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The Best Pico de Gallo Recipe

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updated: 10/02/25

5 from 20 votes
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy

Whether it’s Taco Tuesday or Taco Any Day, you need The Best Pico de Gallo recipe! This recipe comes together with just a few fresh ingredients and is perfect for eating with chips or on top of chicken tacos! This recipe is a keeper!

A small bowl of Pico de Gallo garnished with cilantro

With Cinco de Mayo right around the corner, I wanted to make sure you had the best pico de gallo recipe. I make this recipe all the time. It is easy to throw together and so delicious. It is perfect on tacos or just with chips.

It has the perfect balance of flavors with the jalapeños, onions, garlic, and just the right amount of lime juice and salt. And I share some great tips such as how to store cilantro, how to cut jalapeños, and what tomatoes to buy.

Reader Review

This is soooo good!!!! I have been making this almost daily. I love it on tacos and fajitas. It is also great on baked potatoes.

over head shot of bowl of pico de gallo recipe

Pico de Gallo Ingredients

This is the simplest of simple recipes, which makes it perfect for weeknight tacos! There are only a few things that you need to make it. Get the full amount of each ingredient in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

  • Plum tomatoes
  • Jalapeño
  • Small white onion
  • Garlic
  • Lime juice
  • Cilantro
  • Kosher salt

How to Make Pico de Gallo

Here is a brief overview of how this easy pico de gallo recipe comes together. For the full recipe including all ingredients and their measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

  1. Dice the tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes and remove the pulp and seeds. Cut into small diced-sized pieces.
  2. Dice the jalapeño and white onion. I have tips on dicing jalapeños below.
  3. Combine the ingredients. Combine everything in a bowl, and then taste. Add more salt as needed. Enjoy!
a tortilla chip dipping into pico de gallo recipe

What Type of Tomatoes to Use

I love using plum tomatoes in this recipe. They have a lot of tomato meat without a lot of juice which makes them perfect for this recipe. It leads to pico that is hearty but not too liquidy.

I like to pull out the seeds and pulp of the tomatoes before I start dicing them and throwing them in. You get the great taste of the tomatoes, without it being too liquidy.

Bottled or Fresh Lime Juice

I always have a bottle of lime juice in my refrigerator. It is so easy to keep on hand when I’m throwing together recipes like Carne Asada or Watermelon Salad.

That being said, fresh lime juice is always better than bottled. While bottled is good in a pinch, I suggest that you try to keep fresh limes on hand also. You can count on two to three tablespoons of lime juice per lime. Given the few ingredients in this recipe, I recommend using fresh.

Pro Tip

Get a little more lime juice out of your limes by microwaving them for 10 to 30 seconds depending on their size.

overhead of four street tacos on a board

Storing Pico De Gallo

Leftovers will last in an airtight container in the refrigerator for four to five days. Given how quickly this recipe comes together, my preference is to make it fresh.

What to Serve with Pico de Gallo

If you are having a full-on taco night, I have so many great recipes to go with this! This makes one cup. If you are topping tacos, it is perfect, if it is a dip for a party, you might want to double it.

If you make my homemade Pico de Gallo recipe or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

over head shot of bowl of pico de gallo recipe
5 from 20 votes

The Best Pico de Gallo Recipe

Author: Lisa Longley
Serves: 4 servings
(tap # to scale)
Prep: 10 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
The BEST Pico de Gallo Recipe with just a few ingredients! Perfect to eat with chips or put on tacos!

Ingredients

  • 2 plum tomatoes seeded and diced
  • 1 jalapeño diced small (see note 1)
  • 1/2 small white onion diced small
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro diced (see note 2)
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste

Instructions

  • Combine all of the ingredients and serve with tortilla chips or on top of tacos.
  • Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for four to five days.

