Homemade Pico De Gallo

The purpose of this instructable is to show you how you can make this delicious pico de gallo salsa recipe at home!

My husband and I started making pico de gallo when we first met in college at BYU. He served a church mission in San Fernando, California as a Spanish-speaking missionary. There, he picked up many Mexican flavored recipes, and this one is our favorite. We adapted it to our own style and it is packed full of fresh ingredients and naturally delicious flavor. We often double the recipe just to make it last a little longer in our refrigerator (Drew will eat it all in one day if I let him).

You will love this recipe for parties, family dinners, afternoon snacks, and good ole’ munchies! You do not need to be a professional chef to get this one right. I will walk you through using the listed steps and I have faith that your dish will come out just as tasty as it’s meant to be!

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Prep/Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: ~ 5 cups

Ingredients:

● 5-6 Roma tomatoes

● 1 medium/large white onion

● 1 bunch of cilantro

● 1 serrano pepper (or jalapeno)

● 3 limes

● Garlic salt

● Salt

● Pepper

Materials:

● Cutting board

● Knife

● Large bowl

● Measuring spoons

● Mixing spoon

Okay! Let’s get started!

Wash each roma tomato under cool water and pat dry with a towel.

Place a tomato on the cutting board and dice into small cubes. Repeat with each tomato.

Put the diced tomatoes into the large bowl.

Slice the very top of onion off and discard.

Peel the outer skin of the white onion off and discard.

Slice the onion down the center from top to bottom

Take half of the onion and slice it horizontally down the middle, stopping at the root (do not slice straight through)

Cut slices into the onion all the way across.

Chop the onion, as usual, down to the root.

Add the diced onions to the bowl and stir with the spoon.

Rinse the cilantro bunch in cool water.

Cut off the stems to the cilantro bunch and discard.

Chop up the cilantro into thin pieces and add to the bowl then stir.

• Note: The thinner the slices of cilantro, the better. Also, you may not need all of the cilantro, so add a bit at a time and stir to get the proper ratio.

Rinse the Serrano pepper in cool water and pat dry with a towel.

• CAUTION: Do not touch eyes or mouth during or after handling a hot pepper. Wash hands thoroughly before touching your face to avoid burning.

Cut off the stem of the hot pepper and discard.

• CAUTION: Do not touch eyes or mouth during or after handling a hot pepper. Wash hands thoroughly before touching your face to avoid burning.

Cut the hot pepper down the center, vertically.

• CAUTION: Do not touch eyes or mouth during or after handling a hot pepper. Wash hands thoroughly before touching your face to avoid burning.

Cut out the inner flesh and seeds and discard.

• CAUTION: Do not touch eyes or mouth during or after handling a hot pepper. Wash hands thoroughly before touching your face to avoid burning.

Slice one-half of the hot pepper into thin strips and then dice into small cubes.

• CAUTION: Do not touch eyes or mouth during or after handling a hot pepper. Wash hands thoroughly before touching your face to avoid burning.

Add the cubes of that half of the hot pepper to the bowl and stir.

• CAUTION: Do not touch eyes or mouth during or after handling a hot pepper. Wash hands thoroughly before touching your face to avoid burning.

Taste the pico at this point to see if it is spicy enough for your liking.

• Note: If you want to add more heat, dice up the rest of the hot pepper and add to the bowl then stir.

Add 2 1/2 teaspoons of garlic salt to the bowl.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the bowl.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of pepper to the bowl.

Cut a lime in half and squeeze the juice from each half into the bowl.

• Note: Start with 2 whole limes - add a third if you like a more citrusy flavor or if the first two did not contain much juice.

Stir the pico de gallo and taste test it to make sure it’s salted enough for your preference.

• Note: Add more salt, pepper, or garlic salt if needed/desired.

Once it is seasoned to your liking, serve chilled with tortilla chips! Enjoy!

• Notes: It is best to add the seasonings before the limejuice so that the seasoning will adhere to the ingredients, delivering a more powerful flavor