Pico de Gallo and Guacamole
Honestly, this combo is one of those things we make on repeat and never get tired of. Fresh pico de gallo, creamy guac, and homemade tortilla crisps that are so good you'll wonder why you ever bought the bagged stuff. The pico is all bright tomato, zingy lime, and a little heat, and it cuts through the rich, buttery avocado perfectly. We always end up making a double batch because it disappears in about five minutes. If you've got mates coming over or just fancy a proper snack tonight, this is the one.
Before You Start
- Preheat oven to 180°C
- Large baking tray lined with parchment
- Mixing bowl
- Fork for mashing
- Sieve
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil - for brushing
- big pinch sea salt
- big pinch paprika
- 6 corn tortillas
- Salt & pepper
- 1 red chilli
- 10g coriander leaves
- 8 cherry tomatoes
- 1 lime
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 large avocados
- 1 banana shallot
- 30g coriander leaves
- salt to taste
- 1 lime
- 6 tomatoes
- 1 jalapeño chilli
- 1 banana shallot large
- Salt & pepper to taste
Method
Bake your tortilla crisps
- Brush the tortillas with oil on both sides, then cut into triangles
- Sprinkle the flaky salt and your seasoning all over
- Bake in a single layer in the oven for around 5-6 minutes until golden and crisp (watch carefully as they can over-bake very quickly, and rotate the sheets around if some pieces are browning quicker than others!)
- Once out of the oven, add a final sprinkling of flaky salt and leave to cool
Make your guac - prep the avocado
- Halve and carefully stone the avocados by lodging the stone firmly with the heel of a knife and pulling out
- Spoon the flesh out of the avocado in chunks, put it in a mixing bowl and mash it lightly with a fork
Make your guac
- Rigorously roll the lime around on the kitchen surface with your palm to help release the juices, halve and squeeze in the juice, then mix well with the avocado (this helps stop the avocado discolouring)
- Peel and finely chop the shallot
- Peel and crush the garlic
- Finely chop the cherry tomatoes
- Finely chop the chilli or add the chilli powder
- Finely dice the coriander leaves and fine stems (no need to pick the individual leaves, just grab your coriander bunch in two hands and pull them apart to separate the top leaves from the long stems)
- Mix everything together and add salt to taste and more lime juice if needed
Make your pico de gallo
- Deseed and dice the tomatoes, add to a bowl with a generous sprinkle of salt and mix well
- Leave to stand while prepping the rest of the ingredients
Make your pico de gallo
- Trim, halve, deseed and finely slice the jalapeño
- Peel and finely dice the shallot
- Pick the coriander leaves and roughly chop
- Rigorously roll the lime around on the kitchen surface with your palm, slice it in half and squeeze the juice into a mixing bowl
- Sieve the tomatoes to drain excess juices
- Add the drained tomatoes, chilli, shallot and coriander leaves to the bowl and fold to combine
- Season to taste with salt and more lime juice if needed
Tips & Variations
- Watch the oven: The tortilla crisps can go from perfect to burnt really fast, so set a timer for 5 minutes and keep an eye on them. Rotating the tray halfway through helps everything crisp up evenly.
- Salt your guac properly: We know it sounds obvious but under-seasoned guac is a tragedy. Taste it after every addition of lime and salt until it really pops. Trust us on this one.
- Make the pico first: Give it 10 minutes to sit while you do everything else. That resting time makes a real difference to the flavour, the tomatoes soften just slightly and the whole thing comes together.
Why This Works
The trick with pico de gallo is letting it sit for a few minutes after mixing so the tomatoes release their juice and everything melds together. And with the guac, we always season more than feels right, because avocado needs salt and lime to really sing. The homemade tortilla crisps are the game changer here, baking them yourself means they're lighter, crispier, and you can season them exactly how you want.