This is the BEST homemade guacamole recipe! It’s healthy and filled with fresh ingredients like avocados, tomatoes, garlic, red onion, lime, cilantro, and salt. Unlike store-bought guacamole, this guacamole has no additives or preservatives. This recipe is gluten-free, vegan, and keto-friendly.
If you have very little time and need to quickly fix a delicious dip, sandwich spread, or salad dressing, look no further.
This guacamole recipe is so easy to make. It comes together in just 20 minutes (plus preparation) and all you’ll need is a knife, a fork, and a bowl. It’s creamy, zesty, and tastes just like authentic Mexican guacamole.
Safe to say, though, everyone loved it and was surprised that I made it in the car. You can whip up guacamole just about anywhere, and it’s sure to be a winner.
Recipe Ingredients
This simple guacamole recipe uses fresh ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.
- Avocados – Peel 4 avocados and remove the pit of each one. Before slicing your avocado in half, make sure they’re ripe first.
- Pro Tip: Ripe avocados have dark-purple skin, are soft, and yield to pressure. Learn from my mistakes – check first so that you don’t have to Google hit-and-miss solutions to ripen sliced avocados.
- Lime – Squeeze the juice from 1 large lime. Some people like their guac zingier, so feel free to make more lime juice. Fresh is best here.
- Salt – Measure 1 teaspoon, or to taste.
- Red onion – Fill a ½ cup with red onion. You can dice red onion, but I prefer to throw mine into a food processor and chop until it becomes very finely crumbled. I don’t like chunks of red onion in my guacamole.
- Fresh cilantro – Chop about 4 tablespoons worth of fresh cilantro. So fragrant!
- Roma tomatoes – Dice 4 roma tomatoes and pat dry between paper towels. Roma tomatoes are the best for guacamole due to their low water content.
- Garlic – Mince 6 garlic cloves. I usually say use as much garlic as you’d like, but for this recipe, I recommend sticking to 6 so that the sharp taste of garlic doesn’t overpower the other ingredients.
- Tortilla chips – Pick your favorite tortilla chips to serve this guacamole with.
There’s more to life than guacamole and chips, by the way. There are so many ways to enjoy this condiment. Guacamole is a party favorite – it’s great as a salad dressing alongside some authentic Pico de Gallo. You can also spread guacamole over toast (and crispy bacon, anyone?).
Step-by-Step Instructions
Making authentic guacamole at home is so simple.
Step One: Core and dice your roma tomatoes. Drain any excess juice in a colander then pat diced tomatoes dry on a couple pieces of paper towel.
Step Two: In a medium bowl, add the avocados, lime juice, and salt and mash until smooth.
- Pro Tip: For the best results, try not to over-mash the avocados. A chunky dip with some texture is better than a completely smooth one. I like to use a fork or a potato masher for this bit.
Step Three: Add in the red onion, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Stir gently to combine.
- Pro Tip: Red onion has a pungent taste, so if you don’t want to bite into pieces of onion, blend the onions in a food processor until finely crumbled.
Step Four: Your guacamole is ready! For the best flavor, refrigerate the dip for at least 1 hour. It can also be served immediately, best enjoyed with some crispy tortilla chips.
How Can I Keep My Guac from Turning Brown?
A fresh batch of guacamole has a bright green color from avocado and is dotted with red from the tomatoes and purple from the onions. After some time, you’ll find that your guacamole has oxidized and turned a muddy brown.
Yuck.
Not the most appetizing thing to share. But is it safe to eat? And how can you prevent your guac from turning brown?
The good news is that browned guacamole is completely safe to eat – assuming you’ve kept it in the fridge and it’s still within the shelf life of 2 to 3 days after making it.
To keep your guac looking fresh and green, storage is the key here. Avocado turns brown from oxidation, just like apples, so one way to slow this down is to… You guessed it: Reduce its exposure to oxygen.
After you’ve had your share of guacamole, store any leftovers in a container. Before placing the lid on, press a saran wrap tightly against the guacamole leaving no air pockets. This prevents avocados from turning brown right away.
Let me know if this method worked for you, and please share any avocado preservation hacks that you have up your sleeve.
Do you have extra avocados at home? Serve them on your toast, make an avocado milkshake, or make these EASY avocado recipes with them:
- Creamy Avocado Zucchini Pasta
- Avocado Mousse (Extra-Chocolatey)
- Quinoa Salad Bowl with Avocado Cilantro Dressing
Guacamole Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 avocados peeled, pitted and mashed
- 1 large lime juiced, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup red onion, diced I throw mine in a small food processor and chop until it’s very fine crumbled pieces- I don’t like chunks of red onion in my guacamole
- 4 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped
- 4 roma tomatoes diced, and pat dry between paper towel
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- tortilla chips for serving
Instructions
- Core and dice your tomatoes. Drain any excess juice in a colander then pat chopped tomatoes dry on a couple pieces of paper towel.
- In a medium bowl, add the avocados, lime juice, garlic and salt and mash until smooth.
- Mix in red onion, tomatoes and cilantro.
- Refrigerate with plastic wrap directly on (touching) the guacamole for 1 hour for best flavor, or serve immediately with a side of tortilla chips.
