Guacamole: ripe avocado, lime and a fork, never a blender
Good guacamole is a handful of simple ingredients and one rule: it is mashed with a fork, not blended. The avocado must be ripe, and the stem tells you that far better than squeezing does. The lime juice goes in straight away, because it slows the browning of the flesh. The rest — red onion, seeded tomato, coriander and salt — goes in at the end, so nothing weeps water into it.
Your own work in that: 15 min.
- Cutting 10 min
- Mashing 5 min
- Resting 10 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneCheck the avocado is ripe
Don't squeeze the fruit in the shop: it bruises them and tells you little anyway. Flick off the small stem nub at the top with a thumbnail. It comes away easily and underneath is bright green — the avocado is ripe. Brown underneath — overripe, with dark strings inside. The nub won't budge — still hard, so give it 2–3 days in a paper bag with an apple.
Ingredients: 3 pcs avocados · 2 pcs limes · ½ pcs red onion · 1 pcs tomato · ½ bunch fresh coriander · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 clove garlic · ¾ tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
TipAn apple gives off ethylene, the gas that drives ripening. Closed in a paper bag, a hard avocado ripens noticeably faster than loose on the counter.
The stem lifts off, green underneathHalve and scoop out the flesh
Cut lengthways around the stone, twist the halves apart and lever the stone out with a spoon. Score the flesh into a grid down to the skin and scoop it into a bowl with a spoon: you get ready-made dice without touching a board.
Grid down to the skin, then spooned outAdd lime juice immediately
Squeeze the juice of a whole lime over the flesh before you do anything else, and stir. Avocado browns because an enzyme in the flesh reacts with oxygen in the air. The lime's acid lowers the pH and markedly slows that enzyme, so the sooner, the better.
The juice of a whole lime, at onceMash with a fork
Press the flesh against the side of the bowl with a fork for 1–2 minutes, until half is smooth and half stays in visible lumps. Do not use a blender. Blended avocado turns into a smooth, gluey paste with no pieces, and the guacamole loses its chunky texture.
Ingredients: 3 pcs avocados · 2 pcs limes · ½ pcs red onion · 1 pcs tomato · ½ bunch fresh coriander · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 1 clove garlic · ¾ tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
TipGuacamole should have texture. If you own a stone molcajete, grind the garlic with the salt in it first and then add the avocado — the salt works like sandpaper.
A fork, not a blender; half left lumpyFold in the rest
Dice the onion very finely. Halve the tomato, scoop out the seed core and jelly with a teaspoon and dice the rest. Chop the coriander. Add to the avocado with the chilli, crushed garlic, salt and pepper and mix by folding with a spoon, not mashing. Taste and season: guacamole needs more salt and more lime than you expect.
Tomato seeded, onion fine, folded not mashedRest, then serve
Leave 10 minutes: the onion softens in the juice and the flavours settle. Serve with tortilla chips, warm tortillas or sourdough toast.
Ingredients: 200 g tortilla chips or tortillas · 4 pcs sourdough bread
TipStoring: press cling film <b>directly onto the surface</b> so no air is trapped between, or pour a centimetre of cold water over the top (tip it off carefully before serving). With no oxygen, guacamole stays green for a day. Burying the stone in the bowl is a myth — it protects only the patch it covers.
Ten minutes and onto the table
Before you start
Without tomato
Classic Mexican guacamole often has no tomato at all: just avocado, onion, chilli, coriander, lime and salt. Cleaner-tasting and less watery — the better version when tomatoes are out of season.
Hotter
Instead of flakes, half a fresh jalapeño or serrano, finely chopped, seeds and white membrane removed. Most of the capsaicin is in that membrane, so it is the dial for heat, not just the number of chillies.
How much avocado per person
One medium avocado makes two portions with chips, or four as a topping for tacos. Three fruits fill a bowl for six at a table with other snacks.