Forget store-bought! You can make your own Fresh, Easy Pico de Gallo From Scratch with just a few simple ingredients and less than 10 minutes!

Guys. How have I not shared this recipe with you before?! It's shameful! This Pico de Gallo From Scratch is a staple in our house. Staple like we make a big batch of it almost every single week. Have you ever looked at the ingredient list of pre-made picos and salsas in the store and noticed the sugar that's added to it? Bah. So unnecessary. Instead, you can just make your own at home with simple, fresh, healthy ingredients.
Ingredients Needed
Fresh is the name of the game here (as it is with almost all of our recipes here).
- Roma Tomatoes - You can use whatever tomatoes you'd like, really. But we prefer romas because of their firmer texture and the fact that they have fewer seeds.
- Fresh Cilantro - Fresh is really key here. Dried just isn't the same.
- Red Onion - This gives it a great bite. Red is preferred but white would also be ok, a sweet yellow though isn't quite the same.
- Jalapeno - Use as much or as little as you'd like, dependent upon how hot you'd like it!
- Hot Sauce - There are a gazillion hot sauces out there, but we find the Tapatio is the absolute best for this pico. Whatever you use, try to use a Mexican hot sauce. A hot sauce that's meant more for wings, like Frank's, wont work as well.
- Lime Juice - Fresh squeezed is our preferred for this, but if all you have is bottled, that works just great, too.
- Salt - To tie it all together.
Made in less than 10 minutes
10 minutes is being generous, too. It's only just a matter of chopping all of your ingredients and adding them to a big bowl!
Add everything except the salt, lime, and hot sauce. Then you'll want to add your salt, squeeze your lime juice on top of the salt, mix, and then finish with your desired amount of hot sauce. Add less, taste, and then add more.
And done! Ready for your favorite tacos, burritos, or chips!
Add this to your Sunday meal prep and then you'll be all set for your weeknight Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Tacos, Crock Pot Chicken Carnitas Tacos, Crock Pot Pork Verde, or even just to snack on with some homemade crackers or tortilla chips! I often top salad greens with pico, some avocado, sour cream, and some cheese and make myself a super easy, super healthy vegetarian salad. Boom. Easy. Fresh. Healthy.
However you eat it, you wont be disappointed - except of course with how blah all of the store bought pico will taste to you from now on!
Enjoy! As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I love to hear what you think! Leave a comment below, email me, or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
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Fresh, Easy Pico de Gallo
Ingredients
- 2 lbs fresh roma tomatoes
- 1/2 medium red onion
- 1 large bunch of cilantro
- 1 jalapeno
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- Juice from 1 lime
- hot sauce to taste Our favorite is Tapatio
Instructions
- Dice tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno, and chop cilantro. Add to a bowl. Sprinkle salt on top and then squeeze fresh lime juice over salt.
- Mix well and add hot sauce to taste and mix well.
- Serve with your favorite tacos or with chips.
- Store in airtight container in fridge up to a week.
I would drop sauce and control heat with a combo of capsicum and serrano peppers, your recipe is very close to restaurant, but actual pico is made with serranos and sometimes a mild chili, which is why i suggest capsicum. adding a cooked product (the hot sauce) destroys the fresh garden taste of the pico di gallo. We all have our proclivities, cook as you will and let that be the whole of the law, but I make mine with tomato, onion, serrano, cilantro, lime juice and salt. That is it. I find the jalapeno to be a distracting flavor as well, the serranos are perfect for the balance.
GREAT tips, thank you Madison!!