GUACAMOLE

Guacamole is conveniently simple, delicious and always a crowd pleaser. This recipe is a story about how salsa met an avocado and together they made a beautiful and flavourful guacamole.

This post contains some affiliate links, which means that I make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.

What Is Guacamole?

Guacamole in its simplest form is a combination of avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, jalapeño, oil, salt and pepper and a squeeze of lime or lemon juice. You can serve this as an appetizer, enjoy as a snack or as a topping for Taco Tuesday theme night. Enjoy this with my Ultimate Fish Tacos recipe and make it a night to remember.

How Salsa Met An Avocado

This recipe is made up of two parts – creamy avocado and salsa. Growing up salsa or ‘pebre’ as we called it was always around. We paired it with our family homemade empanada recipe, soups, corn pies, potato pies or just with some bread as a snack. It was and still is a staple in my home. One day I had some avocados and salsa lying around and that’s it, that’s how it happened, I made guacamole! Till this day it is my most requested dish from all my family and friends.

Guacamole = Salsa + Avocado

Salsa

Tomato and Onion – These two are the main ingredients for the salsa. I used one cup of each, equivalent to two medium or one large of each. Now, it is important to bring out your knife skills for this part. I am not going to suggest a food processor as I once did this and it was a complete fail. Both the onion and tomato should be diced finely, to the smallest piece you could imagine. Dice away and if you think you are done, dice a little more.

Jalapeño and Cilantro – Yes, cilantro, and lots of it. No substitutions. One whole jalapeño seeds and all but of course you can omit it all together if you can’t take the heat. Conversely, if you like to live on the edge feel free to add a second jalapeño. I use just one because it gives the right amount of kick. Just like the tomato and onion, you want to dice these very finely.

Dressing – I like my salsa to be very citrusy so I use a whole lemon and a bit of vinegar. I find the vinegar brings out all the flavours. It’s one of those ingredients you can’t quite put your finger on but definitely makes a major impact on bringing all the flavours together – I call this my secret ingredient. Neutral tasting oil for the base, salt and pepper, garlic and of course some love.

How To Pick The Best Avocado

Picking an avocado is the easiest and most natural thing for me to do. Growing up, learning how to pick the perfect avocado was just as important as learning how to walk. The perfect trifecta is when these three align – colour, firmness and stem.

Colour – If the skin/peel is green it’s not ripe enough. If it’s dark black or brownish/green it’s too ripe (you DO NOT want to use these). The perfect avocado lies in between these two colours – deep green!

Firmness – Just by squeezing the avocado gently you know if it’s ripe. You do not want to be able to press your finger fully in it. If you feel air bubbles underneath the peel, the avocado is too ripe. Place the avocado in the palm of your hand and gently squeeze it, it should give a little. It should feel like the part of the palm that sits below the thumb when you squeeze your thumb and pinky finger firmly together.

Stem – This is very easy to see. If you pick the stem off the avocado and it has hints of brown, it’s too ripe. If the colour is light green, it’s perfect.

The perfect trifecta – Colour, Firmness, Stem

DON’T LET ANYONE TREAT YOU LIKE FREE SALSA. YOU ARE GUAC BABY GIRL. GUAC.

Let’s Make Some Guacamole