Happy National Spicy Guacamole Day! Not to be confused with National Guacamole Day, which is in September.  Look at me, catching up on these food holidays! Truth be told, I scoped this one out when I celebrated National Sandwich Day last week, knowing it would be the perfect escape from the bottomless pit of holiday recipes I seem to be lost in these days. This might be one of the easiest recipes I have, and that's how guacamole should be. Y'all know I love my avocados, so it should come as to no surprise that I consume shameful amounts of guacamole. I will put it on anything. Anything. If there is a way to spread, squeeze or scoop guacamole into a dish, trust me I've figured it out. Aside from plain sliced avocados, guacamole is the best way to enjoy them in my opinion. And because the universe was looking out for us, you really don't have to feel guilty about pigging out on it. Avocados are a nutrient-dense food and a wonderful source of the "good" fats. This burger, maybe not so much.... but let me tell you, it was delicious.

Poblano guacamole on a 50/50 bacon/beef cheeseburger with pickled onions & spicy mayo.

Guacamole is best made with avocados that are ripe enough to mash but will still hold their shape a bit. It's all about texture, so you want to get those big chunks of avocado in there. If you push down the top of the avocado it should feel tender and give slightly. For Hass avocados, which are the variety most commonly seen in stores, the skin of the avocado will be dark green as another indicator that it has ripened. Unless I need to make a recipe that day, I usually buy a couple avocados that are just shy of ripe. That's a little bit of an insurance policy to not end up with an avocado that's too soft or worse, browned, by the time I get to use it. Once you get home, if you want to speed up the ripening process you can put your avocados in a paper bag and leave it in a cool, dry area for a day or two. Adding a banana to the bag will further speed up the process because of the ethylene gas they give off!  Sometimes grocery stores will sell avocados that have already ripened, often at a discount. Just be careful that the avocados you pick aren't too ripe. If you pick one up and it feels squishy it is likely past its prime.

The sky is the limit when it comes to guacamole recipes. The avocado should shine, that's really my only rule. I've seen a few tragic attempts at "healthified" guacamole, and for what? If you put mashed peas or edamame in my guacamole I will throw the bowl back at you.  I like my guacamole fairly simple. Truth be told all I really need is a little lime, jalapeno and cilantro. I'm too lazy for all the other stuff most days. Below is my rendition of a classic guacamole with the typical ingredients you'd find at most restaurants.  It's a very straightforward recipe... but I'll give you a few ideas on how to jazz it up at the end!


Servings: 4
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 0 min
Equipment Needed: N/A
Dump all the other ingredients into the bowl, including the lime zest, grated garlic and a good splash of lime juice. I prefer to use mostly zest because that's where the flavor is and it won't make the guacamole watery.