This easy Fresh Tomato Salsa recipe is healthy, absolutely delicious, and comes together quickly. Made with fresh ingredients, this Pico de Gallo will pair beautifully with any south-of-the-border inspired meal.

Do you absolutely love the zesty flavors of Mexican food and wish you could have them at home anytime you wanted? You can! Making fresh tomato salsa at home is easier than most people realize.

Seriously, all it takes is half a dozen ingredients and a few minutes to chop them up and toss them together!

What Tomatoes Do You Use For The Best Homemade Salsa?

You can use any tomatoes at all for fresh tomato salsa...as long as they are fresh and ripe (nothing canned here).

Many people prefer paste tomatoes because they have fewer seeds, a bold flavor, and don't have too much liquid. Roma tomatoes or vine tomatoes are also a very popular choice. The whole list of different tomato varieties can be found here.

But really, any fresh tomatoes will work! You can even use a couple different varieties to give your fresh tomato salsa a richer flavor profile.

Tomatoes are an excellent source of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, potassium, folate, and lycopene. That means that in addition to being delicious, this simple homemade salsa is actually very healthy for you, too.

Can You Make Salsa Without Cilantro?

Yes, you absolutely can make salsa without cilantro. The perfect solution is to use fresh parsley instead.

In this recipe you can use either parsley or cilantro, but I chose parsley for its flavor-enhancing properties. It blends so well with the lime juice in bringing together the sweet, yet bold flavors of fresh tomatoes and red onion as well as the delectable bite of the minced garlic.

What's The Difference Between Salsa And Pico De Gallo?

Salsa is the Spanish word for "sauce" and refers to any mixture of vegetables that makes one. The ingredients can be fresh, canned, or cooked. The example can be my all-time favorite chipotle corn salsa.

Pico de Gallo, on the other hand, is a salsa made of fresh ingredients that are diced, instead of blended. Pico de Gallo translates from Spanish as "rooster's beak".

Salsa can be smooth or chunky, with lots of liquid or barely any at all, but is traditionally more sauce like. Pico de Gallo is chunks of fresh vegetables with little to no liquid, because the vegetables haven't been blended together or left to marinate for long periods of time.

This recipe is a chunky fresh tomato salsa that could also be referred to as Pico de Gallo.

When you take a bite of freshly made pico, the tang of lime, slightly bitter bite of parsley, and sweetness of fresh vegetables explode on your tongue. Instead of each ingredient being pureed like a traditional salsa where all the flavors come together to make a new unique one, they are diced and so the individual flavors stay bold.

How Do You Make Restaurant Style Pico de Gallo At Home?

To make this fresh tomato salsa, you're simply going to dice up your fresh tomatoes, red onion, and (seeded) jalapeño. Make sure to dice them finely enough to have a little bit of each ingredient in every bite.

Mince some fresh garlic into the bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper, squeeze on the lime juice, and add in the parsley. Stir it all together well, until the flavors are evenly distributed.

And that's it - your fresh tomato salsa is ready to serve. Be sure to make plenty...it's so good, it will disappear quickly!

The only thing left to decide is how you're going to enjoy your Pico de Gallo. It's delicious on chips, tacos, grilled veggies or your favorite salad.

Cook's Tips

Dice your tomatoes and onions finely enough to have a little bit of each ingredient in every bite.
You can use a teaspoon to scoop out the seeds and pulp to get rid of extra liquid. This will make the salsa store better.
To bring all the flavors together, chill the salsa for an hour or two before serving. You can store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Serve the salsa cold and drain the liquid before serving.
As tomatoes release a lot of liquid, serve your fresh tomato salsa with a slotted spoon. Use extra liquid for cooking rice or beans.
Enjoy this fresh tomato salsa on top of vegan tacos, veggie fajitas, sofritas, with nachos and tortilla chips, with homemade whole wheat tortillas, in burritos and burrito bowls, in Mexican-inspired salads or with pretty much any Mexican food!

Recipe Variations

You can use any kind of fresh tomatoes for Pico de Gallo: Paste tomatoes, roma, vine, heirloom or even cherry tomatoes. Just make sure they are ripe.
Substitute cilantro for parsley or use both.
You can skip the garlic if you don't like its pungency.
Traditionally, Pico de Gallo uses white onion but I prefer the red one. Feel free to use your favorite kind.
Add more diced jalapeños (or serrano chiles for extra heat) if you like your salsa hot and more lime juice for an extra zest.

If you are looking for the ways to use up tomatoes, make sure to check my Russian Grandma's Pickled Tomatoes!

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5 from 6 votes