Best Ever Guacamole

Guacamole is kind of like pizza – even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good. Truly, all mashed avocados need in order to be chip-ready is a little salt and lime juice. But it seems like the versions of what’s considered to be guacamole get more and more wild. There is a restaurant near me that lets you customize your tableside guacamole with ingredients like capers, mango and even bacon. While it sounds fun to add pumpkin seeds to my guacamole, it makes me wonder – how many random ingredients can you put into your guac before you can’t really call it guac anymore? At the end of the day, I’m a purist. And this Best Ever Guacamole is what I consider to be the most authentic version of smashed avocados that could ever grace the top of a chip.

Before I started making my own guacamole, I would buy those dry packets of guacamole seasoning where you just had to add your avocados and in less than a minute you’d have a ready-to-serve dip. Super easy and pretty tasty. But, of course, I always have to complicate things with my “fresh is best” approach, blah blah blah. So I started playing around with spices, many of which appeared in the ingredients list of the dry seasoning packet. I learned that there are some downright controversial ingredients in guacamole that bring about some seriously emotional responses from people!

The controversial ingredients in Best Ever Guacamole

For starters, cilantro. Everyone knows that there is a love/hate thing about cilantro, and I fall into the unabashed love category. I’m one of those people who will literally take a handful of cilantro and eat it like lettuce. I cannot get enough of cilantro, but I realize that those who don’t care for it. That said, any self-respecting guacamole must have cilantro. That’s just the way it is. If you are a cilantro hater, or if you think that cilantro tastes like soap, go ahead and leave it out. The wonderful part about this Best Ever Guacamole is that it’s got so many good flavors going on that it won’t be ruined if you remove one of the ingredients. But it does pain me to write that, just so you know.

It also seems that red onion brings up strong emotions in people, and I don’t just mean onion tears. My sister, for one, was happily chowing down on my Best Ever Guacamole when she suddenly stopped. She asked, in horror, “Is there raw onion in this?” And just like that, there was more guac for me. While I’m not one to order extra raw onions on things (in fact I often ask that raw onions be left off of things), in this guacamole, the red onion just works. I don’t question it. I just dice it up real small and enjoy the punch of flavor it lends to the dip.

How to make this Guacamole

Making this Best Ever Guacamole couldn’t be easier. Give your veggies and herbs a rough chop and fold them all together in a bowl – or molcajete, if you want to be fancy. This is a really authentic, super fresh-tasting guacamole, just like the kind you can get made tableside at your favorite outdoor restaurant. Really the best ever. Simply add margaritas and your summer evenings are off to a great start. Enjoy!

Best Ever Guacamole

An easy to make restaurant-quality dip at home with fresh ingredients and authentic Mexican flavors

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 0 mins

Total Time 15 mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 ripe avocados
• 3 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro chopped
• 1/2 cup red onion diced
• 1/2 cup tomatoes seeded and diced
• 1 Tbsp.  jalapeño  seeded and minced
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions

 

• Pit the avocados, scoop out and mash with a fork in a medium-sized bowl. Fold in remaining ingredients and serve.

Keyword appetizers, gluten free, low fat, vegetarian

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