The Best Guacamole

What makes the best ever guacamole? It’s less than you’d think, which is great news for those of us who love simple recipes! Great guacamole is about a few fresh ingredients, and a couple of tricks that make the flavors stand out even more. Guacamole is perfect for pretty much any Mexican inspired meal and wonderful as a snack too.

Less is always more for the perfect guacamole, and that’s what makes this recipe ‘the best’. Simple ingredients combine together for phenomenal fresh flavor. And you’ll find yourself making this pretty much every week when you see how easy it is to make.

You’ll find all sorts of what I call ‘unnecessary’ ingredients in guacamole recipes like sour cream or even mayonnaise. A spoonful of salsa or even some ground cumin are enough to mute the flavors of a perfect guacamole. Really good guacamole has just a few ingredients in it, and there’s no sour cream in sight!

So while I try not to use words like ‘the best’ too often, it seemed like the most accurate way to name this recipe. And maybe not as over the top as what my husband likes to call it – ‘the best guacamole in the universe!’. Although he’s really not exaggerating, it’s way too good!

Let’s start by talking about how to buy avocados:

1. The best way to buy and avocado in my experience is to make sure they’re rock hard at the store. Then bring them home to ripen over the next 3-5 days. This is just my personal experience living up north where avocados will never be local. So it’s been hit or miss when I buy a ripe avocado at the store. Sometimes they’re perfect, and sometimes they’re rotten.
2. If you’re desperate for guacamole right away, try to find avocados with a slight ‘give’ in them when you gently squeeze them. You also want to look for avocados that ‘fill out their skin’. You don’t want them to have large sunken or shriveled areas which are usually bruises or rotten spots.
3. And finally, pop out the stem and see if it’s bright green. If it’s green, it’s perfect! If you pull out the stem and it’s brown, it’s no good.

Maybe you’ve seen all those avocado memes about avocados being just right for about half a second. And then of course they’re too ripe, so these tips below are for you!

How to store avocados for longer:

• Keep your barely ripe avocados in the refrigerator. I buy packages of 6 rock hard avocados at a time, and place them on the counter to ripen. They take about 3-5 days to become just ripe. From there I place them in the fridge where they easily keep for about 10 days after that.
• Any avocados you’re not going to use, you can cube up and place in the freezer to use in smoothies and salad dressings.

Let’s talk about ingredients for the Best Guacamole!

• Avocados – Perfectly ripe avocados are the secret to the best guacamole. If your avocados are too hard, the flavor isn’t quite as good, and the texture suffers a lot.
• Onion – Red onion or shallots are our favorite onion to use in guacamole. But I’ve used everything from regular white or yellow onions, to the white ends of green onions when it was all I had. They all work, but we’re partial to red onion or shallots.
• Garlic – This is a matter of personal preference. We used to always add a touch of garlic, but now we never do and have come to like it that way better. Try it both ways and see what you like!
• Jalapeno – freshly minced jalapeno is a must, and if you like spicy add as much as you’d like. We like right around 1 tablespoon which adds the perfect amount of flavor to be in balance with the avocados.
• Cilantro – is also key and adds so much fresh flavor to guacamole. Look for bunches of cilantro at farmer’s market and prepare to be amazed at how much better the flavor is!
• Lime juice – I add just a touch of lime juice to my guacamole so the avocado can really shine. But feel free to keep adding a bit more to your taste.
• Sea salt – Salt is always important in a recipe, but even more so when the ingredients are fresh and simple. Start with the smallest amount of salt and work up to your taste. It will bring out all the flavors here.
• Tomatoes – to me are optional in guacamole since they’re so seasonal. It’s hard to get good tomatoes for more than a couple of months a year. So when they’re not in season I recommend leaving them out, or using the best cherry tomatoes you can find. I don’t recommend adding a spoonful of salsa like many people call for because the canned salsa mutes the freshness of the guacamole. It’s better to go without and make my Fire Roasted Blender Salsa to serve on the side.

Ok now let’s make this recipe step by step:

Step 1:

Start by cutting your avocados in half. I like to use the tip of the knife to remove the pit. Insert the point of the knife into the soft spot at the base of the pit and pop it out. Remove the skin by scooping out the ripe avocado with a spoon, and then place in a bowl.

Step 2:

Mince the onion, jalapeno, and cilantro and juice half of a lime.

Step 3:

Add the minced onion, jalapeno, and cilantro to the bowl with the avocado.

Step 4:

Using a fork, mash the minced ingredients into the avocado being sure to leave some chunks of avocado for texture.

The best guacamole secret: Step 4 of mashing the cilantro, onion, and jalapeno into the guacamole is everything in terms of the flavor. You don’t want to simply mix it in. Use the back of a fork and really give it a good mash into the avocado. This releases the flavors and levels up your guacamole!

Step 5:

Season to taste with sea salt and lime juice before stirring in the diced tomatoes.

Serve immediately for the best results! Bottom line is guacamole tastes best right away. And no matter how good you get at storing it, the onion gets a bit intense by the next day. However sometimes you do have leftovers, and I’ve listed out my tips below.

How to store guacamole:

1. Pack any leftovers into a container making sure to keep out any air. I like to use the 1/4 cup or 1 cup mason jars for this because there’s less surface area to turn brown.
2. Then when you take your leftover guacamole out of the fridge, scrape off the brown layer on top.
3. Or you can cover the guacamole with a bit of water, or plastic wrap before refrigerating to prevent browning.

Best ways to use up leftover guacamole:

1. Make an omelet and use guacamole for the filling with a bit of salsa and jalapeno jack cheese. Or pile it onto veggie scrambled eggs.
2. Mix it into tuna fish for a guacamole tuna fish salad.
3. Use it as a salad dressing with a bit more lime juice added in.

Serve this guacamole with:

• Chipotle Chicken (Healthy Copycat Recipe)
• Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa Bowls
• Sweet Potato Taco Bowls
• Caramelized Pineapple Salsa
• Healthy Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

I really hope you enjoy this guacamole, it makes any Mexican inspired dinner that much better! And if you do get a chance to make it, I hope you’ll leave me a comment/rating below. I always love hearing from you here! Also for lots more Mexican inspired recipes, head over to the recipe index.

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