{"id":193769,"title":"Guacamole – Classic Mexican Recipe","modified":"2026-10-29T19:39:22+01:00","plain":"Classic Mexican guacamole: a paste of coarse salt, serrano chile and white onion, then Hass avocado roughly mashed into big chunks, served with totopos.\n\n\n\nA bowl of totopos on the table, a few friends arriving, and the guacamole is gone before everyone has sat down. Here the avocado stays chunky: you bite into buttery pieces caught in a creamy mash that smells of cilantro and lime. \n\n\n\nThe serrano, crushed with the coarse salt, gives every bite the same gentle heat. Dunk in a first chip, and any idea of making it ahead goes out the window.\n\n\n\nA spoonful on beef nachos, and cocktail hour is underway\n\n\n\nWhat Is Guacamole?\n\n\n\nGuacamole is a Mexican dish of mashed avocado, served cold, by the spoonful or with corn chips. The classic version starts with a paste of coarse salt, serrano chile and white onion, ground in a molcajete, the Mexican mortar made of volcanic stone. The avocado goes in next, then the lime, the cilantro and, if you like, a seeded tomato. In Mexico it is served with tortillas, tacos or grilled meat; in France it has become a cocktail hour classic.\n\n\n\nThe name comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs: ahuacamolli, from ahuacatl, avocado, and molli, sauce. The French word \u201cavocat\u201d comes from the same root, by way of the Spanish aguacate.\n\n\n\nIt also belongs in beef burritos\n\n\n\nFrom Aztec Ahuacamolli to Today’s Guacamole\n\n\n\nPeople in Mexico have been eating avocado for thousands of years: in the Tehuac\u00e1n Valley, the earliest traces date back to around 5000 BCE. In the 16th century, the Franciscan Bernardino de Sahag\u00fan described the Aztecs’ ahuacamolli in the Florentine Codex: avocado, chile, tomato and salt, ground together in a molcajete, the three-legged mortar carved from basalt.\n\n\n\nThe Spanish later brought onion, garlic, cilantro and lime. Onion, cilantro and lime have stayed in modern Mexican guacamole. Garlic still divides opinion and is left out of this version. The avocado has changed too: the Hass, patented in California in 1935 by Rudolph Hass, has replaced the original criollo avocado almost everywhere, as the criollo was more fragile to ship.\n\n\n\nGuacamole also goes on top of a bowl of chili con carne\n\n\n\nLime and tomato are still up for debate. In central Mexico, cooks use little lime, sometimes none at all; in the north of the country and abroad, much more. Tomato has its fans, who like its color and freshness, and its detractors, who say it dilutes the flavor of the avocado. This recipe sticks to one lime for three avocados and leaves the tomato up to you.\n\n\n\nThe Main Ingredients in Guacamole\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThree large, fully ripe Hass avocados form the base. Hass is richer and more buttery than smooth-skinned varieties, and its chunks hold their shape once mashed. A ripe avocado gives under your palm; if the spot under the stem is dark brown, the fruit is overripe.\n\n\n\nThe starting paste brings together the coarse salt, the serrano chiles and a spoonful of white onion. The salt helps crush the chile and release its oil, which then flavors the whole bowl. White onion, cleaner-tasting than yellow onion, cuts through the richness of the avocado; the rest goes in at the end for crunch.\n\n\n\nThe finishing touches bring freshness: the juice of one lime, chopped cilantro and a seeded tomato, cut into small dice. With its seeds and jelly removed, the tomato adds no water. Totopos, thick corn chips, serve as the spoon.\n\n\n\nTechnique Tips for Good Guacamole\n\n\n\nThe rough stone of the molcajete grinds the chile against the salt, something a smooth bowl does poorly. A blender or food processor turns out avocado cream, and the air they whip in makes the guacamole turn dark faster.\n\n\n\nFor the avocado, three or four strokes of the tejolote are enough. You want fingernail-sized chunks in a creamy mash; any more and you end up with a puree. After that, just mix with a spoon, from the bottom up.