Guacamole in a bowl surrounded by corn chips

This recipe is perfect for parties and potlucks because it makes a lot. It’s also perfect for learning how to make guacamole because it only takes 20 minutes of hands-on time.

What You’ll Need:

• Ingredients for Guacamole
• A sharp knife
• A cutting board
• A medium bowl

How To:

How to Cut Avocados: Begin with a ripe avocado, i.e. one that has a little give to it.  Cut the avocado lengthwise all the way around the pit. Do not try to cut through the pit. Hold the avocado with two hands and twist each half in the opposite direction to separate the halves and expose the pit. Once you have the avocado in halves, lay the side with the pit on the cutting board and scoop out the pit with a spoon.

With your knife, make criss-cross cuts through the avocado’s flesh and remove avocado pieces with a spoon.

How to Make Guacamole: Mix all ingredients except tortilla chips in glass or plastic bowl. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour to blend flavors.

For added salty, cheesy flavor, stir in ½ cup crumbled Cojita — a hard, crumbly Mexican cheese made from cow’s milk — before mixing ingredients.

Serve with tortilla chips or dollop on a taco!

Avocados are best when picked while still hard, which is often how they arrive in the supermarket. To tell if an avocado is ripe, look for fruit that is firm but yields to gentle pressure.

To ripen an avocado, let it stand at room temperature for a few days to ripen. Speed ripening by placing the avocados in a paper bag.

One of the things we love about guacamole is that it’s basically begging to be customized. Here are a few of our favorite ways to make guacamole match our mood.

All you really need to serve with guacamole is tortilla chips. However, the recipes below prove there’s reason to eat guacamole morning, noon and night!

• At breakfast, what could be better than topping your huevos rancheros, breakfast burrito or Mexican-style egg bake with guacamole?
• At lunch, fold some guacamole into your tacos, burritos or burrito bowls, but don’t limit yourself to Mexican dishes alone. Guacamole is great smeared on a burger or wrap, too.
• At dinner, a dollop of sour cream will certainly do but why not add guac too? That’s the perfect way to take a Mexican-flavored meal, like Fritos Pie Casserole or Impossibly Easy Mexicali Chicken Pie pie to the next level! 
• At a party, you can never go wrong with chips and guac, but you don’t have to limit yourself either. Add veggies like sliced radishes for your health conscious guests to dip, or go in the other direction and plus up your guac to make Layered California BLT Dip.

Guacamole is best eaten the same day it’s made, because avocados begin to brown soon after cutting. And while we’ve never found ourselves with leftover guacamole, we do like having the ability to make guacamole ahead when hosting a party or traveling to a potluck. It’s not a problem to make your guacamole a few hours ahead, if you store it properly.

To store guacamole, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the guacamole and refrigerate. Stir the guacamole before serving. If you love zesty lime flavor, a generous squeeze will also help keep your guacamole from turning brown. Another trick is to store guacamole with a layer of sour cream or salsa on top to keep air out.