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Fresh Salsa made with tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro is a perfect summertime snack. Served with tortilla chips, it is the perfect treat for a hot summer afternoon.
This homemade salsa recipe is a great summertime snack! And, it’s so easy to make. If you have never made salsa fresca, you really should give it a try – I think you’ll love this salsa. I love to use fresh diced tomatoes and lots of cilantro to make this fresh tomato salsa.
We make this fresh salsa recipe during the summer and early fall when we can get fresh ingredients from our local farmer’s market.
Ingredients in Fresh Salsa
- Fresh Tomatoes, medium-sized – I like to use Roma tomatoes, but you can use any garden tomatoes.
- Green Bell Pepper
- Banana Pepper
- Onion
- Jalapeño Peppers
- Fresh Cilantro
- Lime Juice
How to Make Cilantro Lime Salsa
Finely dice the tomatoes, green pepper, banana pepper, and onion and place them in a medium-sized bowl.
Dice up the jalapeño next, but a bit smaller than the other veggies so it blends in better and also so that you don’t get too much spice in one bite. Remove the seeds and the membrane if you want to make the peppers less spicy.
Add in the chopped cilantro and drizzle with the fresh lime juice. Gently mix all the ingredients together. And that’s it!
I would recommend chilling the salsa so the flavors can mix together more. It’s not necessary, but if you cover the salsa and let it chill in the fridge for a few hours, the flavor will be even better. Sometimes you don’t want to wait to let the salsa chill and that is okay – it’s too good to wait.
Now the best part: Grab the salsa and tortilla chips, a cold drink, and park yourself in a favorite place. Mine happens to be by our pool – and enjoy!
Salsa Recipe Tip
Let a blender or food processor do the work. Cut the tomatoes, peppers, and onion into large chunks. Place the tomatoes in a medium-sized bowl and set them aside. I would suggest pulsing the jalapeños first on their own into small pieces, then add in the rest of the peppers, onion, and tomatoes. Add the chopped cilantro last. Squeeze some juice from the lime until you have one tablespoon of the juice and drizzle that over the veggies.
Pulse everything until it is your desired consistency – I like to keep it chunky.
Once that is chopped up, pour everything into a bowl and toss it all together with a spoon – and there is your delicious fresh salsa!
Storage
Store homemade pico de gallo in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
It will keep for 3-5 days but will start getting soggy and slimy after a few days.
How to Serve Pico de Gallo
Serve your salsa on taco night with taco salad, homemade tortilla chips, tacos, instant pot queso, burritos, and enchiladas – or make a salsa bar and serve a few different kinds of salsa:
Did you make this recipe? If so, please leave a comment and rating below. I love hearing from you.
Fresh Salsa with Cilantro – Pico de Gallo
Ingredients
- 2-3 tomatoes medium sized
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1 banana pepper diced
- ¼ cup onion diced
- ½ jalapeño pepper diced, about 1 tablespoon
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
Instructions
- Finely dice up the tomatoes, peppers, and onion. Dice up the jalapeño pepper a bit smaller.2-3 tomatoes, 1 green pepper, 1 banana pepper, ¼ cup onion, ½ jalapeño pepper
- Chop up the cilantro.¼ cup fresh cilantro
- Drizzle in the lime juice and gently mix all ingredients together.1 tablespoon lime juice
- Chill for two hours, optional.
Directions if you prefer to use a blender
- Finely chop up the jalapeño pepper.
- Then, dice up the tomato, green pepper, banana pepper, and onion.
- Chop up the fresh cilantro.
- Add the lime juice to the mix.
- Once the ingredients are mixed well, pour into a medium size bowl.
- Chill, if desired, for two hours before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
I love this fresh homemade salsa with fresh tomatoes and peppers from the local farmers market. The fresh cilantro makes a HUGE difference. Thanks for sharing Jeannie.
Hi Liv,
I agree on the fresh cilantro! It really makes a difference in the flavor of the salsa.
Jeannie