The Best Vegan Guacamole

This guac is definitely extra!

But unlike the popular fast food restaurants, you can make enough to serve everyone! I mean, those little containers with one scoop…that’s just not enough guac y’all, right? I’ma huge fan of guacamole. In fact, we rarely have a taco night without this fresh homemade guacamole. We usually plan our meals according to when the avocados will be ripe. It’s really not uncommon to hear this dialogue in our house:

Me: “Hey Babe, what do you want for dinner?”

Husband: “Um, maybe taco salad, how are the avocados?”

Me: After squeezing all avocados in the house to check for ripeness; “Pretty good, they would probably be ok tonight, but I think they’ll be perfect tomorrow.”

Husband: “Ok, let’s do tacos tomorrow, we can have whatever tonight.”

Honest, we have that conversation like, once a week!

Avocados are king

But it highlights an important truth regarding guacamole. The avocados are in charge completely. We’ve all seen the memes: ‘not ready, not ready, not ready, and….. rotten!’ It’s hilarious because it’s true, and we all know it. We are at the mercy of the avocado king. It’s unfair that they hold that much power over us, but I guess I’ve kinda given myself over anyway. If you haven’t yet, just try your hand at making this easy guacamole recipe and then tell me, who rules your life. You, or, the avocado king?

To get them ripe:

For the best guacamole, you only need a handful of ingredients. As the main ingredient, however, ripe avocados are vital. Unfortunately, this usually means you can’t just run into the store and grab some avocados and be ready to roll. At least not with the ones we find here in Minnesota. It might be different where you live though! So get familiar with what the avocados in your grocery store are usually like, and plan accordingly.

We usually grocery shop on Sunday or Monday, and the avocados available are very much unripe. But by Thursday or Friday, they will be ready! I’ve found that keeping them on the counter near ripe bananas helps them ripen faster. Or even stored on a paper bag with a banana, if you’re desperate. Ideally, you’re looking for avocados that are soft enough that they yield to a gentle press of your thumb. You don’t want them too soft either, if they are completely mushy from the outside, there’s a good chance they are not great on the inside.

Other necessities:

Once you have determined you have the perfect avocados, gather up some simple ingredients. Traditional avocado dip recipes or guacamole recipes might feature sour cream or cream cheese. Those are not needed here for this chunky vegan guacamole. The creamy, healthy fats of those great avocados you selected give us plenty of smooth richness.

You’ll also need red onion or white onion, tomato, jalapeño or Serrano peppers, fresh cilantro, a shake of sea salt and fresh lime juice. If you don’t have any fresh jalapeños on hand, a dash of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper is good too! Unless you don’t want spicy guacamole, in which case, just forget all the pepper options.

The method

Using a large, sharp knife, slice the avocados in half lengthwise. To remove the seed, hold that half firmly in one hand, then give it a firm yet gentle smack with your knife blade. This should cause the blade to become lodged into the seed. Now, gently twist the avocado half and the knife blade in opposite directions, and the seed should pop right out! Just be aware of where your fingers are when you do this. Repeat with all your avocados, then use a large spoon to scoop the flesh from the skin.

Scoop them all into a bowl and mash with a fork, potato masher, or pastry blender. You can customize it just to your liking here, if you prefer chunky guacamole, don’t mash it smooth! But if you prefer creamy guacamole, now’s the time to smooth out all the lumps and bumps! You can also pulse the avocados in a food processor instead of mashing them manually.

Now, dice your remaining ingredients (tomato, jalapeño, red onion and cilantro), and add to the bowl. Make sure you use the cilantro stems! They contain so much of the flavor. Of course, if you’re one of those poor souls to which cilantro tastes like soap, I won’t force you to use any of it. Maybe omit it and add some fresh garlic or garlic powder instead.

Stir to combine, then add salt and lime, taste, and add more if needed. (If you don’t have lime, a bit of lemon juice will work as well!)

How to enjoy:

If you’re looking for a good spread of dips for game days or cinco de mayo, add my Gluten Free Salsa (Restaurant Style) to the menu along with the perfect guacamole you just made. The best way to really impress your family or guests might be to serve these dips along with some homemade tortilla chips!

Or serve with these enchiladas or chipotle black beans.

Of course, I’m the last to shame you if you just want to make and eat a bowl of guacamole for dinner. I’m not gonna lie and say I’ve never done that….

Leftovers?

If you happen to have any leftover guacamole, it’ll stay good in the fridge for a couple days, although sooner is always better than later! It should still be fine on day 3, it’ll just have suffered a little oxidization, meaning you might have brown guacamole. You can read more about why that happens and how to prevent it here, at this resource from Avocados From Mexico!

Basically, though, when the avocado flesh mixes with air, science things happen and the bright green turns brown and it gets kinda ugly. The good news it that it’s avoidable! Press a layer of plastic wrap right onto the surface of the guacamole before you cover with an airtight lid. Even if it does get a little brown, you can just stir it in or scoop if off and continue to enjoy your delicious, fresh, homemade guacamole!