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This fresh and easy guacamole recipe can be whipped up in less than 5 minutes! It's SO simple, using minimal ingredients, just like authentic guacamole. This easy dip is sure to be a hit as an appetizer, in Mexican foods, at potlucks, or as a tasty snack. It's a healthy, delicious, and simple guacamole recipe!
Guac and roll with these bacon guacamole and corn guacamole recipes!
Table of Contents hide
Ingredient notes
How to make guacamole easy
Variations to try
How to choose a ripe avocado
What if you can't find a ripe avocado?
How to cut an avocado
What to serve with guacamole
How to store leftovers
Recipe FAQs
More easy guacamole recipes
Easy Guacamole Recipe
When it comes to winning over a crowd with guacamole, the key lies in keeping it straightforward and delicious. There are so many reasons why this guacamole is the best! It's deliciously flavored, perfectly creamy, and takes a total time of less than five minutes to make! There are barely any dishes to clean up, it's super healthy, AND it's versatile – we have lots of suggestions about ingredients you can add to make it extra special!
If you've only ever bought pre-made guacamole before, you are in for a treat. Crafting this fresh guacamole is as effortless as taking a lid off a jar – but the result is incomparably superior.
Ingredient notes
There are lots of different ways you can make guacamole dip. After years of making our favorite dip, we've found that the best result comes when you use just a handful of fresh ingredients. This recipe for easy guacamole is our go-to, and how we make it 90% of the time. This is all you need:
- Lime juice: Fresh limes are always best!
- Garlic: Finely minced so you don't end up biting into chunks of garlic.
- Salt: We prefer the mild taste of sea salt in this recipe.
- Avocados: The star of the show.
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How to make guacamole easy
Making this homemade guacamole recipe is incredibly simple. In fact, it's nearly as easy to make it fresh as it is to open a store-bought container. But it tastes SO MUCH BETTER when it's freshly made! This is how easy the instructions are:
- Scoop out the avocado flesh and mash in a bowl using a fork or potato masher.
- Squeeze in the fresh lime juice, add the minced garlic, and a bit of salt and mix it all together. That's it! You've just made guacamole!
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Variations to try
There are plenty of other tasty things you can also add to authentic guacamole recipes, but keeping it simple with lime juice, garlic, and salt means you can whip up a bowl in guacamole in no time! Here are a few other ingredients that you can throw in your guacamole dip to really kick it up a notch. Choose one or two and make it your secret ingredient!
- Fresh, diced tomatoes.
- Minced cilantro.
- Hot peppers – one jalapeño or cayenne pepper will turn this into spicy guacamole!
- Finely minced red onion.
- A sprinkle of ground cumin is fantastic!
- Cojita or feta cheese.
- Sour cream or greek yoghurt makes the guac creamier.
- Corn for little bites of sweetness.
- Chopped fruit, like pineapple or mango, adds a tropical flair!
How to choose a ripe avocado
Selecting a perfectly ripe avocado can be a bit of a challenge: opt for one that's under-ripe, and you'll be met with a hard, inedible texture. Go for an overly ripe one, and you'll end up with a mushy, brown mess. Not appetizing, right? Luckily there are tips to find a perfectly ripe avocado:
- Begin your search for ‘the one' by looking for dark avocados. When you find one, give it a gentle squeeze. Does it give just a little without giving in and feeling hollow? Awesome! This could be the one.
- Once you're 99% sure you've found a good one, take a look under the stem. If it looks green, you're good to go. If it's brown, it's past its prime.
What if you can't find a ripe avocado?
Finding a ripe avocado can feel like finding your soul mate; the more you want one, the harder it is to find.To help turn an under-ripe avocado into a guacamole-ready one, use the paper bag trick. All you have to do is put the avocado (or a few avocados) and an apple in a paper bag. Close the bag and set it aside on your counter. In about a day, you'll have a ripe avocado. You can also put under-ripe avocados in your fruit bowl to help them ripen. The ethylene gas that fruit releases helps the ripening process and makes your hard avocado perfectly soft.
How to cut an avocado
To cut an avocado, hold it in your hand and cut through the avocado skin at the stem – the top of the avocado. Now turn the avocado so that the knife cuts all the way around to the other side. Once you've cut the avocado skin, hold onto the two halves and twist them apart.
To remove the pit, tap it with the heel of your knife (the part of the blade that is closest to the handle) and it should dig into the pit just enough for you to pull out the pit.
If you're a visual learner, watch how to cut an avocado at the beginning ofthis video.
