Pico de Gallo
Tomato, onion, chilli, coriander and lime, chopped small and salted. Fifteen minutes, no cooking, and it improves everything it touches.
Photograph credit: Mmm... deep fried flour tortilla wedges with pico de gallo and black bean salsa by jeffreyw · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
The Method for Pico de Gallo
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Toss the diced tomato with the salt in a sieve set over a bowl.
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Leave 10 minutes, then discard the liquid that collects.
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Rinse the diced onion under cold running water for 20 seconds and pat dry.
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Combine the drained tomato, onion, jalapeños and coriander in a bowl.
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Add the lime juice and black pepper and stir.
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Taste and add more salt and lime until it is sharp and clearly seasoned.
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Rest 15 minutes before serving so the flavours meet.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Keep an Eye on These
- Salt and drain the tomato, or it floods.
- Rinse the onion to take the raw bite off.
- Season harder than feels right — it dilutes on the plate.
Common Substitutions & Variations
- Lemon is the everyday swap for lime in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.
A Little Background
Salt the diced tomato on its own for ten minutes and pour off what collects. Tomato is mostly water and unsalted pico turns into a watery bowl within half an hour — drained, it stays a salsa. Rinse the diced onion under cold water too: it takes the raw sulphurous bite off without losing the crunch.
What to Serve It With
Tortilla chips · Carne asada · Grilled fish
Keeping Pico de Gallo
Best within 4 hours. Keeps 2 days refrigerated but softens.
Quick Answers
How long does Pico de Gallo take to make?
15 minutes of preparation and of cooking, plus 15 minutes of resting, so allow 30 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 6.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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