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This homemade guacamole recipe is seriously the best. I’ve copied what I’ve seen done at Mexican restaurants, where I love their guacamole, with great success!
Fast & Easy Guacamole
If I can whip up this Easy, Chunky Homemade Guacamole Recipe on a Thursday night and proceed to eat it for dinner, then this really is the easiest homemade guacamole recipe that you are ever going to find! Did you know the Aztecs first invented guacamole in what is now called Mexico? True story! Now guacamole, or “guac,” as we North Americans call it, is eaten worldwide!
The word guacamole literally means “avocado sauce.” And I put that sauce on everything! Try some homemade crostini for a really decadent snack, or pair it with a fantastic Chicken Enchilada Casserole!
I have discovered in many trials of eating guacamole that I don’t like it smooth; it needs some texture. When I do buy the store-bought guacamole, it is only in my desperate times when I don’t have time to make it. I honestly try to make time to make homemade guacamole because once you start, it’s honestly the only thing you like.
Guacamole Ingredients
Guacamole is very forgiving, and all you REALLY need to make homemade guacamole is:
- Avocados – ripe yet not overripe, as they will be brown inside
- Red onion – soak the onions in water if they are too sharp tasting for you
- Garlic – freshly minced is the best
- Cilantro – if you taste soap when you taste cilantro, skip it
- Lime juice – freshly squeezed is the best
- Flaked sea salt – the little extra crunch is what makes this the best guacamole
How to Make Guacamole
- Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits, and scoop out the insides with a spoon, leaving them as whole as possible. Mash ONE avocado—trust me, this is the secret to making this perfect!
- I usually cut the remaining two avocados into chunks, about 1/3 of an inch. Make sure they are a good size for scooping and not too large!
- Place the mashed avocado in a medium bowl. Add the red onion, tomatoes, garlic, lime juice, and cilantro. If you are using jalapeno or cumin, add them now as well. Mix together well. Once this is combined, add the avocado chunks. Mix until they are coated. Add the sea salt to taste—I always use more; I LOVE it salty! Add more lime juice at this point as well, to taste.
- Serve right away, or refrigerate for an hour or two.
Guacamole Ingredient Add-Ins
- Jalapeno peppers: Unless I am really craving a nice spicy jalapeno, I will leave them out of my guacamole
- Roma Tomatoes: Most guacamole that I have eaten in Mexican restaurants don’t have tomatoes. However, I suggest using tomatoes to make this amazing chunky guacamole. Roma holds together the best. Make sure to drain the tomatoes well after slicing them; prepare them first, and then let them drain in a colander while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
- Cotija: This Mexican Parmesan can be used in many recipes and is excellent on guacamole
- Bacon: not traditional, but delicious!
- Chipotle – adds a smoky flavor to the guacamole
How long does guacamole last?
Guacamole will only last 1-2 days in the fridge, although the quality will deteriorate, there is no doubt about it. Ensuring a layer of lime juice is on top will help keep the guacamole from turning brown. Your best bet? Make it and eat it. I have to refrigerate mine for 30 minutes to an hour after making it as I can’t stand eating warm guacamole ( I mean, I will, but it’s not my favorite; let’s be real, I will never pass up on guacamole!), and it doesn’t go brown. After a day, it will start to go watery, and it’s just not worth ruining expensive avocados!
What about guacamole mix?
Look, I have tried every mix out there, and they are all pretty gross, let’s face it. All you need to make amazing homemade guacamole for flavor is onion, garlic, and cilantro. Those aren’t that hard to have on hand, like the jalapeno. There’s a reason that I call this easy guacamole. You don’t have to mess around with serrano or jalapeno peppers at all. This chunky guacamole is delicious without them.
How can you tell if an avocado is ripe?
Everyone likes to joke that avocados turn bad when you turn your back, so the best bet is to pick them the day you use them. Haha, as if, right? That never happens, so let’s be real. I pick avocados that are firm to the touch yet very sightly yielding. Don’t manhandle them; gently squeeze them to see if they are firm and yielding. You don’t actually want soft avocados; they are always brown inside and in spots.
Homemade Guacamole Tips & Tricks
- The photo below shows you my #1 secret to making the best homemade guacamole- flaked sea salt. I first ate it on guacamole at a restaurant off the beaten path in the US that boasted of having the ” best guacamole in the state.” Sure, I thought, but we wanted Mexican food that night and tried it anyway. It literally was THE BEST guacamole I have ever eaten, and part of it was because of the crunchy, flaky sea salt.
- Use freshly smashed avocados. That was the other secret to that fantastic guacamole. They broke it, seasoned it with garlic, cilantro, and sea salt, and brought it straight to your table. We ended up ordering another bowl, and it was so amazing!
- The lime juice will actually help keep the guacamole from browning, but like I said in #2, fresh is the best!
- My main secret to this guacamole recipe is that you mash ONE avocado as a base for the rest of the chunky ingredients. This makes it absolutely guacamole perfection, but I kid you not! By mashing one of the avocados, you create a “sauce” that will coat the avocado chunks, the tomatoes, etc., and it is honestly the best way to make guacamole ever!
- You can keep this in the fridge for an hour or two. I personally don’t like warm guacamole, so I have to refrigerate mine for an hour or so. It won’t go brown as long as you cover it and use it within a couple of hours.
- The cumin has a nice flavor, but I only like a smidgen of it in the guacamole. It will overpower the other fresh tastes of the tomato, garlic, and onion, which are what make guacamole so good. Use it at your own risk!
