By Sarah Ozimek
This homemade guacamole recipe is easy to make and has zero preservatives. Also, learn how to choose avocado and how to keep guacamole from turning brown.
If you’re buying store-bought guacamole you’re missing out!
Is Homemade Guacamole Healthy?
Avocados are an incredible little fruit. They contain healthy monounsaturated fatty acids and are incredibly nutrient-dense. Avocados are high in fiber, and a good source of many vitamins, including vitamins C, E, K, B-6, and folate.[1]
So, you can definitely feel good about diving into a bowl of homemade guacamole. Oh, and you can also make an awesome avocado face mask out of this nifty little fruit!
I like to use it is as a sandwich or toast spread, or thin it with a little water and use it as a salad dressing. In addition to the obvious dipping frenzy for all manner of veggies and tortilla chips and topping for tacos and other Mexican and Tex-Mex fare.
How to Keep Guacamole from Turning Brown
If you search online, you will find a plethora of magic solutions for how to keep guacamole and avocados from turning brown. The truth is, while some may slow down the browning process of an avocado, nothing will truly stop the oxidation process that turns an avocado from beautiful, bright green to an unappealing brown. Once an avocado or homemade guacamole is exposed to air, it will start to change color.
(Which is really interesting if you look at those pre-packaged containers of guacamole that are still a perfect, bright green. Manufactures either vacuum the oxygen from their packages or fill the head-space with nitrogen gas. They also add citric acid or ascorbic acid to the guacamole to lower its pH and keep it green longer.[2])
Traditionally, acidic ingredients are used to slow down the browning process.
In our homemade guacamole, we use lime juice and tomatoes, both of which are acidic and help slow down the discoloration. Lastly, placing the pits onto the guacamole mash keeps any avocado it contacts from browning. This works because that part of the avocado is no longer exposed to oxygen.
Yes, you could press plastic wrap against your guacamole, but plastic wraps contain phthalates. For this reason alone we recommend against this practice.
No matter what, it is best to open your avocado and make your guacamole recipe right before you plan to serve it. If you need to prep it ahead of time, prepare all the other ingredients and add the avocado at the last minute. If the avocado is truly ripe enough for good guacamole, then it should be quite easy to quickly mix up your batch.
How to Choose Avocado
The perfect ripeness of avocado is essential for quality homemade guacamole.
When choosing your avocado, you want it to yield slightly when you press on it with your fingers. But, it shouldn’t feel squishy.
Another trick is to see what it looks like under the stem nub. If the stem pops off easily and underneath it is brown, then your avocado is ripe. If it’s difficult to get the stem off, or if it’s green or yellow underneath, then the avocado is not quite ready yet.
Always choose a firm avocado over a super squishy one, because they’ll ripen on your counter in a few days. Once perfectly ripe, you can store them in the fridge for up to a week.
Homemade Guacamole: A Healthy Recipe
This homemade guacamole recipe is easy to make and has zero preservatives. Also, learn how to choose avocado and how to keep guacamole from turning brown. Recipe yields 2 cups of guacamole.
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Total Time
- 5 minutes
- Servings
- 4 people
- Course
- Appetizer
- Cuisine
- Mexican
Ingredients
Instructions
-
Place the diced red onion in a small bowl. Sprinkle with a little salt and cover with warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes, while you prepare the other homemade guacamole ingredients.
-
Halve the avocados, remove the pits and scoop the flesh into a bowl or molcajete.
-
Add the diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro, lime juice, and salt.
-
Drain the onions and add them to the bowl.
-
Mix all the ingredients together until your desired smoothness (or chunkiness) is achieved.
-
Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
Cover any leftovers and store them in the refrigerator. This guacamole recipe will stay good (but not bright green) for 2-3 days.
Nutrition:
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There, wasn’t that homemade guacamole recipe easy? Now you never have to buy it premade again!
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Sources
- Megan Ware, Natalie Olsen. 12 Health Benefits of Avocado. Medical News Today. Accessed May 2019.
- Roxanne Webber, Amy Sowder. How Does Packaged Guacamole Stay Green? Chowhound. Accessed May 2019.
The tips on how to choose and keep an avocado are all well and good—–until you consider the fact that not all avocados are created equal. It depends on the variety of avo you are using. The most common types of avocados are Bacon, Fuerte, Gwen, Hass, Pinkerton, Reed and Zutano.
Most of us like either Hass or Fuerte and these are the most common varieties one will find in supermarkets and at Farmers Markets. That said, I have had the pleasure of purchasing avocados off Craigslist sellers, from peoples’ backyards and from corner sellers (home avo growers). I’ve had tiny avos, huge avos, soccer ball-shaped avos, finger-shaped avos.
Some avocados are ripe when they barely BARELY give a bit to one’s finger pressure. Other avocados may crinkle up at the stem end and look like goners, but be perfectly ripe and ready to eat. Don’t believe that you can keep a ripe avocado in your refrigerator “up to a week.” It all depends on the variety.
The main thing one has to beware of when buying avos is any kind of black spot on the skin. It’s okay, usually, to have brown crusty spots (sometimes a result of sunburn), but the black spots typically indicate an avo that fell off the tree or was somehow impacted/given a good bump. Those black spots may permeate the taste of the fruit and ruin an otherwise good avocado. Sometimes you can just cut away the black and the rest of the fruit is fine to eat.
How to keep guacamole green if you need to store it in your fridge? 1) Pat the guacamole down until you have a flat surface in your bowl. 2) Pour thin layer of water over the guac, covering evenly. 3) Place plastic wrap tightly over the water and store in your refrigerator. 4) When ready to eat, just carefully pour the water off the guacamole.
I could go on and on. It’s all about practice, practice, practice and sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t win with picking a good avocado.
My favorite recipe for guacamole is one that I learned when I was 17. All you need is these few ingredients:
avos
brown onion, minced (don’t use too much)
tomato, cut somewhat small
lemon juice
salt
black pepper
Spike Seasoning (a salt mixed with different herbs—-try it; you will love it on sandwiches, etc)
dash of Tabasco sauce
I like lots of lemon juice in my guacamole, but no need to overdo it. For the black pepper and salt, do that “to taste” and use only a bit of the Spike. (Spike, unless you buy the saltless type is salty salty.) Add your dash or two of Tobasco sauce and you’ll have people “Wow!”-ing over your guacamole at parties.
There. Now you have my “secret” Guacamole recipe. Hope you like it.
Hi MiTmite9. Thanks for your detailed response! In the States, from what we have seen, the most common avocados to find are Haas, unless you are fortunate to live in an area where they are grown. So, our recommendations are based on that variety. You are quite lucky if you have access to such a variety! Your tips are great and your recipe sounds great too!