Avocado Sauce: Guacamole Recipe with Photo

Mexican cuisine is the birthplace of many culinary masterpieces, which are becoming more and more dense every day in the modern life of people from all over the world. The classic recipe for guacamole with avocado is a unique combination of products that form a unique taste. The wide scope of this pasty snack makes it extremely popular and in demand.

How to make avocado guacamole

This appetizer is a thick pasty sauce. The history of the dish goes far back centuries, when the ancient Aztecs made this uncomplicated composition from avocado fruits. Despite the long development of the culinary traditions of Mexico, the ingredients needed to prepare this snack have remained unchanged for centuries. The main ingredients of guacamole are:

• avocado;
• lime;
• spice.

The most important ingredient in the classic guacamole recipe is the avocado. Due to its structure, the fruits of this fruit easily turn into a paste, which is further seasoned with various fillers. Due to its unique composition, avocado is not only extremely tasty, but also very beneficial for the body. The finished product is often considered a dish recognized by many experts in nutrition and proper nutrition.

Lime juice allows you to add an additional flavor and aroma note to the puree. Since avocado has a rather neutral taste, lime juice completely changes the palette of flavors in a snack. Some chefs swap lime for lemon, but this approach does not achieve the full authenticity of the dish.

As for spices, salt and hot pepper are traditionally added to guacamole. Salt is needed to bring out the brightness of the lime and balance the taste of the dish. Red pepper adds a piquancy so revered in Mexico to the appetizer. At the same time, in different countries, the set of spices may vary depending on the taste preferences of the population. So, in Mexico, spicy notes prevail, while in the US and Europe, consumers prefer saltier options.

Currently, there is an incredible number of options for preparing this snack. In addition to the classic version, you can find recipes with the addition of onions, fresh herbs, garlic, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers. There are also more sophisticated cooking methods – chefs add shrimp meat and even red fish to guacamole. It is believed that the taste of the dish is hard to spoil with such additives. However, such experiments should be treated with caution.

In many countries, ingredients such as mayonnaise, sour cream or olive oil are often used to reduce the cost of production. Since avocado is a rather expensive product, manufacturers are in no hurry to provide a completely authentic version of the dish on store shelves. To get the full palette of flavors of your favorite snack, experts advise you to cook it yourself at home.

Classic Avocado Guacamole Recipe

To prepare the right Mexican appetizer, you need to carefully select the ingredients. When buying an avocado, you should pay attention to its appearance – the skin of the fruit should be uniform and without external damage. When pressed, the fruit should be soft and elastic. Limes should not be too dry. Their skin should be thin and free of signs of damage. To prepare the classic guacamole sauce with avocado and tomatoes, you will need:

• 2 avocado;
• 1 lime;
• 1 tomato;
• 12 red onion;
• 1 chili pepper
• a small bunch of cilantro;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• salt.

The primary task for preparing snacks is the correct chopping of onions. It is necessary to chop it as small as possible to get the maximum juiciness of the finished dish. Experienced cooks advise first to cut the onion into half rings, and then chop it with a large knife.

Garlic and chili pepper are crushed as much as possible, then mixed with each other. The resulting mixture is lightly sprinkled with salt to speed up the release of juice. Next, with the flat side of a knife, press down on the chili and garlic to turn them into a pulp. Finely chopped onion and chopped cilantro are added to them.

Remove the tough skin from the tomato. To do this, it is placed in boiling water for a couple of minutes. The peeled tomato is cut into slices, the seeds are removed from it. The remaining pulp must be cut into small cubes and added to the rest of the vegetables.

The pit must be removed from the avocado. To get the pulp, you can either peel the skin off with a vegetable peeler or knife, or take it out with a large spoon. The pulp is crushed with a fork until a paste of a homogeneous consistency is obtained. The resulting slurry is transferred to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

The lime is cut in half and the juice is squeezed out of it. The faster you add juice to an avocado, the faster the oxidative processes in it will stop – thus the fruit mass will not change color. The whole mass is mixed until homogeneous. If desired, you can add a little salt to balance the taste of the finished dish.

What to eat guacamole with avocado

In Mexican cooking, guacamole is considered a versatile dish. Despite the fact that it can be eaten as a separate dish, traditionally this appetizer is prepared as an addition to other recipes. The wonderful taste of the snack makes it easy to combine it with a variety of ingredients for real culinary masterpieces.

Traditionally in Mexico, corn chips are served with this sauce. They scoop guacamole from filled bowls. In European countries, chips are often replaced with thin crispy pita bread. Since they have almost the same structure, the combination of flavors is perfect. In addition, you can use the sauce as a spread on bread or a crispy baguette.

Guacamole is widely used in Mexican cuisine. A striking example of its use is fajitas and burritos – dishes reminiscent of shawarma. Meat, vegetables and corn are wrapped in a tortilla. The finished sauce perfectly complements and reveals the flavor range of all ingredients. In addition to fajitas, avocado guacamole is positioned as one of the sauces in another Mexican dish – tacos.

A very successful use case is the use of avocado sauce as pasta dressing. Its introduction to pasta allows you to add an unusual piquancy to it. In combination with additional meat fillers, the pasta turns into a gastronomic masterpiece.

Modern chefs skillfully combine this sauce with various meat and fish dishes. In many restaurants you can find beef and chicken, which comes with a serving of guacamole. It is also said to pair well with salmon and tuna. In addition, guacamole can be used in complex sauces, combining its flavor with other colorful ingredients.

Avocado guacamole calories

The calorie content of any compound dish varies greatly depending on the ingredients included in it. It can be increased by adding foods such as olive oil or full-fat mayonnaise. It is believed that the calorie content of the classic avocado guacamole sauce per 100 g is 670 kcal. Such high rates are explained by the excessively high fat content of avocado fruits. The nutritional value of such a dish per 100 g is:

• proteins – 7,1 g;
• fats – 62,6 g;
• carbohydrates – 27,5 g.

It is worth noting that such indicators are typical only for the so-called pure guacamole with avocado and lime juice. Adding tomatoes and onions during cooking will significantly reduce such a high calorie content.

Terms and conditions of storage

It is believed that freshly made guacamole sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. However, within a few hours after cooking, it begins to change its color towards darker shades. The loss of presentation occurs due to the oxidation of avocados. There are several ways to create an airtight barrier to prevent this misunderstanding and extend the shelf life of the product:

• Cream. The finished sauce is placed in a bowl and leveled with a spoon. A layer of low-fat sour cream 0,5-1 cm thick is laid on top. Sour cream must be leveled so that it completely covers the sauce. After that, the bowl is covered with plastic wrap – it should fit snugly against the sour cream. Deprived of air flow, guacamole can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• Water. Guacamole is cooked a little thicker and packed tightly into a bowl. The sauce is leveled with a spoon. The bowl is filled with water to the brim, and then wrapped in plastic wrap. Such an air barrier also allows you to extend the shelf life by several days.

Do not forget that you can always buy a finished product in a supermarket. Manufacturers often use various preservatives in the production that can extend the shelf life to very long ones. The choice is up to the consumer – to use homemade and natural sauce or use a product containing a large number of chemical compounds, but more unpretentious in terms of storage conditions.

Conclusion

The classic recipe for guacamole with avocado is the pearl of Mexican cuisine. This sauce is popular all over the world due to its unique spicy taste. Its wide use in combination with other dishes makes it an integral part of modern cuisine.