How to Make the Best Pico de Gallo

Here are my top tips to ensure that you make the best pico de gallo you’ve ever had.

1) Use ripe red tomatoes.

Ripe tomatoes are absolutely key to making great pico de gallo. Sad pink tomatoes do not make good pico de gallo. Roma tomatoes are a good choice since they are less watery, but use the most beautiful red, ripe tomato variety available. Core your tomatoes and remove the seeds before chopping. Use every last bit of the red tomato flesh inside!

In the winter, you can use cherry tomatoes, which tend to have good flavor year-round. Be prepared to chop them into small pieces, and perhaps give the finished product some extra time to marinate since cherry tomatoes tend to be more firm than most.

2) Chop your ingredients very finely.

Chop your tomato, onion, jalapeño and cilantro finely and you will be rewarded with more flavor in every bite. This is worth the extra effort!

3) Let the onion, jalapeno, lime and salt marinate while you chop the tomatoes and cilantro.

I learned this trick from this recipe. I’ve tested pico de gallo both ways (marinated onion/jalapeño vs. tossing all the ingredients together at once). The marinated onion/jalapeño batches were indeed my most flavorful batches.

Full disclosure: It’s possible that my tomatoes for those batches were better, so I’m not entirely convinced that the method made the difference. This “step” doesn’t take any extra time, though, so I recommend it.

4) Let your pico rest for 15 minutes before serving.

This step gives the flavors time to mingle and brings out their best. As the tomatoes and remaining ingredients rest, the salt draws the moisture out of the ingredients and condenses their flavor.