Best Guacamole Recipe
This Best Guacamole Recipe is perfection with a touch of heat from jalapenos, a dash of color from minced tomatoes and a smattering of fresh cilantro. Served at my latest book club meeting, this Avocado Dip got rave reviews from my girlfriends!
I have a weak spot when it comes to guacamole and chips. Who needs dinner when there is a bowl of the Homemade Guacamole along with lightly salted tortilla chips? A heavenly combo. Scroll down for my tips on how to buy an avocado at the grocery store.
Why You Must Make
- This chunky version is WAY better than anything you can buy in your local markets. My book club went crazy for this recipe. Plus, when you make it at home you can adjust the heat and leave out any ingredients you dislike.
- A homemade chile paste brought another layer of flavor than what minced jalapenos and onions can provide.
- The homemade guacamole recipe is an authentic Mexican version, not the Tex-Mex, Americanized recipes that we’re used to eating.
Guacamole Ingredients
- Kitchen Staples – Salt, White Onion
- Fresh Cilantro – Stems removed and chopped or minced
- Jalapeño – Finely chopped. Decrease amount for less heat.
- Hass Avocados – Ripe but firm (about 8 ounces each)
- Fresh Tomatoes – Diced, remove seeds if desired
- Lime Juice – to taste, optional, but it will help minimize oxidation and balance the flavors.
- Tortilla Chips – to serve
How to Make Guacamole
Today, I’m sharing Mary’s marvelous recipe for guacamole. Not typical of the other recipes I’ve made, it starts with a homemade chili paste made of onions, cilantro, and jalapenos which was then mixed with ripe avocados, diced tomato, more cilantro, and onion. Truly the best recipe for guacamole I’ve ever made. And I’ve tried a lot!!
- The most important ingredient in this classic guacamole is avocados. They must be ripe, so they are soft enough to make into a dip.
- PRO-Tip: Buy your avocadoes when they’re firm and green and let them ripen a day or two at home. This prevents the dreaded grocery bag bruising which can happen while attempting to transport soft, ripe avocados home or even by customers checking them in the produce department.
- My addition to this recipe was to add a little lime juice to preserve the color of the avocados but otherwise made this classic guacamole true to Mary’s recipe. PRO-Tip: The acid in the lime juice prevents the avocados from oxidizing, or turning brown.
- If you don’t want to add lime juice, just make sure you press some plastic wrap onto the surface of the guacamole as soon as it’s mixed. This will prevent any air from reaching the guacamole and starting the oxidation process.
- A granite molcajete is a Mexican mortar and pestle that’s perfect for making this recipe for guacamole. By pulverizing the chile paste ingredients, you’ll release oils that chopping will not. If you own one, make both the paste and the guacamole in your molcajete for a most authentic guacamole.
Serving Suggestions:
Kick-off your menu with this terrific guacamole as a starter. Here are some more recipes to round out your meal.
- Beer Margaritas
- Peach Margaritas
- Mexican Chicken Manicotti
- Soft Shell Tacos
- Spicy Shrimp Fajitas
- Mexican Chopped Salad
- Spicy Mexican Corn Salad
- Tres Leches Cake
- Individual Margarita Cheesecakes
Frequently Asked Questions
To check for ripeness, first give your avocado a gentle squeeze. It should give slightly without leaving an indentation. If you’re still unsure, remove the little stem end at the top of the avocado and examine the color underneath. If it’s green, it’s ripe. If it’s dark brown to black, it’s over-ripe. If the stem end does not come off easily, the avocado is not ripe.
The color of a ripe avocado should be a dark to very dark green. When it’s over-ripe, it will be almost black in color.
Guacamole ingredients usually include mashed avocados, lemon or lime juice, and seasonings like chili powder or red pepper, salt, and fresh cilantro. Other additions may include chopped tomatoes, green or white onion, and/or minced jalapenos.
Cilantro is a optional ingredient. A certain smell-receptor gene cluster makes cilantro taste soapy to those with it in their genetic profile.
Oxidizing is the process of discoloration of foods like apples, bananas, avocados and red meat when they’re exposed to air. By pressing plastic wrap over the exposed surfaces, oxidation can be minimized. Adding an acid like lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar can slow oxidation.
Avocados are relatively low in calories, high in unsaturated fat (good fat), with vitamin C, thiamine and riboflavin. See the graphic below.
The Benefits of Avocados
Check out this Avocado Buying and Growing Guide.
