This is the Best Guacamole Recipe, and it’s so easy to make! A healthy vegetarian dip to serve it with chips, tacos, tostones, chicken enchiladas, and more.
Homemade Guacamole Recipe
Want to know how to make guacamole? This easy guacamole recipe, made with Haas avocados, red onion, cilantro, and lots of lime juice, is always on rotation in my house. I add a little fresh garlic as my secret ingredient for some extra zing. It’s the BEST! This guac is a staple at every gathering and a must when we have taco nights. Tommy is always in charge of making it, and he has converted many non-avocado lovers with this recipe. Another favorite is this Crab Guacamole.
Is Guacamole Healthy?
Avocados may be high in fat, but they have the essential healthy fats we should consume daily. They are also high in fiber, rich in vitamins B, E, and K, and have “60 percent more potassium than bananas.”
What is traditional guacamole made of?
Authentic guacamole recipes are made with just a few simple ingredients – avocados, onion, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, garlic, and salt.
- Avocados: Avocado flesh from ripe medium Haas avocados
- Lime: Juice one lime
- Red Onion: Mince a third cup of red onion
- Garlic: Mash one small garlic clove
- Cilantro: If you don’t like cilantro, omit it
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Tomato and Jalapeño: Although we usually prefer our guacamole without tomato and jalapeño, you can add it if you desire. Use serrano pepper to make it extra spicy.
How to make guacamole:
- Start with perfectly ripe avocados. If it’s too hard, or over-ripe, the results will be less than stellar.
- The trick is to a good guacamole is leave large chunks of avocado for the best consistency; don’t puree or mash them thoroughly.
- Having the perfect balance of lime juice, red onion and salt is essential.
- If you like it spicy, you can add some diced jalapeño, some people also like to add diced tomato which is fine, but we like it just like this!
Tips For Making Guacamole Ahead:
- Guacamole really is best when made fresh. But, if need to make it a little ahead of time, put the pits in the bowl with it, along with some cut up lime wedges and cover it tightly with plastic wrap on the surface of the guacamole. Place in refrigerator a few hours until ready to eat.
- Adding extra lime juice help prevent browning.
- I recommend making it the same day, but if you must this should keep 1 day. If the top browns, scrape the top off and the rest should be green.
- Refrigerate leftovers up to 24 hours.
Can you use lemon juice instead of lime in guacamole?
Traditional guacamole is made with lime juice, but if you’re out, lemon is a good substitute.
What to serve with Guacamole
Guacamole dip is great with baked tortilla chips, lentil chips, or Air Fryer Tostones. I like it on top of nachos, chicken fajitas, tacos, or tostadas. You can also spread it on a wrap, sandwich, or turkey burgers instead of mayonnaise.
More Avocado Recipes
- Avocado Fries
- Spicy Crab Stuffed Avocado
- Avocado Egg Rolls
- Chicken Avocado Soup
- Corn Tomato Avocado Salad
Best Guacamole Recipe
Ingredients
- 15 ounces pitted and halved avocados, from 3 medium hass
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/3 cup red onion, minced
- 1 small garlic clove, mashed or minced
- 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste
- optional: diced tomato and jalapeño
Instructions
- Make the guacamole: Place the pulp from the avocados in a medium bowl and slightly mash with a fork or a potato masher leaving some large chunks. Add lime juice, salt, pepper, cilantro, red onion, garlic and mix thoroughly.
- If you are serving this at a later time: a great tip to keep the guacamole from turning brown is to cover tightly with plastic wrap so no air gets on it.
Last Step:
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Notes
Nutrition
Categories:
- 5 Ingredients or Less
- Appetizers
- Avocado Obsessed
- Budget Friendly Meals
- Cinco De Mayo
- Dairy Free
- Egg Free Recipes
- Gluten Free
- Healthy Snacks
- How To Make: Simple Recipes for Beginners
- Keto Recipes
- Kid Friendly
- Latin Recipes
- Lenten Friendly Recipes
- Low Carb
- Paleo
- Party Apps
- Recipes
- Skinny Dips
- Super Bowl Recipes
- Under 30 Minutes
- Vegan Recipes
- Vegetarian Meals
- Weight Watchers – WW Recipes
- Whole30 Recipes
This is delicious! So easy to make!
Made this for our Cinco De Mayo celebration. It was delicious. So easy, fast. I always use to buy guacamole, but now I make it. Game changer.
Always tasty!
Hm,.. amazing post ,.. just keep the good work on!
Any tips on how to pick fresh avocados? Mine always seem to be rotten when I cut into them; wonder if it is because they get frozen during transport?
This was a very easy recipe full of flavor.
another way to prevent darkening of the guacamole is to cover a the top with a small amount of water before refrigerating. the next day pour off the water without stirring the guac. it is as fresh as if you just made it. I have done this several days in a row and it is till perfect each time.
Thanks for sharing!
I really enjoy this recipe, very tasty, super easy to make.
I put the onion, garlic, and cilantro in our food processor and buzz 5-6 times. It releases all sorts of goodness and saves me time chopping! Love, love, love this guac!
