This Easy Guacamole Recipe is a basic recipe using only 4 ingredients and has many options to make it your own special homemade guacamole for parties or dinners.
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Guacamole makes a great appetizer, party dish, or tasty side dish for your everyday Mexican meal. Made with fresh ingredients, this chunky guac is ready to eat in minutes. Easy to adjust to make it a "guacamole for two" recipe.
Because this guacamole recipe is homemade, you can easily make it creamy or keep it chunky, adjust the heat, and add other optional ingredients. Serve your chunky guacamole as a dip with tortilla chips. Make it a little smoother for topping various Mexican dishes.
It fits many diets in its natural state, including low-carb, keto, gluten-free, and vegan diets. Easy to make with these simple step-by-step photo instructions for never-fail results.
A perfect side dish for Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas, Beef Tacos, Chili Nachos, or Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas. But also delicious on toast, on burgers, and in burritos or quesadillas.
Serve along with Mango Salsa with Pineapple and Mexican Rice.
Featured in Cinco de Mayo Recipe Roundup and Game Day Party Recipes.
🥑Ingredients
The only rule is there is no right or wrong ingredient other than avocado must be present. But most authentic recipes include
- avocado - required
- lime juice - almost required
- garlic - almost required
- salt - almost required
Other frequently used ingredients
- onion
- tomato
- jalapeno
- cilantro
- others - go wild
👨🍳How to Make This Easy Guacamole Recipe
- Scoop ripe avocados into a mixing bowl.
- Chop red onion and tomato, mince garlic, finely chopped jalapeno pepper, and any other ingredients you want.
- Add fresh lime juice, salt, pepper, and optional cilantro.
- Mash together with a fork to the consistency you want.
🥑Buying the Best Avocados
There are several types of avocados, but we only get Hass in my area, so I am only discussing them.
What to look for:
- Dark green
- Not too hard but not mushy - it should give just a little.
- Taking the stem off is also helpful. If it is all brown underneath, it is over-ripe. If green or green with only a few specks of brown, It is too green.
⬇️How to make this a "for two" friendly guacamole recipe
This is an easy recipe to cut in half, but you may end up wasting some ingredients or you can just add more of those things—it is your custom guacamole.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust. But remember you can adjust the amounts to your taste.
❄️How to Store Guacamole
Guacamole will turn brown within a few hours due to oxidation of the surface. You can prevent oxidation by preventing oxygen from getting to the surface.
Properly storing fresh guacamole involves more than just a lid on the container. You need to eliminate any air touching the surface of the fresh guacamole.
Method #1: You can prevent oxidation by covering it with plastic wrap pressed down to eliminate any air contact. Some also recommend lime juice to the top of the guacamole.
Method #2: Flaten the surface in a bowl and cover it with about ¼ inch layer of water. Just pour it off and mix your guacamole when you want more.
With either method, it will last about two days in the refrigerator. A third day is very iffy.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
See the discussion in the notes above on choosing your avocado. These are my suggested ingredients. But modify it to your taste.
Chop half a medium red onion and a Roma tomato. Mince 1 clove of garlic. De-vein the jalapeno and chop finely.
Open the avocado by cutting around the avocado down to the seed. Twist it to open and remove the seed. The seed may come out easily, but if not, put the knife into it a little and twist it to remove it.
Spoon the meat out of the avocado. It is easy. Combine the avocado with the prepped veggies in a large bowl.
Roll the lime on the counter to free up some juice, then cut the lime in half and squeeze all the juice you can out.
Add ½ teaspoon kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Mash to the consistency you want using a fork or a potato masher. Optional: Add 2-3 tablespoons of minced cilantro.
Recipe
Easy Guacamole Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 avocados - ripe
- 1 lime
- 1 Roma tomato
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 jalapeno pepper
- ½ red onion - medium
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2-3 tablespoons minced cilantro - optional
Instructions
- Chop half a medium red onion and a Roma tomato. Mince 1 clove of garlic. De-vein the jalapeno and chop finely.
- Open the avocado by cutting around the avocado down to the seed. Twist it to open and remove the seed. The seed may come out easily, but if not, put the knife into it a little and twist it to remove it.
- Spoon the meat out of the avocado. It is easy. Combine the avocado with the prepped veggies in a large bowl.
- Roll the lime on the counter to free up some juice, then cut the lime in half and squeeze all the juice you can out.
- Add ½ teaspoon kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Mash to the consistency you want using a fork or a potato masher. Optional: Add 2-3 tablespoons of minced cilantro.
Your Own Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Vary the ingredients and texture to your taste.
- This is a bit spicy, so cut down the jalapeno if you want. Or double if you want spicier.
- We are a family with a taste aversion to cilantro, so it is optional here, but most people will want it.
Picking Out Avocado
- Dark green
- Not too hard, not mushy—it should give just a little.
- Taking the stem off is also helpful. If it is totally brown underneath, it is over-ripe. If green or green with only a few specks of brown, It is too green.
Storage
- Guacamole will turn brown within a few hours due to oxidation of the surface. You can prevent this by preventing oxygen from getting to the surface. This involves more than just a lid on the container.
- Method #1: You can prevent oxidation by covering it with plastic wrap pressed down to eliminate any air contact. Some also recommend lime juice to the top of the guacamole.
- Method#2: Flaten the surface in a bowl and cover it with about ¼ inch of water. Just pour it off and mix your guacamole when you want more
- With either method, it will last about 2 days in the refrigerator. A third day is very iffy.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally Published September 8, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Sue
You are my #1 go-to for lone cooking, never disappointed. Today I made your guacamole, and talk about “knock your socks off!” It’s the best. I had to share those thoughts! My thanks. Sue
Helly
I always keep the pit and put it back in the dip, helps it stay fresh for longer period of time!
Carolyn Stephens
I do everything I can to avoid using sharp knives. So I use a pastry blender to mush up the avocado. Then I stir in some pico de gallo from the market. After that I add lime juice, perhaps some garlic salt to taste.
DrDan
Hi Carolyn,
Welcome to the blog. That sounds great.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Mahina
Love this recipe. I put all the ingredients in a ziplock bag and let the kids squish it until the desired consistency. Snip off the corner and "pipe" into the serving dish. Easy clean up!
Delores Hunt
Great chicken drummies. Quick and simple. Family loved it!!
Chris
Avocados are one thing I don't trust to others to buy for me, it's such a subjective call.