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Ingredients
- 2-3 medium sized fresh tomatoes (from 1 lb to 1 1/2 lb), stems removed, finely diced
- 1/2 red onion, finely diced
- 1 jalapeño chili pepper (stems, ribs, seeds removed), finely diced
- 1 serano chili pepper (stems, ribs, seeds removed), finely diced
- Juice of one lime
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional: oregano and or cumin to taste
Preparation
Step 1
Start with chopping up 2 medium sized fresh tomatoes. Prepare the chilies. Be very careful while handling these hot peppers. If you can, avoid touching them with your hands. Use a fork to cut up the chilies over a small plate, or use a paper towel to protect your hands. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water after handling and avoid touching your eyes for several hours. Set aside some of the seeds from the peppers. If the salsa isn't hot enough, you can add a few for heat.
Combine all of the ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Taste. If the chilies make the salsa too hot, add some more chopped tomato. If not hot enough, carefully add a few of the seeds from the chilies, or add some ground cumin.
Let sit for an hour for the flavors to combine.
Makes approximately 3-4 cups.
Nice recipe! Sometimes I cut up a peach to add to salsa when serving with salmon.
According to Diana Kennedy, peaches are sometimes cut up and added to this salsa in some parts of Mexico. ~Elise
You know those sturdy, hot-house tomatoes that you get in the grocery store? The ones that are as far from homegrown or heirloom as you could be? Hate to say it but I think they make the best tomatoes for this salsa. They hold their shape, and they’re not too “tomato-y” in taste. ~Elise
When we made this in my house we take the chopped onion and mix it with lime (and also lemon in our house) juice and put them in the microwave for about 30 seconds. We then let it cool while we chop everything else. For some reason this takes the raw bite out of the onions but leaves them crunchy!
When we make guacamole we just mix about half a cup of this salsa with an avacado and the juice of half another lemmon or lime and some sea salt!
Hi, I like your pico de gallo! Here’s another simple salas that my grandma taught me. 4 reg.ripe tomatoes and 3 jalepenos. Boil both until tender. Then put tomatoes, jalepenos, 1 clove of garlic and a small piece of onion and salt to taste into a blender. Don’t want to blend it too long You want the salsa to be chunky. This is great with tortilla chips, tacos and quesadillas.
To make this salsa more tasty you can first flame grill the tomatoes and then peel off the skins. Blend the tomatoes with coriander leaf and onion slices. Blend with salt and green chilly. Try it , I know you’ll love it.
I just ran across your recipe for the fresh salsa. It’s quite similar to what I made recently for Pico de Gallo. It was my first attempt at pico de gallo but I must say it turned out well. I received instructions from a Mexican friend who would be attending the Mexican theme party that we were having. Excellent! The only difference in what I did was that I put everything through a food processor, for a finer blend. I used both Roma and regular red tomatoes, making for a red, white and green salsa.
I have been making this canned salsa for years. It makes around 8 pints and once sealed in a hot water bath, keeps almost forever. I use the snap lids for canning, I find them easier to use and I never worry about the seal.
I use my homegrown tomatoes and make sure they are nice and ripe before I use them. I would suggest a Roma tomato if you have to buy the tomatoes but make sure they are nice and red and ripe.
Put in a large dutch oven or soup pot. Bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer. Stir regularily until thickened. Fill jars. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Is there any way to preserve salsa without cooking it? And does anyone know the shelf life of either process–cooking or fresh? My husband has a recipe some people want him to make for them to store for future use. We don’t want that cooked flavor or consistency though. We want that fresh taste preserved but some of it will be in storage for 3-4 months. What do you think our options are?
Just mix the ingredients together and refrigerate to let the flavors mix.
I love Pico De Gallo. I have made it ever since my ex fiance taught me how, I have used Many tomatoes over the years and have settled on a Roma tomato. To me it has enough meat on it to make the dicing almost perfect with each tomato. It is sturdy, and has a decent flavor in my opinion. I have made it for my GF several times in the last three years, it is a personal favorite of hers when she is pregnant and it’s good for her. I never measure out, but always keep in mind that the right amount of cilantro is important. What I really want to know, is how do I package this for storage more than just 2-3 days. I have family and friends who request me to make this a lot and I hate I cannot send it out to them when I make it.
Hi Dean, it’s made with cut up fresh ingredients, which only last as long as you would expect, just a few days. If you make cooked salsa and can it, it will last longer. You might be able to buy some preservatives to add to it to make it last longer, but then, what’s the point? Might as well buy the store-bought version with the preservatives already in it. ~Elise
My son makes a salsa likes this and it is very good, the only problem I have with it, is it gets very very juicy. How do you get away from that juicyness? Do you just drain it or is this the way it is supposed to be? I have had simular salsas and they didn’t seem to be that juicy. THANKS.
I made this for dinner tonight – Out Of Control! I added more cilantro than I should have and used very ripe campari tomatoes. I let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours before slathering it on our carne asada and it was perfect. I would recommend going just a little crazy with the salt… overall, very, very good recipe! cheers!
Tasty, easy to follow recipe. The best part is, it teaches you the basic components of salsa, so modifications are endless. We added roasted garlic and bell pepper. I will say- maybe too much cilantro, but I was eyeballing it, and it may have been my fault. Point is, cilantro can be overdone, so watch those measuring cups!
Look for recipes calling for “nopalitos”. They are cactus paddles that are used in salsas and salads in Mexican cooking. ~Elise
It’s a condiment. Depends on how much you add to what you are eating. ~Elise
I just made this pico recipe, and it turned out PERFECT… until I added the cumin. You might wanna warn n00bs like me that cumin MUST be used SPARINGLY… perhaps in a few hours the other ingredients will tame the cumin, but I fear I may have ruined it. Doh!
Everyone who is suggesting these variations (including cooking the ingredients, searing the tomato, etc)… those are all great, but as Elise said, there are THOUSANDS of salsa recipes out there (my time in AZ taught me that). This is just one specific one. Let her have her recipe. :)
And someone mentioned “too tomatoey” of a taste… I just tried it and though brilliantly wonderful, the tomatoes were winning. I added a pinch of sugar, and that helped tone down the acidity of the tomatoes. :)
I like to roast my peppers before cutting them up. I let one side get blackened on the grill then I cut them up and it makes a nice additional flavor.
For those of you who dont like the strong taste of onions, you can cut the onions and make a lime and salt juice and soak the onions in this for at least 30 minutes. The onions will become sweet.
Thank you for telling people to be careful when handling the chilis: they can really burn like CRAZY if you have sensitive skin, so use fork to hold them in place when cutting them, or wear rubber gloves!
i love this salsa! made it a million times, slightly different here and there. i think my favorite is with a bit of honey and fresh oregano. its always good though! for people looking for a preserved version, the only luck ive ever had with a fresh salsa that lasts is fermented salsa. sally fallon has a recipe in nourishing traditions, but if you just google it either are a few recipes. its just fantastic and has a really neat effervescent bite. i do tend to make it in small batches though, fresh and on demand like elise recommends. awesome with scallops and shrimp. i could just eat it with a spoon. thanks again, always love what you do, elise!