You May Also Like:
- Mexican 7-Layer Dip Cups from The View from Great Island
- Margarita Ahi Tuna Ceviche from Cookin’ Canuck
- Tequila Lime Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos from The Cookie Rookie
- Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas
- Mini Mexican Tarts
- Margarita Cheesecake
- More Appetizer Recipes
Best Guacamole Recipe
A tasty Mexican-style guacamole recipe.
Ingredients
For Chile Paste:
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
- 1 firmly packed tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeño, or more to taste
- ½-1 teaspoon of salt (start with ½ teaspoon and add more if needed at the end)
For Guacamole:
- Chile paste
- 4 medium avocados (Hass), ripe but firm (about 8 ounces each)
- 3 tablespoons diced tomato
- 2 packed tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
- Lime juice, to taste, optional
- Tortilla chips, for serving
Instructions
- Make the chile paste: Grind the onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and salt together in a molcajete (I used a mortar and pestle, but chopped ingredients together first) until all the ingredients are very finely ground.
- Cut each avocado in half, remove pits, then cut a cross-hatch pattern into the flesh and scoop out the flesh into a medium bowl with a spoon.
- Stir in chile paste, then tomatoes, cilantro, and onion. Mix to desired consistency. Squeeze in some lime juice if desired. Check for seasonings and add salt if desired.
- If not using immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to minimize browning.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 225Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 365mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 9gSugar: 2gProtein: 3g
My whole family trekked to Colorado this summer to visit my dad, who was delighted to see his grandchildren and go on “adventures.” When my sisters and I were children, we spent the majority of our summer vacations in the picturesque ski town of Aspen, Colorado. Decades ago, summers were quiet and the streets were filled with few tourists.
My dad was there to attend the physics institute, which was very loose with its demands on its scientists. Meaning we were up at dawn many mornings, donned with our hiking boots and backpacks to head to a mountain lake, treacherous pass or a 14,000-foot peak. Learning a few tidbits about the wildlife and rocks was about the only “science” happening on many days.
Once my kids were walking, we started the tradition of joining my parents for biennial trips to our favorite mountain destination. That was where I sampled my first delicious classic guacamole recipe, not too commonplace in Ames, Iowa back in the day. We headed back to Aspen, for the first time in nearly a decade, this summer. That’s where my friend, Mary, a fellow food blogger whose daughter was a friend of my sister, shared her recipe!
34 Comments on “Best Guacamole Recipe”
I can hardly wait to try this recipe, although I haven’t been able to find cilantro in Spain. The flavours from the Chile paste must be incredible. Those hikes sound amazing, I love walking at the crack of dawn.
My family loved guacamole! This one was a huge hit at our house!
Yum! I am always a fan of guacamole. I love the chili paste in it. Such a great recipe, and I know it will be added to our football game parties!
I love guacamole so much, and I’ll try it in any form you can make! I love the various differences in this than the basic guacamole, and I love that you left it chunky. Avocados are so good!
This is an excellent guac recipe!!!
always a winner game day!
I use the same ingredients, but need to try the effect of chili paste in a new batch of guacamole. My husband doesn’t eat guacamole so it’s always nice to have the whole bowl to myself!
Lizzy,
How sweet that you met Mary and that you have so many things in common. Some day I hope to go to foodie events and meet fellow bloggers too but I work full time, so who knows when I’ll be able to do that.
Annamaria
Wonderful!! I love guacamole 🙂 I’d eat it with a tsp 🙂
Yum chili paste, that’s different.
What a wonderful story! We hope one day we’ll be able to visit the mountains of Colorado. We’ve seen it so many movies and documentaries and the place is heaven!
Regarding Mary’s guacamole, we’ll try this one out too of course. We only started having guacamole on May (since avocados are exotic here in Greece , therefore very few people use them), after Panos’ dad had a heart surgery and the good doctor suggested avocado consumption among other things. And they-were-delicious!
We almost always add cumin but this one has the chile paste instead. Yummy! We’ll try to get mild peppers though as my stomach can’t tolerate hot spices:/
Thank you for the wonderful post, have a beautiful week dear!
xoxoxo
awww how nice you all got some time with your dad!!!
and this guac looks like PERFECTION-I still need to find my fave guac recipe and this is def going to be added into the running!
Guacamole is a favourite at our place… we often have avocado smash for lunch, Liz. Lovely recipe, thank you so much xx
Another guacamole lover here.
Amalia
xo