Classic Pico de Gallo
- Wife: “What are we having for dinner?”
- Me: “I was thinking about cooking some Mexican?”
- Wife: “…”
- Me: “I’ll make some pico for it.”
- Wife: “Okay, fine.”
That’s a legitimate conversation that’s been had more than once in my house. I don’t know what it is about fresh pico, but it simply makes everything better. In addition to the fresh ingredients and vibrant colors, pico is a great way to introduce some additional acid and salt to a dish. Served inside tacos, on top of enchiladas, or just eaten with some chips, this is a quick and low calorie recipe that you’ll come back to time and time again.
For this recipe, you’ll want to dice the tomato, onion, and jalapeno as finely as you can; smaller is better here. Also, you want to have roughly the same amount of onion as tomato. When dicing the tomato, make sure it’s ripe and has a tight, shiny skin, and I like to split it in half first, then gently squeeze the seeds and pulp out so the pico isn’t runny. For the jalapeno (or whatever peppers you want to use), the heat is in the seeds and membrane, so if you like mild heat, remove the seeds and membrane first (I prefer to leave them in place, myself).
When you mix everything, be sure to really taste. Pico that is under-seasoned or doesn’t have enough lime juice (acid) more or less is just diced onion and tomatoes. For the salt, you don’t want it to taste salty, but you should know the salt is there. An easy way to train your palate is to mix everything but the salt, taste a bit, add some salt, taste again, and rinse and repeat until it’s too salty for you. That bite right before then is the correct amount. You can do this by taking a small amount to experiment with, then add it all back in w/ the rest, so you don’t ruin the whole batch.
When adding the lime, I like to roll it around w/ some pressure on the palm of my hand to loosen it up, slice it along its horizontal equator, and use a small spoon to press the juice out, turning and scraping as I go. This will take about a half of a lime, but you may need a bit more or less.
Riffs
- Cilantro for me is take it or leave it, but some people love it. Most recipes include it, so of course add if you’d like.
- Experiment with different peppers. Serranos are an easy substitution, and more exotic peppers can definitely change the flavor and heat profiles.
- While white onions are traditional, red onion is very good in pico as well.
- Swap out some of the red tomato for some diced tomatillos.
- Instead of lime juice, you can use any other acid, so play with lemon, red wine vinegar, maybe even wine!
Pico de Gallo
Ingredients
- ½ medium white onion
- 1 medium red tomato
- 1 jalapeno
- ½ lime
- salt
- 2 tbsp cilantro optional
Instructions
- Finely dice the white onion, tomato, jalapeno (seeds and membrane removed, if desired), and cilantro, if using. There should be roughly the same amount of onion and tomato.
- Combine the diced onion, tomato, jalapeno, and cilantro in a a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and the juice of ½ lime. Mix, taste, adjust as needed.