What to serve with guacamole
The classic way to eat guacamole is with crunchy tortilla chips (alongside corn salsa) but it's great served as a dip for veggies, too. Here are a few other ways to serve guac:
- Loaded onto Mexican pork carnitas.
- Dolloped on top of these Mexican nacho fries
- With someshrimp fajitas
- Or this fajita stuffed chicken
- Piled high on top of Baja fish tacos
- In a deliciousguacamole burger
And don't forget to treat yourself to afizzy lime margarita!
How to store leftovers
While this homemade guacamole recipe is best eaten shortly after it's made, it is possible to store it in the fridge. If left for too long, the avocados can oxidize, which causes them to brown. So, how do you prevent homemade guacamole from browning? Here's the best way to store leftover guacamole:
Put the guacamole into a bowl and smooth the top with a spoon. Now take a piece of plastic wrap and press it firmly onto the guacamole so that there are no air pockets. Now your guac will stay fresh for 2-3 days in your fridge. You can also keep the avocado pits and put them back in the guacamole when refrigerating. An extra squeeze of lime juice also helps, as it creates acidic conditions that slow down the enzymes that cause browning.
For plastic-free storage, you can also useparchment paperor beeswax food wraps. Neither of these options work quite as well as plastic, but we think it's worth it. Don't worry, the guacamole only turns brown a tiny bit on the surface, and you can use a spoon to scrape off the little bit of brown guacamole before eating the rest.
Recipe FAQs
Can I adjust the spice level?
If you like spicy guacamole, you can add chiles, such as sliced jalapeño or serrano pepper, or red chili flakes.
Can I use lemon instead of lime for guacamole?
We find lemon can overpower the flavor more than lime does. Use lemon juice in a pinch, but start with a small squeeze, adding more to taste.
What is healthy to dip in guacamole?
You can use corn chips or pita bread, but if you'd prefer to keep it healthier, you can use veggies like carrots, raw broccoli and cauliflower, or cucumbers.
Why is guacamole healthy?
The main ingredient is avocados, which are a good sauce of healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, such as potassium.
More easy guacamole recipes
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All dip recipes
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Easy Guacamole Recipe
Prep: 5 minutes mins
Cook: 0 minutes mins
Total: 5 minutes mins
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This fresh and easy guacamole recipe can be whipped up in less than 5 minutes! It's SO simple, using minimal ingredients, just like authentic guacamole. This easy dip is sure to be a hit as an appetizer, in Mexican foods, at potlucks, or as a tasty snack. It's a healthy, delicious, and simple guacamole recipe!
2 cups
Ingredients
- 3 ripe avocados
- 1 lime
- 1-2 cloves garlic (finely minced)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Optional Ad-Ins
- 1 medium roma tomato (seeded and diced)
- ¼ cup minced white onion
- ¼ cup minced cilantro
- 1 jalapeño pepper (seeded and minced)
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
Instructions
To cut the avocados, run a knife around the avocado (from top to bottom) and twist it in half. Pull out and discard the pit. Using a spoon or your thumb, remove the flesh and place it into a medium-sized bowl.
3 ripe avocados
Use a fork to gently mash each avocado half several times so the guacamole is creamy but still a bit chunky.
Squeeze the lime into the bowl with the avocado. Add the garlic, salt, and any/all or none of the optional ingredients and stir them into the guacamole. Taste and add more salt if needed.
1 lime, 1-2 cloves garlic, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, 1 medium roma tomato, ¼ cup minced white onion, ¼ cup minced cilantro, 1 jalapeño pepper, ½ teaspoon ground cumin
Video
Notes
- Guacamole is best made and eaten right away. If you must store it, make sure that you cover it with parchment paper directly against the guacamole. Press the paper into it with your fingers to prevent any air from getting to it and causing it to go brown.
- To make a single serving, lunch-sized guac, use 1 avocado, ½ lime, a small clove of garlic, and a pinch of sea salt.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving = ½ cup, Calories: 247kcal (12%), Carbohydrates: 15g (5%), Protein: 3g (6%), Fat: 22g (34%), Saturated Fat: 3g (19%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 15g, Sodium: 11mg, Potassium: 751mg (21%), Fiber: 11g (46%), Sugar: 1g (1%), Vitamin A: 229IU (5%), Vitamin C: 20mg (24%), Calcium: 25mg (3%), Iron: 1mg (6%)
© Author Kristen Stevens
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
For more inspiration, check out all of our avocado recipes and our Mexican-inspired recipes!
This recipe is part of our Healthy Super Bowl Recipes series.
