There’s a day for everything these days, literally. But this Wednesday 16 September has to be our favourite yet: guacamole day! To celebrate this glorious occasion we’ve rounded up our top guacamole recipes of all time, including a couple of twists on the classic.
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Tips for great guacamole, every time
1. Pick ripe
The stage of avocados – unripe, ripe or overripe – is the make or break when it comes to a winning guac. There’s nothing worse than a stringy and soft avo. Yuck. So how do you pick good, ripe avocados? First, the colour should be a darker green. However, sometimes the colour isn’t telling so it’s best to go by feel too. Gently press on one end – it should be firm but have a slight give to it.
Tip: To speed up the avocado ripening process we recommend placing unripe avocados in a brown paper bag with an apple or banana for two to three days until they are ripe.
2. Fresh is best
When it comes to ingredients the same applies – fresh is always best. Fresh coriander is better than dried, dice up fresh tomatoes over buying the canned version, always use real limes than bottled lime juice and NEVER sub out avocados for the cold-pressed, pureed version.
3. Keep it green
Don’t want those guacamole leftovers to go to waste? Neither! Save the planet and swap out plastic wrap for this hack and extend the life of your guacamole up to three days.
- Place your leftover guacamole in a storage container and pat it down firmly with a spoon so it’s nice and flat on top.
- Add about 1/2 inch of cold water on top.
- Place the lid on the storage container and store it in the fridge.
- When you want to enjoy the guacamole, drain the water off the top, give it a stir and you’re good to go.
4. Fork or grind only
For a guacamole packed full of flavour it’s important to retain the texture. Instead of blending, use a fork to roughly mash up the ingredients or a mortar and pestle.
The OG guacamole
The ultimate crowd pleaser guaranteed to satisfy everyone’s guacamole preferences. The key with a classic guacamole is to avoid anything too fancy – the key is keeping it simple.
- 3 avocado
- ½ red onion, finely diced
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced
- 3 tbsp, fresh coriander, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeds removed and finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lime, juiced
- ½ tsp sea salt
Roughly mix together the above ingredients…simple as that.
The Indian-Mex
For an Indian spin on the tried-and-true classic, add traditional Indian spices and swap out corn chips for wedges of naan bread.
- 1 small white onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 4 avocados
- 1/2 lime
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- A few pinches of cumin powder
- A few pinches of Indian curry powder
- A pinch of paprika
- Garlic or plain naan bread, sliced into wedges
Heat oven to 200 degrees and bake naan wedges for 10 minutes or until slightly crispy.
Mix together all of the ingredients then adjust to taste. Feel free to add a bit more lime, curry powder or even some chilli for a little heat.
Serve in a bowl with a big pile of naan wedges on the side and a sprinkling of curry powder on top.
Recipe via 101 cookbooks
The skinny guacamole
Yes it has peas but before all you guacamole purists dismiss it completely, we promise this healthier alternative still packs a punch. The peas add even more texture – we may as even go as far to say it’s just as good as the OG, if not better. While avocado is a healthy fat, using peas in place of a couple of avos will lower the overall calorie count. If you want to be extra healthy serve with carrot sticks instead of chips.
- 1 cup frozen peas, slightly thawed
- 1 medium avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped
- Juice from 1 lime
- ½ cup cherry or grape tomatoes, diced
- ½ cup red onion, diced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1–2 cloves minced fresh garlic
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Place peas in the bowl of a food processor or mini chopper and pulse until the peas are smooth. Peas are the only exception where we recommend a food processor.
Transfer peas into a medium bowl and add lime juice, tomato, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, garlic and salt. Stir everything together with a fork.
Add avocado chunks to the bowl and mix well, mashing the avocado as you stir.
Recipe via eating bird food
Main image: Freepik