If you love pico de gallo, you're going to love this tropical twist on this dip: Mango Pico de Gallo! This quick and easy hand-chopped salsa is light, healthy, and so flavorful and delicious thanks to all the fresh ingredients and a hint of sweetness from juicy ripe mangoes.
Use it as a dip for tortilla chips or as a topping for tacos or Mexican rice!
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Tropical pico de gallo
We absolutely LOVE pico de gallo here because it's like eating a salad without feeling like you're eating a salad. It's a super healthy, light, nutrition-filled snack thanks to all the fresh tomatoes, crunchy onion, flavorful cilantro, spicy jalapeño (just a little!), fresh lime juice, and in this case..... mango!
If you're not sure what pico de gallo is, it's like salsa or dip that is tomato based where all the ingredients and chopped really finely. It's not a saucy salsa, but a chunky one that you want to load up on your tortilla chips.
"Pico de gallo" is translated to "rooster's beak," and the salsa gets this name because it's a little sharp thanks to the raw onion, a little jalapeño, and fresh sour lime juice. While traditional pico de gallo is delicious, I sometimes add a pinch of sugar to it just to cut the sharp flavor... so I thought... why not add some sweet mango?!
Ripe, creamy sweet mangoes chopped finely go so well with this pico de gallo. They add a touch of sweetness without being all like, "I AM A MANGO AND I AM HERE!" They make this salsa even more irresistible.
We love serving it with tortilla chips (store-bought, or try these homemade chili lime tortilla chips), or serving it over rice. It is also amazing over tacos, especially black bean and tofu tacos.
Ready to get started?
Related recipe: Mexican Cabbage Salsa
Ingredients
This recipe can be scaled up or down as needed, obviously. The ingredients below are enough to have 4 really generous servings for serious snackers, or to make 8 smaller servings for when you have other appetizers, or if you're using this as a topping for tacos or other foods.
- 1 lb tomatoes, such as 4-6 plum tomatoes or your favorite tomatoes
- 1 small red/purple onion
- 2 small mangoes (or 1-2 large mangoes)
- ½ bunch cilantro (about ¼ - ½ cup cilantro leaves, to taste)
- ½ - 1 jalapeño pepper, seeds and pith removed (or more or less to taste)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1 lime)
- ½ - ¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
- Optional: ½ - 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Optional: ½ - 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Please read the ingredients notes below for tips if you have questions about any of the ingredients!
Related recipe: Easy Blender Salsa
Ingredient tips
→ Tomatoes: Try to find ripe, sweet, red tomatoes. I love tomatoes on the vine for this recipe (you'll probably need ~5-8, depending on how much pico de gallo you want to make), but if you can't find those, then plum tomatoes (Roma) are pretty reliably flavorful enough. That's what I used here!
→ Onion: I find that 1 small onion is enough for me, however if you love the sharp bite of fresh onion, feel free to use a large red onion (aka purple onion)! You can also use yellow or white onions.
→ Mango: I LOVE the small Mexican mangoes because they're always reliably sweet and easy to cut. I used 2 of these mangoes for this recipe, but I sometimes use even more to make a sweeter salsa. If you only have the large mangoes, I recommend using 2 of those.
Here's how I cut and peel mango: I slice the two large parts around the pit. Then I use the edge of a plastic cup (not glass!) to peel away the skin, then I dice the mango flesh.
→ Cilantro: If you don't love cilantro, you can reduce it or use parsley instead. Or you can even use basil for a flavorful twist, even if it's not the authentic herb for pico de gallo.
→ Jalapeño: Half of a jalapeño pepper is not enough to make this pico de gallo spicy. I often use 1 whole pepper. Just beware that their spice level varies from pepper to pepper, so start with half and add more later if needed. Just keep the cutting board on the counter until you're satisfied with how the pico de gallo tastes.
→ Lime juice: Please use freshly squeezed limes! It takes just a few seconds and it's so good! I use this citrus squeezer to quickly squeeze limes.
