How to Make Guacamole (Authentic Guacamole Recipe)

Authentic Guacamole is my favorite appetizer to order at Mexican restaurants here in Southern California. It’s full of so many amazing flavors and making guacamole at home is incredibly easy too.

If it’s the first time you’ve made it, it’s seriously one of the easiest and tastiest appetizer choices you can make at home. All you need to make this simple recipe are basic ingredients like ripe avocados, fresh tomatoes, onions, cilantro, lime and spices.

The healthy fats in the avocados give it a rich, creamy texture. The additional ingredients create an amazing flavor profile and creamy yet chunky texture that compliments most Mexican food dishes.

Ingredients

• 6 large avocados – peeled and pitted
• 2 Roma tomatoes – chopped
• ½ cup onion – finely chopped
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro – finely chopped and packed
• 4 cloves fresh garlic – peeled and minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon jalapeno pepper – optional

Equipment

• Knife
• Cutting Board
• Mixing bowl
• Serving bowl
• Spoon

By the Numbers: How to Make Guacamole

Follow the simple steps in this easy guacamole recipe that’s full of authentic flavors for the best guacamole recipe you’ve ever tried.

Step 1: Prepare Guacamole Ingredients.

Add 6 quartered avocados, 2 chopped Roma tomatoes, ½ cup of chopped onion, ¼ cup of chopped cilantro, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of fresh-squeezed lime juice, 1 teaspoon of sea salt, ½ teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper and 1 teaspoon of minced jalapeno (optional) to a large bowl.

Step 2: Combine Ingredients.

Next, once all of your ingredients are in the bowl, use a fork to mash the avocado and blend the other ingredients into it. You can also use a potato masher, Mexican mortar or food processor (a food processor will make a smoother guacamole than hand blending it).

Taste the guac and adjust the salt and pepper to your liking.

Step 3: Serve Guacamole.

Transfer the guacamole to a serving bowl and surround the bowl of guacamole with tortilla chips or fresh veggies for dipping.

Helpful Tips for Making Perfect Guacamole

Answers to all of your questions about making the most amazing traditional guacamole!

1. What is guacamole?

Guacamole is a creamy-avocado based dip that originated in Mexico, and is therefore associated with Mexican food. It can be served as an appetizer or as a condiment for entrees.

There are 2 schools of thought when it comes to what should go into an authentic Mexican guacamole:

1. Guacamole should be simple, with only mashed avocados, lime juice and a pinch of salt.
2. Guacamole should be chunky, and also include tomatoes, cilantro, onion and garlic in addition to avocado, lime and salt.

Both ways are acceptable and traditional in different regions of Mexico. One of my favorite things about guacamole is you can make it your way.

2. What type of avocados taste best?

My favorite type of avocados to use are ripe Hass avocados because they make really good guacamole. They have a much better flavor and texture than some other types of avocado, but the most important thing is that your avocados are ripe.

3. How to tell if avocados are ripe?

The best way to tell if avocados are ripe is to give them a gentle squeeze and/or press a finger into them. The avocado flesh should have a slight give through the skin, but you don’t want mushy avocados either.

Another thing I do is pop the stem out to make sure there is no mold or strings growing in there. If it’s stringy, it won’t make creamy guacamole.

4. How to ripen avocados faster?

If you want to make guacamole with the perfect avocados, but all you have are hard avocados, place them in a brown paper bag with an apple or another piece of fruit that releases ethylene gas to speed up the ripening process.

Depending on how green they are, they should be ripe in a couple of days. Just check each day on them to see how they feel so they don’t overripen.

5. How to cut avocados?

While you’ve probably seen it done, do not place an avocado in the palm of your hand to cut it. You could end up with what’s now called, “Avocado Hand.”

Instead, you should place your avocado on a cutting board and cut it in half lengthwise around the pit. Next, rotate it ¼ turn and cut it in half length-wise around the pit again. You should now be left with 4 quarters.

Watch this video to see how to more safely cut up an avocado to use in your homemade guacamole.

6. Best type of onions to use?

You can use any type of onion in your homemade guacamole and it will taste amazing. However, different types of onions will give your guac a slightly different flavor profile.

• Red onions. I often use red onion in guacamole because I like how it tastes raw. It has a strong onion taste that can overpower avocado if you use too much though, so if you don’t like a strong onion flavor, go with another color onion.
• White onions. Sweet white onion is used in many guacamole recipes because it has a mild, slightly sweet flavor that is mostly blends with the other flavors in this recipe. It’s a great choice for people who prefer a mild onion taste.
• Yellow onions. Yellow onion is more in between the red and white when it comes to the intensity of the onion flavor that comes through.

7. Why Roma tomatoes?

While you can use any type of tomato, I typically choose Roma tomatoes for making guacamole and homemade salsa because they have a lower water content than other types of tomatoes.

If your tomatoes have a high water content, another option is to remove the seeds before adding the tomato to the guacamole to keep it from becoming watery.

If you don’t eat tomatoes, chopped apricots can give you a little bit of that texture that you miss when you omit tomatoes from guacamole.

8. Best substitute for fresh garlic?

While the ingredient list calls for fresh garlic, you can also substitute garlic powder. You’ll want to use ⅛ teaspoon of garlic powder for every clove of garlic. If you have granulated garlic, you’ll want to use ¼ teaspoon of granulated garlic for every clove of fresh garlic.

9. Substitution ideas for lime juice?

If you don’t have any limes to squeeze, you can substitute fresh-squeezed lemon juice in this simple guacamole recipe. I don’t recommend the stuff out of the bottle because it has extra ingredients.

10. How to serve guacamole?

My favorite way to serve guacamole dip is the traditional way… at room temperature with tortilla chips. It’s an amazing appetizer dip on nights we’re having Mexican food.

However, it also make a great topping for your favorite Mexican dish and most recipes you might make for a Mexican fiesta.

Here are some great recipes to try:

• Chicken Enchiladas
• Homemade Tamales
• Instant Pot Burrito Bowls
• Instant Pot Carne Asada
• Instant Pot Barbacoa

All of these dishes are also great topped with fresh salsas, pico de gallo and sour cream.

11. How to make the creamy avocado sauce like at taco shops?

If you’ve ordered guacamole at some taco shops, it comes out looking for like a light green avocado sauce. That is simple guacamole and sour cream mixed together.

It’s often referred to as American guacamole, and it’s an easy way to stretch guacamole if you’re making it for a crowd. I personally like classic guacamole better as it’s more traditional and tastes fresher.

12. How to store leftover guacamole?

I prefer to use all of my homemade guacamole the first day as you really want the authentic Mexican flavors of those fresh ingredients to pop. However, if you have leftovers and you want to keep your guacamole green, here’s how to store them:

1. Transfer them to an airtight container.
2. Place the avocado pit on top of the guacamole.
3. Put plastic wrap over the surface of the guacamole.
4. Seal with the lid.

The pit of the avocado helps it to keep from turning brown as does the lime juice and salt. It will typically last no longer than 1-2 days, so eat it quickly.

13. Can you freeze guacamole?

While you can freeze guacamole, I don’t recommend it. A lot of food blogs will tell you that you can, but my experience over the last 30 years of making guacamole shows that it loses its texture when frozen.

Avocados become dry and gritty instead of creamy and full of flavors. And the rest of the ingredients don’t hold up well either.

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