Recipe Video

Notes

  1. The best way to cut a jalapeño is to think of it like a rectangle and cut off four sides. This will eliminate the ribs and the seeds where most of the heat is. Then cut each of the four sides into small slices and dice those fine.
  2. To store your cilantro between coming home from the grocery store and making your pico, trim the ends off the bottom, remove any leaves that are towards the bottom of the stems, and place them in a drinking glass with 2 inches of water. Cover with the bag from the grocery store and store in the refrigerator.
Serving: 0.25cup Calories: 20kcal (1%) Carbohydrates: 4g (1%) Protein: 1g (2%) Sodium: 142mg (6%) Potassium: 92mg (3%) Fiber: 1g (4%) Sugar: 2g (2%) Vitamin A: 450IU (9%) Vitamin C: 23.1mg (28%) Calcium: 10mg (1%) Iron: 0.4mg (2%)
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Mexican
over head shot of bowl of pico de gallo recipe

did you make this

The Best Pico de Gallo Recipe

I’d love to see what you made! Tag me @lisasimplejoy and hashtag it #simplejoyrecipes!

Lisa is the founder of Simple Joy. Lisa, is a self taught cook and avid lover of all things food, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For the last 10 years Lisa has been reading cookbooks, experimenting in the kitchen, and learning everything she possibly can about cooking. The result has been the ability to create recipes, both classics and new twists, that readers fall in love with and make with ease. Lisa loves not only providing delicious and easy recipes, but also giving the why behind what we are doing in the kitchen. She gets such great joy in sharing my love for food.

Lisa has been featured in many media outlets. These outlets include Country Living, Real Simple, Today, Parade, Good Housekeeping, Buzzfeed, Delish, Elle, and many others.

Prior to becoming a food creator, Lisa was a social worker. She received her master’s in social work from the University of Milwaukee and worked in child welfare.

Lisa is the mom to four amazing kids: Gavin, Elliot, Quinn, and Piper. Gavin, Quinn, and Piper are happy, amazing kids she loves spending time with.

Her husband, Nathan, is her partner in life and in business. He is her rock in more ways than one and supports all of her crazy dreams.

Lisa and Nathan lost their second child, Elliot, when he was 8 days old. If you want to know more about Elliot, you can read it here. If you want to read more of Lisa’s experience of grief, you can read this post.

Reader Interactions

    5 from 20 votes (9 ratings without comment)

    LEAVE A COMMENT

    Have a question? Use the form below to submit your question or comment. I love hearing from you & seeing what you made!

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  1. Rose Homuth says

    Can you can this pico ?

    • Lisa Longley says

      Hi Rose! I just don’t have enough experience with canning to answer that. Here is a pico recipe that has been made specifically for canning.

  2. Gladys says

    I make this without the garlic – my friend in Mazatlan never used it and that is who I learned from. Your recipes are awesome.

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m so glad you’ve bene enjoying my recipes!

  3. Pat says

    5 stars
    As usual, all your recipes are amazing. This one so easy and so quick. Love it

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m so happy to hear you liked it. I absolutely love this one.

  4. Bonita says

    5 stars
    This is soooo good!!!! I have been making this almost daily. I love it on tacos and fajitas. It is also great on baked potatoes.

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m so glad you enjoy so much!

  5. Linda says

    I love trying your recipes. Using fresh will definitely change your way of cooking. Thank you and keep your fresh recipes coming. Happy Easter!

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying my recipes! Happy Easter to you too, Linda.

  6. Maureen says

    5 stars
    Great recipe! I’ve made it twice and both times it was a hit! Good advice on how to keep cilantro fresh too. I’ve had to throw away other herbs after a few days. Now I don’t have so much waste! It stayed fresh and wilt-free. Thank you for your information and recipe!

    • Lisa Longley says

      You are so welcome, Maureen! I’m so glad you found it helpful. Thank you for taking the time to come back and let me know.

  7. Pam E says

    5 stars
    This is my go to pico de gallo. It truly gives you the perfect balance of all ingredients. Easy and great every time. I also remove seeds from tomatoes to keep it from being too juicy. Depending on the size of my Roma tomatoes I use two or three. We like it hot so I use 1 large jalapeño or 1 1/2 if they are on the small size. Left overs (if there are any) goes on my scrambled eggs the next morning.

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m so glad that you like it!

  8. Lori says

    5 stars
    This is so delicious!

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m glad you enjoyed it, Lori!

  9. Mary Ann Overfield says

    5 stars
    Hi Lisa thank you for this recipe pico de Gallo I have a very sensitive stomach This recipe did not hurt my stomach it made my stomach feel good! 👏👏The taste was awesome 😋 Thank You

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

  10. Kathy says

    This recipe is delicious!! I did double it and added a little more cilantro and used fresh lime. Will definitely use this recipe again!!

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed it, Kathy!

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