- Drain those tomatoes! Slice them and drain them to get all the seeds and juice out of them. I place them in a colander in the sink and then swish them around every minute or so while prepping my other ingredients. The seeds and juice eventually fall through, and then you have perfect tomatoes for guacamole.
Guacamole is HEALTHY for you!
I don’t like the term superfood, but if I had to apply it, I would definitely call guacamole one! When you make homemade guacamole, you are using at least three to four incredibly healthy foods—onions, garlic, avocados, and tomatoes. Pairing it with crisp vegetables instead of tortillas is a power meal. I like to use carrots, celery, and cauliflower for scooping the guac when I feel like skipping the chips.
I will feed this homemade guacamole to everyone from now on – and I’m sure that at least one friend will read this and ask me why I’m not making it for her. You know who you are, but don’t worry, I’m going to make sure that this is on the menu for all of our future girls’ weekends away. I ate this for supper the other night with homemade pita chips; it was the best supper I’ve had in months. Forget holiday dinners; I could seriously live on this. Homemade guacamole is pretty much my favourite food, you guys, and I plan on eating this once a week for supper – and I’m totally serious. Now that I’ve mastered my favorite recipe, it’s guacamole game on!
If you are looking for some more appetizers or entertaining recipes, try these:
- The Best 7 Layer Bean Dip
- Mini Loaded Smashed Potatoes
- Easy Homemade Meatballs
- Sweet and Sour Meatballs
If you need some party cocktails, try these:
Hope you love it! Let me know in the comments!
Love,
Karlynn
Easy Chunky Homemade Guacamole Recipe
- Prep Time
- 20 minutes
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Course
- Appetizer
- Cuisine
- Mexican
- Servings
- 4
- Calories
- 265
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe but firm avocadoes
- 1/2 cup finely diced red onion
- 1 cup diced Roma tomatoes drained well
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin if wanted
- 1 tablespoon flaked sea salt
Instructions
- Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits and then scoop out the insides with a spoon, leaving them as whole as you can. Mash ONE avocado – trust me, this is the secret to making this perfect!
- Cut the remaining two avocados into chunks, I usually do it around 1/3 of an inch. Make sure they are a good size for scooping, not too large!
- Place the MASHED avocado in a medium bowl. Add in the red onion, tomatoes, garlic, lime juice and cilantro. IF you are using jalapeno or cumin, add them now as well. Mix together well. Once this is combined,add in the avocado chunks. Mix until they are coated. Add in the sea salt to taste – I always use more, I LOVE it salty! Add more lime juice at this point as well, to taste.
- Serve right away, or refrigerate for an hour or two.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Homemade Guacamole Tips & Tricks
- Use flaked sea salt. I first ate it on guacamole at a restaurant off the beaten path in the US that boasted of having the ” best guacamole in the state”.. It literally was THE BEST guacamole I have ever eaten and part of it was because of the crunchy, flaky sea salt.
- Use freshly smashed avocados. That was the other secret to that amazing guacamole. They smashed it, seasoned it with garlic, cilantro and sea salt and brought it straight to your table. We ended up ordering another bowl it was so amazing!
- The lime juice will actually help keep the guacamole from browning
- My main secret to this guacamole recipe? You are going to mash ONE avocado as a base for the rest of the chunky ingredients.
- You can keep this in the fridge for an hour or two. It won’t go brown as long as you cover it and use it within a couple of hours for sure.
- The cumin is a nice flavour but it will overpower the other fresh taste of the tomato/garlic/onion. Use it at your own risk!
- Drain those tomatoes! Slice them & then place them in a colander in the sink and then just swish them around every minute or so while prepping my other ingredients. The seeds and juice eventually fall through and then you have perfect tomatoes for guacamole.
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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Jillian says
The best guacamole I have ever tried. So delicious!!! Perfect for entertaining.
2pots2cook says
Perfect summer treat ! Thank you and enjoy the weekend !
Healthy Kitchen says
Love your nourishing guacamole ❤ Balancing well between ingredients indeed makes the dip more pleasant to eat 🙂
– Natalie
Shari Steinbach says
I love your hat!! Where did you buy it from? I ALSO LIKE YOUR RECIPES. I don’t have a website
Maggie Unzueta says
This looks incredibly delicious. Yum!
Mick says
I had to comment to say that you are closer
To authentic guacamole than most recipes. Guacamole is used as a cooling side dish, not as a spicy dip. The purpose of guacamole in Mexican cuisine is to add a soothing , cool topping to combat the more fiery heat of the peppers etc in our dishes. That is why you found that in authentic restaurants it’s plain and simple with salt. It’s a very Americanized version that has jalapeños, onions, tomatoes in it.
Karlynn Johnston says
That’s good to know! I was literally just going off of what I have eaten, so glad to know I did a good job!
Crystall says
No less than 5!!! Stars for this. Thank you for a recipe that doesn’t insist on jalapeños. I Know it’s authentic but I don’t have the time or patience to get gloves, take the seeds out etc etc never mind find them at the store. You don’t even miss them this recipe is so great! Thank you thank you!
Karlynn Johnston says
You are so welcome!
April says
This was the best guacamole I’ve had outside of a restaurant ( and better than a lot I’ve eaten IN restaurants). The sea salt was something I had to purposefully run to the store to get bit you are correct: it’s worth it!
Karlynn Johnston says
Glad you loved it!