Best-Ever Guacamole truly lives up to its name, combining fresh, creamy avocado with vibrant ingredients that make every bite burst with flavor. Serve it alongside warm tortilla chips and zesty restaurant-style salsa for the ultimate snack or appetizer experience!
Jump to:
🥑 The Ingredients
With just a handful of fresh ingredients and the right technique, you can produce restaurant-style guacamole right at home. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and variations) below.
🌶️ Substitutions and Variations
- Avocados – There just isn’t a decent substitute for this important ingredient when making fresh guacamole. You’ll want to get avocados that are somewhat soft to the touch, not hard. The skin should be just starting to turn a darker color, but not black. Also, if the tip of the avocado has turned dark brown, it’s probably past its prime.
- Bacon – Crispy bacon or pancetta is a wonderful addition to guacamole and adds a touch of saltiness and bacon flavor. However, it can easily be omitted to keep the dish vegetarian.
- Peppers – We love to roast serrano peppers, remove the seeds and then muddle them with the onion and garlic. Serranos do carry quite a bit of heat. Half of a roasted serrano to one whole one will make your guacamole slightly spicy. Jalapeño can easily be substituted. Use pickled (nacho-style) jalapeños for less heat, or canned green chiles for nearly no heat at all.
- Cilantro – Some folks have a true distaste for cilantro. Go sparingly, however, it adds to the classic taste.
- Tomatoes – We often use a combination of chopped fresh tomatoes and chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil. The sun-dried tomatoes are optional, but we like the depth of flavor they bring.
See the recipe card (with video) below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Expert Tip
If you don’t have a molcajete, (the lava vessel), then you can use a sturdy bowl and a wooden spoon. But we must say, there is something magical about a molcajete that just makes guac taste better!
👩🏼🍳 How To Make Best-Ever Guacamole
- Step 1: Cook the bacon until crisp. Crumble and set aside.
- Step 2: Roast the pepper(s) on a grill pan over high heat until blistered. Remove the seeds, chop, and set aside.
- Step 3: Grind the seeded peppers, onion, and garlic with the salt and lime juice.
- Step 4: Add the avocados, cilantro, tomato, and onion.
- Step 5: Add the bacon, leaving some for garnish.
- Step 6: Smash to desired consistency and serve with warm tortilla chips!
👉 How To Serve and How To Store
- Guacamole is best served fresh. However, you can make it 2 to 3 hours before serving. Press plastic wrap over the top of the guac in the bowl and refrigerate. Stir before serving. It may oxidize slightly (brown), but this is normal. Squeeze a little lime juice before refrigerating to help minimize the oxidation.
- For quick assembly, prep all of the ingredients (except the avocado) and keep them in an air-tight container. This can be done up to 24 hours in advance. Just before serving, peel the avocados, remove the pits, and place the flesh in the bowl. Dump in the prepped ingredients, and smash to the desired consistency.
- Leftover guacamole won’t keep for much more than 1 day. Keep in an air-tight container in the fridge and then stir to reduce the oxidation.
Expert Tip
This guac is served with restaurant-style chips and salsa. Grab some corn tortillas (preferably thin, if you can get them), and use a pizza cutter to slice them into triangles. Add vegetable oil to a sturdy skillet (about halfway up the side of the pan), and heat the oil to 350°F. Fry the tortillas until golden and crispy. Hit them with a little salt. Keep the chips warm in a low-temp oven (225°F) until ready to serve!
🙋🏽♂️ Frequently Asked Questions
Authentic restaurant-style guacamole uses ripe avocados, fresh lime juice, cilantro, diced onions, jalapeños, and a pinch of salt for a perfect balance of creamy, tangy, and spicy flavors.
To keep guacamole fresh and green, add lime juice and cover it tightly with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface to minimize air exposure.
Yes, you can prepare guacamole a few hours in advance, but it’s best enjoyed fresh; storing it properly in an airtight container with lime juice will help maintain its color and flavor.
🔥 Other Amazing Tex-Mex Appetizers
Ready to make the best guacamole this side of San Antonio? Go for it!
And when you do, be sure to take a photo of it, post it on Instagram, and tag @HowToFeedaLoon and #hashtag #HowToFeedaLoon!
Best-Ever Guacamole
Video
Equipment
- Molcajete or a sturdy bowl with a wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 4 thick slices applewood smoked bacon
- 1 to 3 serrano chili peppers 1 for mild, 2 medium, 3 spicy
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ medium yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- Juice of 2 fresh limes
- 3 avocados soft to the touch, but not mushy
- 2 tablespoon fresh cilantro chopped
- 2 tablespoon sun-dried tomatoes, in oil chopped
- 1 medium tomato, cored and seeded chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Lay the bacon on a baking sheet and cook until crispy, flipping halfway through, until crispy. Let cool, then dice. Set aside.4 thick slices applewood smoked bacon
- Heat your grill to medium heat, or heat a cast iron skillet to high heat. Add the peppers (using a grill pan or aluminum foil on the grill), and roast until blackened and blistered. Remove, let cool, then dice. Set aside.1 to 3 serrano chili peppers
- In a molcajete (or sturdy bowl), use a pestle or wooden spoon to muddle (grind) the roasted pepper(s), garlic, onion, salt with the lime juice, until almost like a paste.3 cloves garlic, ½ medium yellow onion, 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, Juice of 2 fresh limes
- Cut the avocados in half, running a knife around the pit from top to bottom and back up again. Remove the pit and scoop out the flesh from each half.3 avocados
- Add the avocados and cilantro to the muddled ingredients in the molcajete and mash with the back of 2 forks. Mash until you reach the desired texture.2 tablespoon fresh cilantro
- Top with bacon, fresh tomatoes, and sun-dried tomatoes. Serve with warm tortilla chips at once!2 tablespoon sun-dried tomatoes, in oil, 1 medium tomato, cored and seeded
Rebecca Martin says
You two are amazing. This is the best guacamole we’ve ever had!
Kris Longwell says
No…YOU are amazing!!!! Glad y’all enjoyed the guac (how did the queso turn out?)….xoxo
Marla says
Made this with on hand ingredients, didn’t have bacon, or the peppers, or the sun dried tomatoes. Used canned jalapeño, and a fresh tomato and no bacon. It was still sooooo delicious! My husband thought it was the best guacamole I’d ever made. I need that fancy mixing contraption also! Bottom line, it was excellent even without some of the ingredients, next time I’ll plan ahead! Can’t wait to use all the ingredients! This will be my go to recipe for sure!! Thanks for sharing!!
Kris Longwell says
Hi Marla! That all sounds fantastic! During these crazy times, you’ve got to go with what you’ve got, and you nailed it! We are so glad you enjoyed the guacamole and thank you SO MUCH for letting us know and the great review. That means the world to us!! Stay safe and stay in touch!! All the best, Kris & Wesley
Lori says
Looks delicious! Will be making today
krislongwell says
Thanks, Lori!! Let us know if you give our guac a go, and what you think! We hope you love it as much as we do!! Best, Kris & Wesley