Guacamole is an avocado-based Mexican dip based on an Aztec recipe from the 16th century. This recipe is suitable for all cooking skill levels and yields a simple yet tasty final product. This recipe emphasizes fundamentals of cooking such as knife skills and proper seasoning. Master the guacamole and impress your friends, enemies, and family with your new cooking skills!

Warning: Risks involved in any kitchen setting apply here. Caution should be used when handling knives. Knives should be held by the handle. The sharp end of a knife should not point toward any part of the body while cutting. Cut away from your body and keep fingers clear of the knife.

Prep Time: 20 minutes for preparation, 1 hour for setting. 1 hour 20 minutes total.

Ingredients: 3 large Haas Avocados

1 tablespoon lime juice (approximately half a lime)

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ medium onion

1 tablespoon cilantro

1 garlic clove

6 banana pepper rings

Equipment:Long Sharp Kitchen Knife (non-serrated)

Short Kitchen Knife

Cutting Board

Potato Masher

Note: a fork will do if you don’t have a potato masher

Spoon

Fork

4 inch Bowl

8 inch Bowl

Plastic Wrap

Step 1: Choosing Your Ingredients

When choosing an avocado, consider when it will be used. If it will be used within a day or two, the avocado should feel squishy when squeezed. When squeezed firmly, the fruit should compress slightly. This means that it is ripe and ready to use.

If it will be used after more than 2 days, then it should not be squishy. You should be able to feel the fruit give when squeezed gently, but it will feel springy and return to its original shape. This means that it is not ripe yet but will ripen by the time of use.

Ingredients: 3 large Haas Avocados, 1 tablespoon lime juice (approximately half a lime), ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ½ diced medium onion, 1 tablespoon cilantro, 1 minced garlic clove, and 6 minced banana pepper rings

Note: Like all fruit, avocados and limes should be washed before use. Look for the tags at the grocery store that specify sizes (small, medium, large).

Step 2: Chopping and Mixing

2.1) Dice the onion

2.2) mince the garlic

2.3) mince the banana peppers.

2.4) In your 4 inch Bowl, mix the salt, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, diced onion, minced garlic, and minced banana peppers. Set this out of the way for now.

Step 3: Preparing Your Avocados

3.1) Cut one avocado vertically in half lengthwise by taking a knife and making a circular cut all the way around the seed, halving the avocado. Repeat two more times with the two other avocados.

3.2) Remove the seeds by twisting both halves of the avocado apart and scooping out the seed with a spoon.

Note: There are multiple ways to do this. You could also remove the seed by pulling it out with your fingers, or by digging the sharp end of the knife into the seed and moving it around until it comes out.

3.3) Remove the fruit from the skin of the avocados by cutting the green fleshy part inside into small cubes and scooping them out with a spoon. Place the fruit in the large 8 inch bowl and discard the skins.

Step 4: Mashing Your Avocados

4.1) Using a potato masher or a fork, mash the avocados in the 8 inch bowl leaving it a bit chunky--about the size of half inch cubes. Chunks can be larger or smaller according to your preference.

4.2) Mix in the lime juice using a spoon.

Step 5: Combining Your Ingredients

5.1) Pour half the ingredients from the 4 inch bowl from step 1 into the mashed avocados in the 8 inch bowl from step 4.

5.2) Using a fork, mix the ingredients of the 4 inch bowl evenly.

5.3) Pour the other half of the ingredients from the 4 inch bowl into the 8 inch bowl.

5.4) Using a fork, mix all the ingredients evenly.

Note: Your combination of mashed avocados, spices, and other ingredients is now unfinished guacamole.

Step 6: Sampling Your Guacamole

Taste the guacamole and season to your taste.

Note: If you feel that the guacamole is too salty, try adding more lime juice. The sweet and sour flavors of the lime will balance out the salt.

Step 7: Settling Your Guacamole

Cover your guacamole with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for at least one hour.

Note: The guacamole can be eaten without waiting an hour. Waiting will make the flavors settle, but it is not completely necessary.

Step 8: Conclusion

Congratulations, your guacamole is ready to eat! Before serving it to your friends, taste it for yourself. You earned it! We recommend using chips made at a local Mexican grocery store, but if you can’t find any of those, Juanita’s chips taste great and are available at most grocery stores. Tostitos scoops are also convenient for scooping lots of dip at once.