Homemade guacamole is easy to make from fresh ingredients and enhances the taste of tacos, nachos, tostados, and more! It also makes a great gluten-free and vegan dip for parties or game night.
⏲️ Time needed
This recipe only takes 10-15 minutes to prepare and mix.
🥘 Ingredients
- avocados
- onion
- tomato
- jalapeno
- salt
- lime
- fresh cilantro
📋 Instructions
Do not make the guacamole in advance as it does not age well.
Cut each avocado in half lengthwise, then cut in half lengthwise again. With each cut, take the knife all the way to the pit and, with the avocado on the cutting board and the knife horizontal and parallel to the cutting board, rotate the avocado carefully while holding the knife in place. If the avocado is ripe, it should be fairly easy to cut through.
Take the quarters apart and remove the pit by gently twisting with your fingers.
Peel each section of avocado (again, if it is ripe the peel should come off easily). Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Adjust seasonings to taste and refrigerate until ready to use.
💭 Tips
Always wear gloves when working jalepenos, and wash your hands carefully before touching your face. If you don’t have plastic gloves, this is a great way to reuse clean grocery store produce bags.
🥑 How to choose avocados
Choosing avocados at the desired level of ripeness is important since you won’t be able to mash them if they are unripe, but they go from perfectly ripe to past their prime in about 15 minutes. Unripe avocados can be purchased if you plan to use them later in the week, but it is an exercise in futility to try to use them before they are ripe.
I usually buy the Hass variety, which turns darker as they ripen (other varieties may not darken with ripeness). The color of this variety in addition to the feel when you give them a gentle squeeze will help you determine the level of ripeness.
For immediate use, avocados should be firm but have some give when you squeeze them gently in the palm of your hand (do not use fingertips as that can bruise them). If they have a lot of give, they are close to or past their prime. If they have no give, they will need a few days to ripen.
If you end up with unripe fruit that you need to use, you can hasten ripening by putting the avocados in a paper bag and rolling down the top. Leave them in the bag at room temperature until they ripen, checking them each day with a gentle squeeze—they do not take long to ripen in the bag.
📖 Recipe
Homemade Guacamole
Ingredients
- 2 ripe avocados
- ½ small onion, chopped
- ½ medium tomato, chopped
- ½ jalapeno, seeded and chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice plus ¼ teaspoon zest
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Cut each avocado in half lengthwise, then cut in half lengthwise again. With each cut, take the knife all the way to the pit and, with the avocado on the cutting board and the knife horizontal and parallel to the cutting board, rotate the avocado carefully while holding the knife in place. If the avocado is ripe, it should be fairly easy to cut through.
- Take the quarters apart and remove the pit by gently twisting with your fingers.
- Peel each section of avocado.
- Cube, place in a medium bowl, and mash gently, leaving some chunks.
- Add remaining guacamole ingredients and mix thoroughly.
- Adjust seasonings to taste and refrigerate until ready to use.
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