How to Make the Best Guacamole

Guacamole is easy enough to make no matter what sort of culinary skills you’re working with, and it’s a really healthy dish to use as a side, snack, or topping on a salad or any meat. Here are some different ways to make sure that it’s delicious every time.

For your basic guacamole, start with the following ingredients:

4 ripe Hass avocados

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tomato, that has been seeded and finely diced

¼ red onion, finely diced

¼ cup chopped cilantro

1 lime, that has been juiced

You’ll start by dicing up the avocado after you remove it from it’s outer later, and then put it into a mixing bowl and continue to add the other ingredients. Be sure and mash gently with a fork to mix if you want to keep the chunks in it. Then it’s ready to serve. Tip: to keep guacamole from turning brown while it’s sitting out or the leftovers are being stored, squeeze lemon juice across the top and then keep it in a sealed container.

For a fun twist on the normal guacamole, try some of these tips.

1. Sprinkle in some pomegranate seeds for a fruity, healthy kick of antioxidants that won’t make a mess or ruin the look of the dish.

2. Add in charred corn.

3. Make it lighter in calories by mixing the avocado base with some Greek yogurt. (It will still be super creamy.)

4. Make your guacamole a little smoky tasting by grilling the avocado halves on a grill before scooping out the flesh to mash it up.

5. Make sweet potato guacamole by mixing in equal parts avocado and sweet potato.

6. Mix together guacamole and hummus to blend the best of both worlds when it comes to dips.

7. Instead of just lime juice, try mixing in some lemon juice as well.

8. To make guacamole even more hearty, try mixing in some cooked quinoa for a healthy fiber boost.

9. To make the guacamole a little more rich, try mixing in cotija cheese and crumbled bacon.

10. Since citrus juice works so well in guacamole, so does chunks of citrus fruits like grapefruit and even oranges. Although not citrus, chopped strawberries and peaches work well also.

11. If you have a food processor on hand you might want to try grinding up some soybeans to mix into guacamole to give it a protein boost.