Guacamole

This Classic Guacamole is loaded with fresh avocado, tomato, onion, garlic, cilantro and lime!  It makes the best party appetizer, healthy snack, and the perfect addition to taco or chili night! Guacamole is easy and takes just 15 minutes to make!

Why We Love It!

• Simply Delicious! - Isn't guacamole just so ridiculously good? Like, there's no such thing as leftover guacamole, eat it till it's gone, kind of good! It's everybody's favorite, perfect as a game day appetizer and the best healthy addition to any taco night! Even my kids love it, good healthy fats in those avocados too!

• Fast and Easy! - Guacamole is so good because it's full of fresh ingredients. I see those packets of "Guacamole seasoning starter" and I just don't understand. It's only 7 ingredients, avocado, onion, tomato, garlic, cilantro and lime, simply seasoned with salt, so you don't need a packet! And this delicious healthy guacamole recipe is ready in just 15 minutes!

• If you Love Guacamole, try it as a topping on Ground Beef Fajita Tacos, Beef Vegetable Chili, Southwest Chicken Chili, or Loaded Baked Potatoes!

• And try these "Guacamole Cousin" dips, Cilantro Lime Hummus and Avocado Bean Dip!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Avocado - I use 3 avocados for this recipe, but you could easily use 2 to 4 without adjusting the other ingredients much to feed more or less people. The avocados do need to be ripe! This is very important, you can tell an avocado is ripe when their skin is black and they are soft when pressed. An unripe hard avocado is practically impossible to make into guacamole. If your avocados aren't ripe, let them sit on the counter a day or two, instead of in the fridge.

• Onion - A small amount of onion gives you a sharp bite of flavor. You can use any type, yellow, white, red, even a shallot.

• Tomato - Tomato adds a nice little pop of red color, but it is really optional. You can make guacamole with or without tomato. Or for a pico de gallo guacamole style, add lots of tomato.

• Garlic - I highly recommend fresh garlic over the pre-chopped jar or garlic powder. Guacamole is loved for its freshness! Garlic is fairly inexpensive and lasts for weeks on the counter, so go for fresh if you can!

• Cilantro - Fresh cilantro is what makes guacamole taste like guacamole! It's an inexpensive ingredient that packs so much flavor, so don’t leave it out. Unless you are one of those people who have the cilantro-tastes-like-soap thing! In that case, guacamole without cilantro is totally ok! Store your extra cilantro with the stems in a jar of water, like a bouquet of flowers, in your fridge. Tear off a handful to use in the guacamole, but no need to pluck off each leaf, cilantro stems are tender and edible, just chop off the bottom couple inches.

• Fresh Lime Juice - Go for a fresh lime! Again, not that expensive, will keep for weeks in the fridge, and just tastes that much better.

• Salt - Salt is probably the most important guacamole ingredient after the avocados. Without salt, avocado has very little taste. Salt is a flavor enhancer, it makes avocado taste more like avocado. Salt is what brings everything together. In a pinch you can make a pretty tasty extremely basic guacamole with just avocado and salt!

• Optional - If you like your guacamole spicy, you can add any amount of hot sauce, minced jalapeno pepper, or crushed red pepper.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1 - Cut your avocados in half lengthwise around the pit and twist open. Hit the pit gently with your knife (be careful), when the knife is stuck in the pit, twist to remove it and discard. 

Make a grid of cuts in the avocado flesh with a knife and scoop out with a spoon into a bowl.

Step 2 - Add all the other ingredients to the avocado. Make sure to squeeze the lime juice over the avocado right away to keep it from browning.

Step 3 - Mix well, smashing the avocado while mixing with a fork. The avocado will mash as you combine the ingredients.

You can leave it as chunky or as smooth as you like.

Recipe Tips

• Ripe Avocados - Having ripe avocados is probably the most important thing in making guacamole. You just can't make it if they are hard and unripe, so you have to plan ahead. If you have very green, hard avocados, leave them on the counter 2 or 3 days in advance. If your avocado skins are black and have a little "give" when pressed, they are ready to use. The fridge will slow down ripening, the counter will speed it up!

• How to Choose a Good Avocado - This all depends on timing and ripeness. Avocados at the store are in varying stages of ripeness, from green-hard-unripe to black-soft-ripe and finally black-mushy-don't buy! So you want to buy an avocado based on how soon you will use it. If you are making guacamole today or tomorrow, buy some that are black and soft. I usually stock my fridge with several avocados from ripe to unripe, knowing that by the time I use the unripe ones, they will have ripened.

• Quick Guacamole - In a pinch, you don't need all 7 ingredients to make guacamole. You can skip the tomato, cilantro, garlic or lime and still end up with decent guacamole. If we're having tacos, sometimes I just mash an avocado with salt, and that's guacamole!

• Spicy - This basic guacamole is not at all spicy. If you want it spicy, add any amount of minced jalapeno peppers to your liking. You can also add crushed red pepper flakes or a few dashes of hot sauce.

• Make Ahead and Storage Instructions - Guacamole can be made ahead anytime the day you plan to serve it.  Squeeze a little lime juice over the top. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the guacamole so it isn't exposed to the air.  The air exposure is what will make the avocado turn brown. Wrap the bowl tightly and store in the fridge for up to 6 hours. Do not make guacamole a day in advance, it will likely brown and lose its freshness.

What to Serve with Guacamole

I like to make it a whole guacamole menu! Try Guacamole with Grilled Steak Fajita Tacos, burritos, rice bowls, or as a healthy avocado dip for nachos. It's really good with Honey Chipotle Salsa or Mango Corn Salsa!

Add a scoop to a southwest salad, quick quesadillas for lunch, or add it to a Loaded Baked Potato Bar.

Guacamole is a perfect party appetizer, great for game day with a pot of Beef Vegetable Chili, Southwest Chicken Chili, White Chicken Chili or Chicken Tortilla Soup! Add Cheesy Honey Skillet Cornbread too!

If you made this recipe, I'd love to hear how you liked it! Be sure to leave a star rating by clicking the stars in the recipe card, or leave a comment below!

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