilantro into small pieces and add to bowl also.
- Drizzle LIME juice over top of chopped ingredients.
- Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt.
- Stir well.
- Taste! IF you want more lime or salt add accordingly and mix, then taste again.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Cut your ingredients SMALL… So you get a little bit of all the ingredients in each bite! (No one likes a big chunk on raw onion.)
- Make to taste – Salt your Pico, add a tablespoon of lime juice, then TASTE it! You may want to add more salt and lime, like me!
- If you want a spicier Pico, add a jalapeno or two, but remove membrane inside and seed them, with gloves on, first!
Nutrition
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About Juliea
Juliea Huffaker is the creator of Farmhouse Harvest, and dedicated to teaching from-scratch cooking, sourdough baking, gardening, and food preservation. With over 25 years of hands-on experience she has preserved hundreds of jars of produce, mastered the art of meats and sourdough baking, and nurtured a thriving organic garden. Her recipes and articles have been featured across the web. And she’s passionate about inspiring others to embrace a simpler, self-sufficient life style.
2 comments
Darlene
I make this to go on tacos, enchiladas, for corn chips…. It’s so good!
Sharon
It looks delicious! I love the way you’ve linked the tools we might need ?