Homemade Guacamole with Tortilla Chips

There are two kinds of guacamole in this world. There is the pale, smooth stuff from a tub that tastes mostly of lime and regret, and then there is the real thing — chunky, bright green, with bits of tomato and red onion, made ten minutes before you want to eat it. Once you have had the real thing, with a warm chip scooping it straight from the bowl, there is no going back.

I first learned to make guacamole properly years ago, at a friend’s house, when she handed me an avocado and a fork and told me to get on with it. No recipe, no measurements — just taste as you go. That is still how I make it. It takes ten minutes, it never lasts more than an hour in our house, and it is the thing I bring to every gathering because I know the bowl will come back empty.

Watch: Homemade Guacamole with Tortilla Chips

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 0 minutes | Servings: 4 (about 2 cups)

Ingredients

• 3 ripe avocados
• 1 lime, juiced (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 small red onion, finely diced
• 1 medium tomato, deseeded and diced
• 1 small green chilli (jalapeño or serrano), deseeded and finely chopped — or leave it out
• 1 small handful of fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
• 1 clove of garlic, finely grated (optional — many would say leave it out)
• Tortilla chips, to serve

Method

1. Cut the avocados in half, remove the stones and scoop the flesh into a bowl. If the avocado is ripe it should give slightly when you press it gently — too firm and it will not mash, too soft and it is brown inside.
2. Add the lime juice straight away and give it a quick stir. The lime is not just for flavour; it is what keeps the guacamole green instead of turning brown in front of your eyes.
3. Mash with a fork until it is mostly smooth but still chunky. You want some texture — perfectly smooth guacamole is for the tubs in the supermarket, and we are not doing that.
4. Stir in the red onion, tomato, chilli and coriander. Go gently, and do not overwork it — you want to see the colours of everything in the bowl, not a green mush.
5. Add the salt, the cumin if you are using it and the garlic if you like it, and stir once more. Taste it now — this is the moment to adjust.
6. Taste and adjust: a little more lime if it tastes flat, more salt if the flavours are not coming through, and another pinch of chilli if you want heat. Add it a little at a time; you can always add more, and you cannot take it out.
7. Cover the bowl with cling film pressed right down onto the surface of the guacamole, and let it sit for 10 minutes so the flavours come together — if you can wait that long.
8. Serve in a wide, shallow bowl with a big pile of tortilla chips around it, and eat it straight away. Guacamole waits for no one.

Serving and Storage

Serve straight away in the bowl with tortilla chips, and put it out with cut vegetables too — carrot sticks, cucumber slices and pepper strips are all perfect scoops. If you have any left over, press cling film right onto the surface to keep the air out, and it will keep in the fridge for a day, though it will darken a little on top (still fine to eat). Do not freeze it — the texture turns to mush. The best trick is to simply make only as much as you will eat, because guacamole made in the morning never tastes as bright as guacamole made ten minutes ago.

Tips

A few things I have learned from making more bowls of this than I can count. Choosing the avocado matters most — if it is hard, it will never mash properly, and if it is too soft it will be brown inside, so check the colour under the little stem before you buy it. Dice the onion very finely, or you will get a big raw bite that takes over. And do not skip the lime — it is the difference between bright green and a sad brown bowl. If you want a smoother, restaurant-style guacamole, mash it a little more; if you like it rustic, stop earlier. Seed the tomato first, or the extra juice will make it watery.

Make this the next time friends are coming round, and watch what happens. Ten minutes of work, one bowl, one bag of chips, and the food will be the least of your worries — guacamole this good disappears before you have even finished opening the drinks. That is how you know a recipe has earned its place. If you try it, tell us how it went on our Contact page — we love hearing what home cooks cook from the recipes here. And if you have your own guacamole rule, whether it is no garlic ever or always a little cumin, share it, because the best recipes are the ones people argue over and improve together.