\n\n\n\nAnd for dinner, beef tacos with mango sauce\n\n\n\nGuacamole is meant to be eaten right away, two minutes after the last spoonful. If there’s any left, pack it into a small container, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate for one day at most.\n\n\n\n\n\n\tGuacamole - Classic Mexican Recipe\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tChile Paste1 teaspoon coarse salt2 serrano chiles, (very finely chopped)0.33 white onion, (very finely chopped (1 tablespoon for the paste, the rest for finishing))Avocados3 large avocados, (ripe, preferably Hass)Finishing and Serving1 lime0.33 bunch cilantro, (chopped)1 tomato, (seeded and cut into small dice (optional))Totopos ((corn chips))\t\n\t\n\t\tChile PastePut the coarse salt, chopped chiles and one tablespoon of the chopped onion in the molcajete.Grind with the tejolote until you have a fragrant green paste: the coarse salt breaks down the chile's walls and releases its oil.AvocadosCut the avocados in half lengthwise.Twist the two halves in opposite directions to separate them.Remove the pit by striking it with the knife blade so the blade lodges in it, then twisting to free it.Scoop out the flesh in one piece with a spoon.Put the flesh in the molcajete, on top of the chile paste.Mash with the tejolote only three or four times: you want fingernail-sized pieces surrounded by creamy flesh, not a puree.Finishing and ServingSqueeze the lime over the avocado.Stir with a spoon, without mashing any further: from this point on, the tejolote is no longer needed.Add the rest of the onion, the cilantro and the tomato, if using.Stir gently, lifting the mixture from the bottom up, to distribute the ingredients without crushing the pieces of avocado.Taste and adjust the salt: avocado is rich and often needs more than you'd think.Serve immediately, in the molcajete, with totopos: guacamole is at its best two minutes after it's finished.\t\n\t\n\t\tThe initial paste is the step almost nobody bothers with, and it's the one that adds the most flavor. The oil from the chile spreads through the whole guacamole instead of staying concentrated in the pieces. Every spoonful tastes of chile, rather than just a few bites being spicy.\nIf you mash for more than three or four strokes, you end up with a smooth puree and lose the contrast between creamy and firm, which is what guacamole's texture is all about.\nThe molcajete is the Mexican mortar made of volcanic stone, and the tejolote is its pestle. A blender or food processor will work, but the result is no longer guacamole: it's avocado cream. They also whip in air and speed up browning.\nFor the avocado, choose Hass whenever you can: it's richer and has a more buttery texture than smooth-skinned varieties. Check ripeness by pressing with your palm, not your fingertip, which bruises the flesh and leaves a mark that shows up later. The second check is the stem: if it comes off easily and the spot underneath is light green, the avocado is ready; if it's dark brown underneath, it's overripe inside.\nTomato is optional and divides opinion. If you use it, remove the seeds and the jelly-like pulp: that's water, and water turns guacamole into soup in twenty minutes. Keep only the flesh, cut into small cubes, and fold it in at the end.\nIn central Mexico, lime is traditionally added in small amounts, or not at all; in the north and abroad, much more. It provides the acidity that balances the richness of the avocado and slows oxidation. One lime for three avocados strikes a balance that doesn't mask the flavor of the avocado.\nThe most common mistakes. Runny guacamole: an unseeded tomato, or too much lime. Bland guacamole: it needs more salt. A puree: it was mashed for too long.\nQuick browning: too little lime, or a container left uncovered. A bitter taste: an overripe or bruised avocado.\nGuacamole doesn't get any better by sitting. If there's any left over, transfer it to a small container, smooth the surface, press plastic wrap directly against the guacamole and refrigerate. One day at most, and you'll probably need to remove the top layer.\n\t\n\t\n\t\tAp\u00e9ritifMexicaine","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}