The Best Guacamole Recipe
This guacamole recipe is easy to make with just a few simple, fresh ingredients. Learn how to make the best guacamole, perfect for serving with tortilla chips, tacos and more.
Homemade guacamole is one of my favorite appetizers. The best guacamole lets the flavor and creaminess of ripe avocados shine. It’s seasoned to taste and contains only real, fresh ingredients.
Guacamole is one of the simplest recipes to make, and it should also be fun! From mashing the avocados and tasting as you go, to serving it up with a platter of chips or crunchy veggies, this easy guacamole recipe is one that you’ll want to keep in your recipe collection.
The best part about making your own guacamole is that you can make it just the way you like it. Whether you like your guac spicy or mild, with or without tomatoes and cilantro, I’ll give you the tips you need to make your perfect bowl of guacamole!
The Best Guacamole Recipe
Start with Ripe Avocados
This guacamole recipe starts with perfectly ripe avocados. A ripe avocado should be firm but will give to gentle pressure when you squeeze it. When you shop, choose avocados that will ripen in time for you to make your guacamole. Firm avocados will ripen in a few days if you leave them on your kitchen counter.
Don’t Skimp on the Salt
Salt enhances the flavors of the ingredients in a recipe. If you skimp on the salt you risk ending up with a bowl of bland guacamole. I recommend starting with 1/4 teaspoon of salt for every 2-3 large avocados, and then adding more to taste, if needed.
Season to Taste
The most delicious guacamole is made by tasting as you go, not by following a recipe exactly. When you cook with fresh ingredients, the flavor of those ingredients is naturally going to vary. No two avocados are exactly alike. And your tastes aren’t going to be the same as mine.
As you’re following this guacamole recipe, err on the side of adding less onion, cilantro and lime juice to start. You can always add more. Taste your guacamole and adjust the seasonings to your liking.
Excellent!!!!
Michelle
So simple and it tastes amazing!
My husband was so impressed!
Guacamole Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this guacamole recipe:
- Avocados: As mentioned above, choose ripe avocados that give slightly to gentle pressure. If you find a black spot or stringiness in your avocado, remove and discard those parts. Taste your avocados before turning them into guacamole, because sometimes you just get a bad one where the flavor is off.
- Lime Juice: Lime juice brightens up the flavor of guacamole, and fresh lime juice is best. The amount of lime juice you’ll want to use will depend on your tastes. Start with less and add more if needed. You can always add more lime, but you can’t remove it once it’s in your guac.
- Onion: I use white onion (not yellow) in my guacamole recipe. You can use red onion if you prefer. Chop the onion finely so that it flavors the dip throughout and so that you won’t bite into big chunks of onion.
- Jalapeño or Serrano Chile: You’ll want to remove the seeds and ribs, unless you want a lot more heat in your guacamole.
- Cilantro: I personally love the flavor that fresh cilantro brings to this recipe, but if you don’t care for cilantro you can leave it out.
- Salt: Whatever kind you have on hand will work, whether it be coarse Kosher salt, regular table salt or fine sea salt.
- Cumin: Adding a tiny bit of ground cumin is optional, for added flavor.
- Tomato (Optional): I prefer my guacamole without tomato, but if you like tomato in yours (or just want to stretch your avocados a bit further) you can add diced Roma tomato. Be sure to remove the seeds and juices so you don’t end up with watery guacamole.
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The Best Way to Seed and Peel an Avocado (Safe & Easy)
You’ve probably heard that you should prepare an avocado by cutting it in half and then piercing the pit with your knife to pull it out. I’ve never done it this way because it’s not the easiest way and, honestly, it’s not safe.
Instead, you should first cut your avocado into quarters. Then you can easily pull the seed out with your hand. Finally, instead of scooping out the avocado flesh with a spoon, you can simply peel off the avocado peel.
Why peel instead of scoop with a spoon? The most nutrient-dense part of the avocado is the dark green flesh near the skin. If you scoop your avocado out of the peel using a spoon, you may leave the most nutritious part of the avocado behind!
Apparently, I’m not the only one who preps avocados this way! Watch a video of how to safely cut an avocado.
How to Make Guacamole
Mash the avocado. Once you have your avocados peeled and pitted, place them in a mixing bowl and mash them with a fork. Using a fork is the easiest way to mash them to a perfectly smooth or chunky consistency, depending on how you like your guacamole.
Stir and taste! Then add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Taste and adjust the seasonings. I like to taste the guacamole on a tortilla chip. Be careful though, it’s tempting to eat the whole bowl right away!
Guacamole tastes best chilled so I like to refrigerate it for about 20 minutes before serving. This also gives the flavors some time to meld together.