Great!!
This is an awesome recipe. VERY fresh and tasty.
This is the easiest and best guacamole recipe! I make it every time we have Mexican food at home.
Ther best guacamole I have ever tasted. I added half roma tomato diced, without the skin. MUCHAS GRACIAS for so many great recipes.
De nada!! 🙂
My family loved this guacamole. We have a Mexican friend that makes guacamole for us occasionally. My family said it was just as good or better than hers. I don’t care for Cilantro so I didn’t use any. I added tomato.
This is me and my husband’s new favorite recipe for guac!
Sooo Very Yummy! Thanks for sharing!
I have a trick for keeping guacamole over night in the fridge. Put your guacamole in a bowl and add water to cover the guacamole. When you are ready to eat it, pour the water out, give the guacamole a good stir and enjoy.
Will do that! What a great idea. Thank you!
Can I use dried cilantro instead of fresh? Does it change the flavor? It’s all I have! Thanks 🙂
My problem is I could not just eat 1/4 cup😉.
This was my first attempt at making guacamole. It was awesome! Thank you so much. My company loved it.
Great!!
If you leave the avocado seed it stays fresh longer
I love this recipe. It’s not that blend as other says. I’m one of those people who can’t eat too much heavy tasting rich food. Too much roasting and frying is bad for the liver you know.
I heard a slice of onion on top of the guacamole before wrapping keeps it fresh longer….anyone else know about that??
Oxygen causes guacamole to turn brown, so blocking the oxygen with an onion will work. But unless your onion is the same diameter as your container you will get some browning, so plastic wrapped pushed down onto the surface is best and it’s a lot cheaper than a slice of onion.
This is fabulous guacamole! I live in Tucson, where the restaurants make a show out of assembling guac at your table side, and this is so much better!!
I would leave guacamole without garlic.
Sometimes I omit, it’s great both ways!
The name of this recipe is spot on because it’s just as good as any guac that I’ve eaten in Mexico. I made the recipe exactly as written and it’s just so delicious! After reading the previous replies, I put one of the seeds in my guac and it totally worked! My hubby was eating it all night and didn’t cover it back up properly but it didn’t turn brown. This is now my go to guac recipe! Thank you!!
I am so glad to hear that!!
Not sure if anyone has already posted this, but the surefire way to To avoid guac going brown, is leave the pit in the bowl with it and cover with plastic wrap until you serve.
I just love your blog! Can’t get enough of it! So happy I discovered you! ????
As for the guacamole, it’s been my recipe since a trip to Mexico 10 years ago! The only difference is, I grate most of the onion and dice the rest. Grating it creates kind of an “onion liquid” and gives it even more taste and while still having a bit of texture with the part that is minced. Sooooo good!
Did I tell you how much I love your blog?! :)))
Thank you! 🙂
The lime juice will prevent it from turning brown.
If you chop onions first and put them to the side in the lime juice for 10-15 minutes, it takes some of the harshness out of the onions and distributes the flavor of both very well…
Amazing tip !! Thank you so much. 🙂
Gina, what should I do if my stomach can’t handle the red onion? Should I try minced onion or onion powder? Curious as to what you would suggest as I love guac!
You can leave it out.
Leaving out the onion definitely affects the flavor. Try something else per your taste.
Very good recipe. I add a little more garlic since I love the taste.
I love Avacadoes so much, I just remove the meat from the shell and pour French dressing over it and eat with a fork.
Thanks for sharing.
This is how guac should be … Perfect
Thanks!
I add some jalapeño to mine for a little kick, and a table spoon of sour cream for extra creamyness. Yummy!
My sister in law is from Peru. She says to leave the avocado pit in the center of the quacalmole and to cover with a little milk just enough to cover the top. This prevents browning. When ready to serve leave the pit but mix the milk. The milk makes it creamy
Gina, Try it with some julienned kale added – Great!!
I made it!!! It is the most awesome guacamole I ever tried. My older daughter doesn't like avocado, but this thing she ate so fast! I didn't change anything in this recipe, and it is perfect that way for my family. Thank You!
Yay!!
I make mine nearly the same. I leave out the cilantro and add dried cumin. But otherwise the same. I love it!
Very simple, very good. I had everything already on hand which was great! I'm still learning what flavors mix well so this really helped. Thanks!
Hi Gina,
We are doing a guacamole roundup on Friday for Guacamole Day and wondered if we could include a link to your recipe in our post. We would also like to use your picture and will feature it with your blog’s name.
Thanks so much.
Ok, silly question but I'm new to calorie counting….Are those calories for the whole amount or just one serving?
I just made this, having never made or even ordered guac before. It is delicious – followed the recipe exactly.
I just made this. It was ABSOLUTELY delicious!! I just added some tomatoes. So, so, so good. Love your site, Gina!
Oh Gina! You got it right here lady. I'm from Colorado and from that state South, guacamole is serious business. There are rules to making perfect guacamole and you nailed em. Fresh, natural ingredients only. Mashed by hand, never EVER with a food processor, blender or other machine. Finished product must be chunky.
