If you’re like me, you plant a TON of tomatoes and they always seem to overrun the kitchen during harvest time. None of us are big fans of tomatoes by themselves, but we absolutely LOVE Pico de Gallo and will eat it on everything from crackers to fish to tacos. Sometimes, mixing it with mashed avocado makes a quick and yummy guacamole.
What Is Pico de Gallo?
It’s basically a salad made of onion, tomato, tomatillo, cilantro, lime juice, jalepeno, and salt. We grow almost all of it in our garden except the tomatillo. We still haven’t had much luck with that. We find it at the local Latin grocery store in greater quantity than we can our local store. We’ve never tried to freeze it or can it, but that’s because there is never any left to worry about!
This is a great recipe to get your children practicing chopping and putting together a very forgiving dish. Be sure to supervise, and give them a proper knife to use, but this is a great knife practicing opportunity for them.
But to get you in the mood for making this fantastic dish, listen to this. It’s one of our favorite songs from a band called Trout Fishing in America. It’s kind of silly – you’ve been warned 😀
Now that you’re all in the mood, it’s time…
Homemade Pico de Gallo Recipe
This is one of those recipes that is VERY forgiving. Use what you have, adjust to your taste, and don’t worry about correct quantities. I’ll give you a general idea, but you can really make it work for how you like it or what you have on hand.
- 12 Roma Tomatoes
- 6 Tomatillos
- 1-2 Jalepeno
- 1 Red Onion
- 2 cups cilantro leaves – chopped, must be fresh
- 1 lime
How to Make Pico de Gallo: Step-by-Step Directions
- Cut tomatoes in half and get rid of the guts (it’ll be too runny if you don’t). We chop them into 1/2″ bites.
- Chop onion into 1/2″ bites
- Remove paper layer of tomatillo and chop into 1/2″ bites.
- Chop cilantro leaves well, be sure to remove any stems. They aren’t so good – throw them into the compost bin.
- Cut jalepeno in half, scoop out seeds and cut out all of the white ribbing. Wash your hands and utensils thoroughly after this step. You don’t want this in your eyes.
- Cut lime in half, and squirt juice over salad, making sure not to let the seeds escape. You can mix and taste for best results before adding 2nd half of lime juice.
- Salt to taste.
Store in airtight container for 3 or 4 days. Serve over anything – our favorite really is with crackers or on fish tacos.
Want a really interesting twist on it?
How to Make Greek Pico de Gallo
- 12 Roma Tomatoes
- 1 Cucumber, peeled and fine chopped
- 1-2 Jalepeno (or small red, yellow or orange bell pepper seeded, deribbed and finely chopped)
- 1 Red Onion
- 1 Cup Parsley – rough chopped
- A bit of fresh oregano
- 1 lemon
- handful of crumbled Feta cheese
Follow the same basic procedures as creating a regular pico de gallo, but with the added flavors, you’ve got a great Greek twist on things!
Your Thoughts – Do you love cilantro or hate it?
Katy Willis is a writer, lifelong homesteader, and master herbalist, master gardener, and canine nutritionist. Katy is a preparedness expert and modern homesteader practicing everyday preparedness, sustainability, and a holistic lifestyle.
She knows how important it is to be prepared for whatever life throws at you, because you just never know what's coming. And preparedness helps you give your family the best chance to thrive in any situation.
Katy is passionate about living naturally, growing food, keeping livestock, foraging, and making and using herbal remedies. Katy is an experienced herbalist and a member of the CMA (Complementary Medical Association).
Her preparedness skills go beyond just being "ready", she's ready to survive the initial disaster, and thrive afterward, too. She grows 100% organic food on roughly 15 acres and raises goats, chickens, and ducks. She also lovingly tends her orchard, where she grows many different fruit trees. And, because she likes to know exactly what she's feeding her family, she's a seasoned from-scratch cook and gluten-free baker.
Katy teaches foraging and environmental education classes, too, including self-sufficient living, modern homesteading, seed saving, and organic vegetable gardening.
Katy helps others learn forgotten skills, including basic survival skills and self-reliance.
She's been published on sites such as MSN, Angi, Home Advisor, Family Handyman, Wealth of Geeks, Readers Digest, and more.