How to Store Guacamole
If you do a quick internet search you will find many different methods for how to keep guacamole from turning brown. I did some testing of my own and found the very best way to store guacamole. It will stay fresh for 3 days in the refrigerator this way, although you will probably eat it all before then.
Cover your guacamole with a thin layer of water. To do this, with your leftover guacamole in a bowl, first smooth out the surface. Gently pour a thin layer of water over the guacamole, just enough to cover the surface. Place a lid or some plastic wrap over the container and store it in your refrigerator.
When you’re ready to serve your guacamole, pour off the water. Then gently blot up any excess moisture with a paper towel, stir and serve.
Why does this method work? Avocado can turn brown when it is exposed to air, but the layer of water blocks all air from reaching the guacamole. Another popular way to keep guacamole from turning brown is to cover it with plastic wrap pressed up against the surface of the dip. But even plastic wrap can be porous and it’s hard to keep all of the air out.
In case you’re wondering, this water trick also works for storing half of an avocado that you’ve cut. Just submerge the avocado in water, cut side down. It’s so easy!
Guacamole Serving Suggestions
- Chips & Dip: Serve this guacamole recipe with tortilla chips as an appetizer when Mexican food is on the menu. Also make this easy salsa recipe or pico de gallo to serve a crowd.
- Snack: Serve your guacamole dip with fresh vegetables for a healthy, filling snack full of nutritious fats and fiber.
- As a Condiment: I can’t think of many meals that aren’t made better with guacamole! Try it on chicken fajitas, crockpot chicken tacos, turkey burgers or as a dip for chicken taquitos. It’s also delicious with chicken enchiladas, vegetarian enchiladas or this southwest quinoa salad.
The Best Guacamole Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large ripe avocados*
- 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, plus more to taste
- ¼ cup finely chopped white onion, or red onion
- ½ jalapeno, or serrano chile, seeds and ribs removed and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin, optional
- 1 Roma tomato, seeds removed and chopped, optional
Instructions
- Quarter the avocados, then remove the pits and peel. Place the avocado flesh in a large bowl.
- Mash the avocados with a fork to your desired consistency.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust the ingredients as needed.
- Guacamole tastes best chilled, so refrigerate for about 20 minutes before serving. This time also allows the flavors to meld. Serve with tortilla chips, fresh vegetables, on tacos, etc.
Notes
- If your avocados are not large you may want to scale down the amounts of the other ingredients.
- Guacamole will last for 3 days in the refrigerator. Smooth out the surface of the guacamole and pour on a thin layer of water. Cover the container and store in the fridge. Pour off water and blot dry with a paper towel before serving.
Excellent!!!!
So simple and it tastes amazing!
My husband was so impressed!
Used 2 small avocados so it was kinda salty ,also used garlic powder because it needs garlic. Took longer than 10 minutes to prep but I’m slow lol, a really good recipe!
Thank you for trying the recipe and giving your feedback. I’ve adjusted the recipe to start with just 1/4 teaspoon of salt and then you can always add more to taste. You would definitely need less salt if using small avocados instead of large.
I just have to say the comment about storing cut avocados blew my mind. I knew the water on top of guac tip but never put two and two together, duh! Thank you for spelling it out for me 😉
Thank you for the storage tips! I make my guac almost exactly like you, except I add garlic and I don’t do the jalapenos. I learned it from a Mexican restaurant that made their guac right at your table. I make it about once a week, but lately I am finding the avacado quality to be poor. They look and feel just right on the outside, but brown spots and stringy threads on the inside. Takes me forever to pick the bad parts out (I’m picky), but I keep doing it because I love the guac!
Can I use lemon instead of lime?
In a pinch, yes, but the flavor of lime works much better in guacamole. Start with a very small amount of lemon juice so as to not overpower the other flavors.
I use some extra lime juice on the smoothed surface to keep it green. It can keep more than 4 days in the fridge then, but it is rarely needed. Generally gone well before that.
I love guacamole..I add a teaspoon or two of Rotel ..instead of tomatoes…gives it a nice little kick…
Many thanks Christine…..I’ve been enjoying your recipes for some time. I’m a senior, so I appreciate simple cooking…..Kindest regards…….Carl…….
Hello! We love this recipe…but we just noticed the capability of being able to change the serving size went away! It was so nice to be able to change based on how many avocados we had. Anyway to change this back?
Hi Carly, I’m so glad you’re enjoying this recipe! You’re right, I no longer have that feature. For many recipes the conversion gave amounts that were uneven, which was a bit confusing.
The best guacamole ever. Better than my favorite Mexican restaurant. I said I hope it doesn’t turn brown and my daughter said this won’t turn brown. Then it was all gone. Will be making it a lot. Thanks for this one Kris.