Guacamole & Nachos
Chunky avocado dip with lime, cilantro, and onion, served with crispy tortilla chips.
- Preparation
- 10 min
- Cook/bake time
- –
- Total
- 10 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Calories
- 551 kcal
- Servings
- 4
Chunky avocado dip with lime, cilantro, and onion, served with crispy tortilla chips. Authentic guacamole is never puréed. It is roughly mashed to preserve its texture and needs barely more than five ingredients. This party classic is ready in ten minutes and is always the first thing to disappear.
Why this works
Avocados contain polyphenol oxidase, an enzyme that reacts with oxygen in the air to form brown pigments. Leaving the pit in the bowl only protects the surface it directly covers, which is a persistent kitchen myth. Two things actually work: citrus lowers the pH level enough to stop the enzyme from working, and plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface deprives it of oxygen. Roughly mashing instead of puréeing also keeps it chunky because fewer cells are broken open.
Step-by-step instructions
- 1
Check the avocados
Hold the avocados in your hand and squeeze them gently: they should yield to light pressure without being mushy. Halve them, remove the pit with a precise tap of a knife and a twist, and scoop out the flesh with a spoon along the skin. Avocados that are too hard cannot be saved, and those that are too soft already taste rancid.
- 2
Mellow the onion
Place the very finely diced red onion in a small sieve and rinse it under cold water for thirty seconds. This removes its aggressive bite and aftertaste while leaving its crunch and sweetness intact. Let it drain well afterward, because water has no place in guacamole.
- 3
Mash roughly
Place the avocado flesh in a bowl, immediately drizzle the lime juice over it, and mash everything with a fork. Stop while there are still distinct chunks visible, because those are exactly what make the difference compared to a generic dip. A blender or immersion blender has no business being used here.
- 4
Mix in
Fold in the onion, diced tomato, Jalapeño, and cilantro, and season with salt. Stir only until everything is distributed. Be sure to taste it now and adjust the salt and lime, because the ripeness of avocados varies greatly, and both determine whether the guacamole tastes flat or vibrant.
- 5
Serve
Transfer the guacamole to a bowl and smooth the surface. Serve it as fresh as possible with tortilla chips. If it has to wait, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface so that no air can reach it, which will keep it green for a good hour.
Our best tips
- Leaving the avocado pit in the bowl does not prevent browning. What really helps is lime juice and plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface.
- Seed the tomatoes, otherwise the guacamole will become watery.
- Briefly rinsing the onions removes their sharp bite. It is a small step with a big impact.
Tasty variations
With pomegranate
Fold in pomegranate seeds instead of tomato, which adds sweetness and a surprising crunch.
Creamier
Fold in two tablespoons of Greek yogurt, which makes the guacamole milder and more spreadable.
Nutrition facts
| Calories | 551 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 52 g |
| – of which sugar | 3 g |
| Fat | 33 g |
| Fiber | 12 g |
Where the 551 kcal come from
per serving
Calculated from the ingredients – how we do it
We add up reference values for every ingredient and divide by the number of servings. These assumptions are baked in:
- Reference values per 100 g – for the raw ingredient, exactly as listed.
- Tinned goods count at drained weight, bone-in meat at purchase weight: you eat about 70 per cent of a chicken thigh and leave the rest.
- Water evaporates as you cook. The energy stays in the pot, the weight does not – so the figure is per serving, not per 100 g of finished dish.
- Anything listed without a quantity – “salt and pepper” – is not counted.
A guide value, not a lab measurement: no two onions weigh the same, and fat content varies from pack to pack.
Frequently asked questions
How do I ripen avocados quickly?
Place them in a paper bag together with an apple or a banana. The released ethylene accelerates the ripening to one to two days.
Why does guacamole turn brown?
Due to contact with oxygen. Lime juice slows this down, but the crucial thing is plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface without any air pockets.
Can I freeze guacamole?
Generally yes, but the texture suffers significantly. If necessary, freeze it without the tomato and onion, and fold those in fresh later.
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