Guacamole, my way
I’m often asked why I don’t have a guacamole recipe on my site. I reckon the simplest answer is because I don’t have a recipe for guacamole. Instead, I just add some ingredients to a smashed-up avocado and call it a dip.
When my mom was in the liturgical nacho stage of her life (so-called because she made her daily lunch of nachos always the exact same way) she’d whip up a batch of guacamole to go with them. She totally cheated, however, as she mashed an avocado with bottled hot sauce.
My mom can do many things very, very well, but I have to admit that this guacamole was not the best I’d eaten in my life. (And, for the record, she insists that she no longer makes guacamole this way.)
Guacamole is all about freshness and using a bottled hot sauce is anathema to this underlying principle. While you want the avocado to be the star, the other ingredients need to be heard as well, and nothing is louder than the crunch of fresh chiles, the tang of lime juice and the bite of fresh garlic.
There’s also the problem of bottled salsa having tomatoes as a base. I’m a firm believer that tomatoes shouldn’t be in guacamole; the texture is just wrong. Tomatoes are too juicy and soft and I want my accents to the avocado to be firm. I realize most people would disagree with me, but that’s OK as that’s probably the best thing about guacamole—everyone makes guacamole the way that they like it.
Take my uncle, for instance. He stirs in a heaping spoonful of mayonnaise into his guacamole, which he swears makes it super creamy. Then there’s a friend who’s been known to add sesame seeds to her guacamole, which is a subtle yet surprising accent. Obviously, the ways to make guacamole are infinite.
So, I’m happy to share with you how I make my guacamole, but what I really want to know is how you make your guacamole.
Guacamole
Ingredients
- 2 ripe Hass avocados, peeled, pitted, and cut in half
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Serrano chile, seeded and diced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Mash the avocado with a fork in a bowl or Mexican mortar and pestle (molcajete) until desired consistency. Stir in the garlic, Serrano, cilantro, lime juice, and salt, then taste and add more salt if desired. Serve immediately.
I'm with you on the tomatoes. I like my guacamole simple and fresh. My basic recipe is avocado, lime, cilantro, salt and cumin. Many times I'll add garlic and whatever pepper I have on hand and thats it. I like the cumin as i adds a bit of depth.
YUM – its the best dip EVER!
OH i forgot – if i have an onion diced up, i might throw it in too. hehe
I make my 'quac' differently depending on how good the avocados happen to be at the time. The best quacamole I've ever eaten was in Cancun and the avocados were so perfect, you could tell that it was just avocados, lemon, and a little salt.
I do like mine pretty simple. Don't care for onions or tomatoes in my quac. If I have perfect avocados, I make it with just lemon, salt, and maybe a little lemon pepper.
If it has to be doctored up a bit, I'll add garlic powder and sometimes a little Spike.
With some excellent tortilla chips and a cold cerveza, what more do you need?
Ooh, at last something I can comment on!
My guacamole is very simple:
2 hass avacados, peeled & cut in half
1/4 cup onion (I like to use the sweet Texas onions when they're in season)
1/4 cup chopped tomato
1 jalapeno, diced
1/3 cup cilantro (or until I get done chopping it up)
at least 2 cloves of garlic, crushed & diced. I like garlic. Lots and lots of garlic.
salt, to taste
I haven't yet managed to bring back a molcajete from the Valley yet, so I usually start by mashing the avocado together with the lime juice, salt, and garlic. Then I mix in the rest of the ingredients except the cilantro, which gets folded in last.
Of course, you can't forget to put plastic wrap over, pushing the wrap into the guacamole with your fingers to keep it from turning brown–it needs to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes!
Chris from Austin.
I agree a thousand percent about the tomatoes, but some of the best guacamole I've ever had involved a fresh tomatillo salsa with roasted pasilla peppers and red onions. It was perfect–the roasted onions and peppers added just a tiny hit of sweet that accented the spicy and rich. It was like a symphony.
I've seen people throw mayo in their guacamole before. I consider it a capital crime against an avocado to do so.