You know how restaurant salsa always tastes better than the stuff you buy in a jar? Want to make restaurant-quality salsa at home? Look no further. Though I love many brands of pre-made salsas (Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde is the BEST), I like to change things up every once in a while by making salsa from scratch. Since we recently had a Mexican-themed birthday party for my son, it seemed like a good time to make some fresh salsa.
Fresh salsa, or pico de gallo, or salsa fresca (they’re all the same thing), is super easy to make. It’s kind of embarrassing that I don’t make it more often…but I’m a working mom, so let’s chalk it up to that. There are just five ingredients, and it takes only 15 minutes or less to make, which means there’s no excuse not to try it at least once. This would be a great food to bring to any party–summer BBQ, Super Bowl party, etc.
Throw a bunch of roughly chopped tomatoes in a food processor, and pulse to chop more finely. Pour into a bowl.
Add onion, jalapeño, and cilantro to the food processor. Pulse until very finely chopped.
When it looks like this, pour it into the bowl with the tomatoes.
Stir together to combine. Add salt and lime juice.
For a cute (if not completely overplayed) presentation, pour into Mason jars, and store in the fridge. It should last at least a week when refrigerated.
Pico de Gallo
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 10-11 small/medium tomatoes cored and roughly chopped into about 8 pieces each
- 1 medium onion roughly chopped
- 1 jalapeno stem removed, chopped
- handful cilantro leaves thin stems are okay to include, washed well
- Juice of 3 juicy limes about 1/2 cup
- salt to taste about 1 tsp
Instructions
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Add all of the tomatoes to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well chopped.
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Pour the tomatoes into a large bowl. Add the onion, jalapeño, and cilantro to the food processor, and pulse until minced very finely (stop before they are completely pureed).
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Pour the mixture into the bowl with the tomatoes. Add the lime juice, 1 tsp salt, and stir well to combine.
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Pour the mixture into a jar or storage container and put in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, taste, and add more salt or lime juice if needed.
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Serve as a dip with tortilla chips.
Change it up:
- Use a different type of hot pepper, or use more or less pepper
- Add some pineapple to make pineapple salsa.
- Substitute an equal amount of pineapple or mango for the tomatoes to make a topping for fresh grilled fish
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