This easy guacamole recipe uses fresh ingredients to make the perfect appetizer or taco topping. All you need are simple ingredients: ripe avocados, red onion, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, and salt and pepper. Add a little hot sauce to kick it up a notch!
This homemade guacamole recipe is a great game day recipe served with tortilla chips and salsa.
Easy Guacamole Recipe
We love avocados in our house and so we always like to have fresh avocados on hand to make this classic guacamole. This easy recipe is the one my family uses. We love it because the ingredients are so simple that you can whip it up in a few minutes.
Ingredients
- 4-5 ripe Haas avocados
- 1/4 cup red onion
- 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
- 3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 Lime, juiced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Hot sauce (6-8 dashes)
How to Make Homemade Guacamole
- Cut the avocados in half removing the avocado pits and scoop the flesh and place in large mixing bowl. Mash the avocados with a fork or potato masher.
- Add fresh lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper and mash together.
- Chop the tomatoes into bite sized pieces and add to the avocado mixture.
- Chop the cilantro, red onion and add to the mixture.
- Add 6-8 dashes of hot sauce and mix. Taste and add more if you like it hotter.
- Depending on how many avocados you use, and how large the avocados you use, just add more salt and pepper and hot sauce until you achieve your desired seasonings.
- Garnish the top of the guacamole with chopped tomatoes and onion and a sprig of cilantro
Alternatives and Suggestions for Easy Guacamole
- hot sauce – turn regular guacamole into a spicy guacamole by adding a hint of spice with hot sauce. We use about 6-8 dashes, but you can use more or less depending on how spicy you want it.
- leave out the cilantro – I know there are a lot of people who don’t like the way cilantro tastes. If that’s you, you can leave it out of this recipe. We like it better with cilantro, but this recipe will survive without it.
- white onion – if you don’t have a red onion, you can use a regular white onion in a pinch
- lime juice – if you only have premade lime juice, instead of fresh lime juice from limes, feel free to use it. Fresh is always best, but sometimes we need to use what we have.
- lemon – if you don’t have a lime, you *can* use lemon juice, but the flavor profile will be different. Ina Garten uses lemon in her guacamole recipe if that makes you feel better.
How Do I know When Avocados are Ripe?
The key to this easy homemade guacamole is the ripeness of the avocados. You need to familiarize yourself with the ripening process to know when the avocados are at their peak. Then, you’ll be able to make the perfect guacamole.
There’s a great Masterclass article on how to tell if an avocado is ripe, but here’s the gist.
A ripe avocado won’t be hard at all. It will be firm, but when you press into it, you shouldn’t be able to press very hard. It should have a little “give” in the avocado if it’s ripe.
- color – Ripe avocados will have a rich green color. If your avocado is light it will need to ripen longer. The darker the avocado, the riper it is.
- check the stem – if the stem is broken underneath the avocado is overripe.
- too soft – if the avocado seems bruised or feels too mushy, it’s overripe so don’t use it
- hard avocado – if the avocado is hard and has little give, you have time for it to ripen
If you have hard avocados and want to ripen them faster, you can try putting them in a brown paper bag. Since avocados don’t ripen on the tree you can try to ripen them faster by putting them in a brown paper bag with an apple or banana for a couple of days. I’ve never done this because typically avocados you buy from the grocery store will ripe in at home on the counter in a couple of days without any intervention.
How Do I Cut An Avocado?
Place the avocado on a cutting board or the palm of your hand. Using a sharp knife slowly slice the avocado lengthwise around the middle being aware of the pit in the middle. Gently pull half the avocado off. Place the avocado half with the pit on the cutting board and tap the pit with the blade of the knife. Now you can twist the knife and the pit should come out.
If the pit is stuck to the avocado half, you can slice it in half lengthwise which will make it easier to pull the pit from the avocado flesh.
What Do I Serve with Guacamole?
While it’s popular to serve chips with guac, you can also add a variety of fresh veggies to accompany your guacamole. It’s also great with homemade salsa and some sour cream
Ways to Use Guacamole
This easy guacamole recipe can be used for more than just a dip. Here are some ideas to repurpose guacamole:
- tacos and burritos – add it to taco night
- enchiladas – perfect as an accompaniment to this popular meal
- nachos – make a big batch of nachos and top with dollops of guacamole
- avocado toast – spread it on toast and top with a poached or fried egg. This is a great breakfast or brunch item.
- deviled eggs – replace the yolk with guacamole
- on a burger – add it to the top of a hamburger for added flavor
- on soup – certain soups like our chicken tortilla soup could use a dollop of guac as garnish. Any other Mexican soup recipe would work well too.
How Long Does Homemade Guacamole Last?
Because of the browning potential, it’s best to eat guacamole in a day or two from when you make it.
Can I Save Leftover Guacamole?
There are tons of tips and tricks to protect your guacamole from turning brown, but we usually just eat it right away! The best trick I’ve seen is to use a layer of plastic wrap on top of the guacamole, letting the plastic touch the top surface of the dip in the bowl. Then, place it in an airtight container and refrigerate.
If you find some brown spots on your saved guacamole, you can scrape it off or just eat it. It’s not very appealing, but it’s not unsafe to eat as long as it’s only a day or two old.
This simple guacamole dip is sure to be a family classic!
Want More Easy Appetizers?
Easy Guacamole Recipe
Ingredients
- 4-5 ripe Haas avocados
- 1/4 cup red onion
- 2 ripe tomatoes diced
- 3 Tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
- 2 lime juiced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 clove garlic minced
- hot sauce 6-8 dashes
Instructions
- Cut the avocados in half removing the pits and scoop the flesh and place in large mixing bowl. Mash the avocados with a fork or potato masher.
- Add lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper and mash together.
- Chop the tomatoes into bite sized pieces and add to the avocado mixture.
- Chop the cilantro, red onion and add to the mixture.
- Add 6-8 dashes of hot sauce and mix. Taste and add more if you like it hotter.
- Depending on how many avocados you use, and how large the avocados you use, just add more salt and pepper and hot sauce until you achieve your desired seasonings.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Peter says
Thank you for sharing this with me