This is my easy recipe for curtido de cebolla y tomate or onion and tomato curtido salsa/salad. Curtido is a Latin style lime pickled red onion and tomato salad or lime marinated onion tomato salsa. Most South American main meals will be served with a small salad, and many times this salad will be a curtido or a lime marinated based salsa. The most basic form of curtido is a basic onion curtido or cebollas encurtidas, it is great nice and fresh, but sometimes it is even better the day after. I usually make a large batch and keep in the fridge, adding it to salads as needed.
Recipe for curtido de cebolla y tomate, a Latin style lime pickled red onion and tomato salad or lime marinated onion tomato salsa
Ingredients
- 2 small red onions
- Juice of 3 limes
- 1 tablespoon oil (light olive oil or avocado oil)
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon salt + more to adjust taste
Instructions
- Cut the onion in half, slice very finely and place in a bowl
- Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt and let rest for about 10 minutes
- Cover the onions with lukewarm water and let rest for another 10 minutes
- Rinse and drain the onions
- Add the lime juice and a sprinkle of salt, let rest until the onions start to turn pinkish or until about 30 minutes before serving
- Cut the tomatoes in half and slice very finely
- Mix the onions with the sliced tomatoes, oil, and cilantro. Taste and add salt if necessary.
Notes
Curtido variations can also include thinly sliced carrots, bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes, etc. To turn this curtido into a complete salad, serve over chopped lettuce or salad greens and add avocado slices.
This variation of curtido or salsa is made with of red onion and tomato. The onions and tomatoes are sliced thinly and marinated with lime juice and cilantro. In Ecuador, this salsa is a must-have side for traditional dishes such as hornado or roasted pork, encebollado de pescado, fritada, menestra con arroz, carne colorada, etc. This onion tomato salsa is also great as an appetizer or snack paired with plantain chips or with regular corn chips. Other popular curtido variations can also include different thinly sliced vegetables, such as carrots, bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes, etc – most curtidos will at least have lime marinaated onions plus another vegetable/fruit. This tomato and onion curtido recipe is also a great base for a salad: simply add lettuce or salad greens, avocado slices, maybe some grilled shrimp and you have a wonderful salad.
Angela says
May 4, 2019 at 5:48 pmSo so happy I found your website looking for pickled red onions ! Of course I was doing them all wrong and now I know, to soak in lemon and rinse first . Vs the European pickled onions in vinegar salt and sugar.
My husband is Ecuadorian and I would like to be able to cook him some of his home foods. And he loves these on thin sliced fried plantains
Thanks Again !!
Nancy S. says
March 10, 2018 at 10:11 amHi Laylita I love your recipes, and you make in very simple way than doesn’t require for a chef trying to make any of your dishes. Thanks for sharing your culinary treats .CONGRATS YOUR ARE THE BEST.
Cuqui says
January 18, 2014 at 11:12 pmMe fascinan tus recetas y las fotos ayudan mucho!! Gracias desde Colorado!! You inspire me to cook delicious food!! :)
I says
March 22, 2013 at 7:53 amI did this today. My kids loved it!
Deanna says
December 27, 2011 at 2:23 amLove this, my exhusbands Tia would make a version of this called, Ahi ? just the onions and spcies and lime juice and we would use it almost as a salsa to top on all of our foods. I adore Ecuadorian food, fresh and tasty.
Maria Elena says
October 2, 2011 at 5:48 amCuando leo tus recetas y veo esas fotos se me hace agua la boca jajaja… me encanta tu página web. En South West Florida tienes una fan.
joanna says
July 8, 2011 at 8:00 amgreat job posting this awesome recipe. my husband goes crazy when i make curtido with tostones – he likes to put the curtido on top of a toston and eat it like that. i usually also add a tiny bit of orange juice and some hot sauce to the mix
keep up the good work!
Roxanna says
September 15, 2010 at 10:43 amI love this! we call this “salsa” and we eat it with everything, its on the table with fish, beef, poultry anything!
Elizabeth says
July 15, 2010 at 5:02 amHello Laylita!
I came across your website looking for the pickled red onion recipe and I found this wonderful website…I’m loving it … well presented and explained…Thank you soo much! for sharing all these wonderful recipes and taking the time to put them on your website…
May god continue to bless you !
Thanks your new friend…
Nora says
March 11, 2010 at 3:44 pmMe dispongo a preparar este encurtido que tiene los mismos ingredientes de nuestro PICO DE GALLO, una salsa fresca mexicana que acompaña a tacos y antojitos
Gracias!
Regenna says
December 26, 2009 at 6:40 amThank you for posting these recipes. My husband is from Ecuador and I like to provide Ecuadorian foods for our children. I have already made the Green dumpling soup and today, llapingachos. There are so many recipes here and I will be making most of them. Thanks again.
Ryan says
December 5, 2009 at 5:20 pmBeen to Ecuador 2 times, for a total of 10 weeks and can recall all of the local bowls of hot sauce, not knowing how long they had been on the table which did not matter. I always piled it on. Thanks for the great recipes. I remember eating the chancho from a corner market every morning for breakfast with some papas. We spent most of our time in the Tena and Baeza area sampling the rivers in our kayaks. I would love to return to my favorite Latin american country. Thanks for a quality blog.
Simonito says
September 24, 2009 at 6:45 amHola Laylita, this is great, muy rico. I-ve been to mexico where they eat this too its such a delicious flavour, simply incredible. I could eat it all day. Muchas gracias,
Saludos Simonito
Laylita says
July 13, 2008 at 9:07 amHi Rachel – I couldn’t imagine making this without lime juice and salt, thank you for stopping by!
rachel h. says
July 5, 2008 at 5:52 pmit makes me very happy to see not only this beautiful recipe, but to see that you are using salt and lime juice to make the curtido and allowing the natural lactic acids bring out the flavors. i much prefer this over using white vinegar. it’s just gorgeous!