I just love your photos.
And a tip: as soon as you cut avocados, dunk them in ice water for 20 seconds. This keeps them from browning as well.
Guacamole is my FAV snack. I love it so, so very much. I've made it a ton of different ways and love it every time. We usually include tomatoes and sometimes jalapenos. It isn't the same without lime juice too!
My thirteen year old son made guacamole tonight and did a good job. Thanks for sharing!
I love the lime flavor in guac and find that adding the zest from the lime bumps it up a notch – Delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
One way to keep the guac from turning brown is layer thin slices of lime all over the top. Looks nice for presentation too!
I love guacamole and usually get it from whole foods…well recently they started making "kalemole", guacamole with kale…its AMAZING! Can you make a version with Kale in it??
i found if you add 3 or 4 shakes of dry ground mustard in it ,you will be amazed
Found those chips on sale in Whole Foods. Stop and Shop carries a few flavors. whole Foods had 5 varieties!!!
I follow your avocado board on Pinterest and didn't even know it was you! I love it! Just had half an avocado, mashed, on a sprouted wheat English muffin with salt, pepper and lemon juice! My fav breakfast! Your guac looks yummy. Maybe the other half for dinner!
Yum!!!
I love it, it's so simple and delish!!
Gina, I add tomatoes to my recipe which is very similar to this one. I've always used the regular sized avocados and I add one tomatoe per avocado. Cut tomatoe in small chunks and drain the natural juices before adding to guacamole, might have to increase the salt just a little to compensate for the tomatoe added. Reduces amount eaten,therefore less calories per serving.
First, I love your site and I recommend it to anyone who will listen to me! Thanks for your wonderful blog!
I make my guac just like this only I add fresh pomegranate arils on top! The pop of color is beautiful and festive and it helps keep the top from browning. The pomegranate also adds a lovely little crunch and delicate sweetness. Definitely worth a try! 🙂
I bet that's really pretty!
OK, a strange non-avocado-related comment: What kind of chips did you use for the picture? They look nice and substantial. Thanks
They were Baked Lentil Chips with sea salt. Gluten free, the brand is Mediterranean Snacks. I found them in the gluten free section of my supermarket.
I makes this all the time but I love some heat so a chopped serrano does the trick…I did not know the pit would help it keep the color until serving time thanks for the tip. The best thing about making this recipe is you can add a little or a lot of what you like to get the flavor you want. I like mine spicy with extra lime just. =)
I could eat guacamole at every meal. Loooove it!
Gina – have you actually tested the "pit" trick to keep the guac from turning brown? I have, several times, and it absolutely has no effect. The only way to keep guacamole green is to put plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to keep it from being exposed to the air, which is what causes the browning.
I also wrap it in plastic, so perhaps that is what keeps it from turning brown, I do both.
Lee Ann, a secret of the Southwest, immediately after cutting your avocados, dunk them in ice water for 20 seconds. This prevents them from turning brown. Not sure why, but it works.
sounds good
I always add a little cumin to my guacamole and I skip the onions.
This is almost exactly how i make my guac too! I add jalapenos, grapes and pears though for an extra twist 🙂
Loved this, thanks for posting!!
Do you know how much this makes? I'm thinking of making it so that a pumpkin is barfing guacamole, but I don't know if I should double the recipe.
I’d love to see how this turned out, how funny
I’m thinking it wouldmake about a cup…so ?depending on how big a pumpkin you’re wanting to barf – ha ha ha ?you might want to more than double it. Cool idea by the way! Hey 3 pumpkins….1 barfing guacamole 1 barfing salsa and 1 barfing kickass hamburger-cheese dip! oh! and maybe a cool looking cauldron of tortilla chips!!! THANKS FOR A GREAT IDEA!!
Growing up w/ an avocado grove my immediate family, I've learned a trick or two about keeping the guac from turning brown. The real key to success is keeping the air off. Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it over the guac. Working from the center out, gently smooth out and remove any air bubbles you see under the wrap. Guac doesn't stick when you pull up the wrap and it will stay green this way 'til its gone. Also works on cut 'cados too. Enjoy ;D
There is also another way to keep your Guac from going brown. Leave the seed in your mixture and cover with syran wrap.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I just made this and my husband who claims to hate guacamole can't keep his hands off it. Thank you!
This is DELICIOUS!!!
Another great way to keep from turning brown- place a piece of plastic wrap or even a baggie on top of the guacamole,sealing the edges. It will keep for almost a week or more this way. Thanks for the recipe! That's how I make mine too. Sometimes I add some salsa if in a hurry.
I put the avocado pitt in my bowl with the guac it keeps it from turning brown.
That’s what I do to, it certainly helps, but I am gonna try the saran wrap and see if I can get it to keep a little longer.
mmm, we made this last night!! we LOVE it!! thanks for sharing 🙂
I am a freak when it comes to eating Avocados, I absolutely love them. So I know I would love this. Thanks Gina.
I’m such a guac fan – this is terrific! I wonder how it would affect the points to add roasted red pepper and corn to this?