Whether it’s NFL Sunday or Mexican Monday, this guacamole will keep your guests happy while you prepare the main dish for dinner or wait for the take out to be delivered.
It’s the perfect appetizer for any size gathering that can easily be adjusted based on the number of guests you’re hosting. Four avocados typically is enough for a party of 10. For smaller gatherings, cut the recipe in half.
Serve the guac as a dip with a bag of restaurant-style tortilla chips or add it to your Mexican dinner spread for people to dollop it on their tacos.
Guacamole
Ingredients
- 4 large Hass avocados
- 2 Roma tomatoes diced
- 1/2 red onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 jalapeño (about 2 tbsp) diced
- 2 limes
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 1.5 tsp kosher salt
- crank of black pepper
Instructions
Prepare your mise en place
- Dice ½ a red onion
- Dice 2 Roma tomatoes
- Dice ½ a jalapeño
- Mince 2 garlic cloves
- Chop ¼ cup of cilantro
Make the guacamole
- Mash 4 large Hass avocados in a large mixing bowl with a fork.
- Add in red onion, Roma tomatoes, jalapeño, garlic cloves, and cilantro.
- Squeeze the juice of two limes into the bowl.
- Season with 1 ½ teaspoons of kosher salt and a few cranks of black pepper.
- Mix to combine for a creamy consistency.
- Taste for seasoning and serve.
Ripening Your Avocados
Picking the right avocados is an art but ripening them is a science. At the store, I like to choose a variety of ripeness levels depending on what dishes I’m making and when. If you know you’re preparing a guacamole that day or the day after, look for brown avocados that are soft to the touch.
If you can’t find ripe avocados and want to make guacamole that day or weekend, don’t worry. You can ripen your avocados faster by putting them in a brown paper bag (a paper grocery bag works). Place the bag by a sunny window for a couple of hours. The heat from the sun will ripen your avocados in the bag.
Hass v. Florida Avocados
Hass are the smaller avocados that are more common and are typically from Mexico or California. They’re the avocados I recommend for this recipe because of their creamy texture.
Florida avocados are the larger, bright green avocados that have a more distinct taste. They’re usually sold in Latin markets or grocery stores. I like to serve a Florida avocado with aguachile or with onions and vinegar.
Adjusting The Spice
In this recipe, I’ve included half of a jalapeño to add a little kick but if you know your crowd doesn’t like spicy food, you can omit it. If you want to dial up the spice level, add more jalapeño or opt for a hotter pepper like serrano.
Substitutes
If you’re short on a few ingredients and still want to quickly whip up guacamole, there’s a few substitutes that work nicely.
The foundation of the guac is a simple pico de gallo salsa which includes tomato, onion, lime, and jalapeño. If you’re short on tomatoes, you can add a spoonful of premade salsa that’s in your fridge to add instant flavor to your guac. You can also swap onion and garlic for onion powder and garlic powder. Make sure you’re constantly tasting your guac to make sure it’s well seasoned.
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