This tropical pico de gallo with mango is the perfect balance of sharp, tart, and sweet! It's great served with tortilla chips, on tacos, or over rice.
½bunch cilantroabout ¼ - ½ cup cilantro leaves, to taste (see notes for substitutions)
½ - 1jalapeño pepperseeds and pith removed (or more or less to taste)
2tablespoonsfresh lime juicefrom 1 lime
½ - ¾teaspoonsaltor to taste
½teaspoonground black pepperor to taste
Optional: ½ - 1 teaspoon ground cumin
Optional: ½ - 1 teaspoon garlic powder
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
Ingredient tips:
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.