Pico de Gallo is the perfect addition to your Cinco de Mayo festivities. This super simple condiment uses only a few fresh ingredients, but is huge on flavor. Use it to dress up tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, taco salad, and more, for out of this world flavor.
Ingredients
I used the following ingredients for this amazing condiment: Fresh tomatoes, Kosher salt, onions, fresh jalapeño pepper, Italian parsley, garlic, and fresh lime juice. If you like cilantro, you should use it in place of the Italian parsley. Personally, I can't stand the taste of cilantro!
Preparing the Tomatoes
The first thing that I did was to remove the seeds and pulp from the tomatoes. Then, I cut the tomatoes into ¼ to ½-inch pieces.
One potential problem with Pico de Gallo is its tendency to be watery. To mitigate this, I combined the cut tomatoes with a teaspoon of Kosher salt, and let them drain for about 30 minutes. The salt not only drew out the excess juices, but also resulted in tomatoes with a more concentrated flavor.
Putting the Pico de Gallo Together:
While the tomatoes were draining, I finely chopped the onion. Then, I removed the seeds and membrane from the jalapeño pepper, and finely chopped it. Finely, I minced the parsley.
After the tomatoes had drained, I placed them in a bowl, and added the onion, jalapeños, parsley, minced garlic, lime juice, and remaining ¼ teaspoon of Kosher salt.
Then, I mixed all of the ingredients together with a wooden spoon. That's it!
I ended up with about 3 ½ cups of amazing Pico de Gallo. By letting the flavors meld over night, I had an even better mixture next day. I used it as an awesome topping for tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, taco salad and lots more. It's equally delicious as a dip with tortilla chips. Yum!
For another amazing appetizer check out my Texas Caviar. One bit and you'll be hooked.
Recipe
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Pico de Gallo
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups seeded and chopped tomatoes (about 1 ½ pounds) (See Note 1)
- 1 ¼ teaspoons Kosher salt, divided
- ¾ cup finely chopped onion (1 medium)
- 3 Tablespoons finely chopped jalapeño pepper, seeds and membrane removed
- 2 Tablespoons finely minced Italian parsley or cilantro (See Note 2)
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice (½ lime)
Instructions
- Combine tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of salt in a bowl. Transfer to a wire mesh strainer or colander set in a bowl. Allow to drain for 25 to 30 minutes. Discard liquid.
- Combine drained tomatoes with onion, jalapeños, parsley, lime juice, and remaining ¼ teaspoon of Kosher salt. Toss to combine.
- Refrigerate in a sealed container (See Note 3).
- Yield 3 ½ cups Pico de Gallo.
Tips/Notes
- Use the tastiest tomatoes possible. I used Campari tomatoes.
- Can use cilantro in place of Italian parsley. You can add more cilantro to taste. I don't use cilantro because I can't stand the taste of it!
- Pico de Gallo can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Even though excess liquid is removed from the tomatoes, the Pico de Gallo might still be a bit watery after sitting in the refrigerator. Simply pour off additional liquid.
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