→ Cumin: I love the subtly smoky essence it gives to this salsa, so I use it! Feel free to skip it though.
Related recipe: Vegan Refried Bean Dip
Special equipment needed
This recipe doesn't really require measuring cups or spoons because the ingredients can be eyeballed and adjusted to YOUR taste and added directly to a bowl after chopping.
I only recommend 2 "special" pieces of equipment: a colander to strain tomato juice (optional), and disposable kitchen gloves for chopping your jalapeño. If you don't have gloves, you'll have to be SUPER careful not to get jalapeño in between your nails and fingers, and even more careful not to rub your eyes or any other sensitive body parts for the rest of the day.
Just wear the gloves, please.
Oh, and one more important piece of equipment: a sharp knife that doesn't mush your tomatoes but slices right through the skin. It makes all the difference!
Related recipe: Vegan Nacho Cheese
Instructions
Step 1: Dice the tomatoes to small bean-sized pieces. Place the tomatoes in a colander to strain out the juices. Let it sit while you prepare the rest of the pico de gallo. The tomato juices can be discarded, or can be used to cook Mexican Rice or added to Tomato Soup, or for other soup as part of the broth.
Step 2: Prep the rest of the ingredients: Finely dice the red onion and mango. Dice the cilantro leaves as fine as you can. Dice the jalapeño into even smaller pieces (about 2 mm wide).
Step 3: Combine the diced tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Start with ½ teaspoon salt and then add more if needed. Taste and see if you need to adjust the flavor with more salt, lime juice, mango for sweetness, diced jalapeño for spice, or cumin for smokiness. Some people like more red onion in their pico de gallo, so that's an option too!
Step 4: Serve immediately or let it marinate in the fridge for up to 24 hours. As the pico de gallo sits, it will release more juices, it will be almost like a soup! Just strain them out before serving.
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Recipe
Mango Pico de Gallo
Ingredients
- 1 lb tomatoes, such as 4-6 plum tomatoes
- 1 small red/purple onion
- 2-3 small ripe mangos, or 1-2 large mangoes
- ½ bunch cilantro, about ¼ - ½ cup cilantro leaves, to taste (see notes for substitutions)
- ½ - 1 jalapeño pepper, seeds and pith removed (or more or less to taste)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, from 1 lime
- ½ - ¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
- Optional: ½ - 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Optional: ½ - 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Special equipment
- Colander to drain tomato juices (optional but helpful)
- Disposable kitchen tools for slicing jalapeño
- Sharp knife that doesn't smush bananas
Instructions
- Dice the tomatoes to small bean-sized pieces. Place the tomatoes in a colander to strain out the juices. Let it sit while you prepare the rest of the pico de gallo.
- Prep the rest of the ingredients: Finely dice the red onion and mango. Dice the cilantro leaves as fine as you can. Dice the jalapeño into even smaller pieces (about 2 mm wide).
- Combine the diced tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Start with ½ teaspoon salt and then add more if needed. Taste and see if you need to adjust the flavor with more salt, lime juice, mango for sweetness, diced jalapeño for spice, or cumin for smokiness.
- Serve immediately or let it marinate in the fridge for up to 24 hours. As the pico de gallo sits, it will release more juices, this is normal. Just strain them out before serving.
Notes
- The tomato juices can be discarded, or can be used to cook Mexican Rice or added to Tomato Soup, or for other soup as part of the broth.
- Onion and jalapeño: Use as little or much as you like for sharpness and spice.
- Mango: I LOVE the small Mexican mangoes because they're always reliably sweet and easy to cut. I used 2 of these mangoes for this recipe, but I sometimes use 3 to make a sweeter salsa. If you only have the large mangoes, I recommend using 2 of those.
- Cilantro: If you don't love cilantro, you can reduce it or use parsley instead. Or you can even use basil for a flavorful twist, even if it's not the authentic herb for pico de gallo.
Questions? Feedback? I love to hear from you!