My husband and I had a table-side guacamole the other night, everything assembled and mashed in front of us, and we couldn’t get over the freshness of the ingredients. We were mmm’ing with every bite until there wasn’t a drop left in our molcajete. Amazing how the simplest ingredients often give rise to the best results.
With summer’s last breath upon us, it seemed fitting to celebrate with a garden fresh guacamole!
The idea with this one is to make it your own. Tomatoes are at their peak right now and complement the creamy gorgeous avocado perfectly so I highly recommend but you can play around with the recipe to suit your preferences and maybe what’s growing in your garden — our next project is to try and grow an avocado tree! My dear Mom always had a hopeful avocado pit suspended in water with toothpicks when I was growing up; we had read that that was the way to get them started; I’ll dedicate the tree to her if I manage liftoff.
I’ve kept this version non-spicy to enjoy the full depth of flavors but feel free to add a minced hot pepper to the mix and onion too if you like that.
So many ways to enjoy, this is just one possibility. More info/guidance in the Notes.
- 3 ripe avocados
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (or lime as preferred)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp salt, or to taste
- 1 handful fresh sweet basil (about 2 Tbsp finely chopped)
- 1 handful fresh cilantro (about 2 Tbsp finely chopped)
- 8 or so sun gold cherry tomatoes (or any equivalent), chopped (I don't seed them)
- Combine all ingredients except tomatoes in a bowl, using the back of a fork to break down avocado to desired consistency/texture.
- Taste the guacamole and adjust seasonings as desired.
- Stir in tomatoes just till combined.
- Enjoy ideally within 2 hours of preparing. Store covered in fridge in the meantime.
Lemon or Lime: classic guacamole is made with lime juice and that works perfectly here as well; lately I've been using sweet basil more and more in our guac sometimes with cilantro sometimes without - fresh and abundant right now and makes a nice change - and like the combination with lemon.
Adding Heat: poblano and jalapeno pepper would be my top choices; my friend Traci has a tutorial for yummy charred Jalapeno pepper here.
Thai Basil: I had the idea of making a Thai basil guacamole with bird's eye chili (Thai chili) I was so excited about the combo but ultimately didn't like the taste; it just didn't work imo.
Make-Ahead: guacamole is truly best enjoyed shortly after assembly. The citrus will help support the color of the guac for an hour or two (it delays oxidation/darkening) but beyond that, you'll start to lose some of the fresh taste (happily it only takes a few minutes to pull together).
Service: not just with corn chips and veg, we've been enjoying this guacamole by the heaping spoonful over all of our proteins! Pretty much goes with everything.
go to the garden when you need a reminder that everything is love —
Fresh guacamole is one of our favourites. I love your version too. I often make a Thai-flavoured version with the addition of coconut milk, it’s absolutely wonderful under butter-seared scallops.
My dear Mom always had a avocado stone suspended in water too, it really does work, hers even grew leaves but she never was able to get fruit. My niece’s husband has had success with fruit but he is an experienced botanist. I wish you much luck.
that reminds me of a guacamole made a tableside in New Mexico, years and years ago – it was magical also, unforgettable!
we enjoy guacamole at least twice per week, and some other days it’s just sliced avocado with lime juice and Tajin seasoning (I am a bit addicted to that)
Beautiful guacamole, Kelly! I think I’ve been recently making too much tzatziki… and completely forgot my beloved guacamole! I love guacamole and though a Mexican friend told me I should never ever add tomatoes, I always add some because well it tastes great and is also a bit lighter (makes me less guilty if I finish a big bowlful!). I have never considered basil with avocado… it sounds very tempting! Thank you for this new idea! (By the way, are these your tomatoes??? they look amazing! I can smell them from here).
You obviously like your guacamole like we do – simple and making it all about the avocados. What a gorgeous guacamole! Love it chunky and without spiciness (if you can believe that). :) You do add a very interesting ingredient – the Thai basil. I’ve never had a guacamole with basil. That’s something I really need to try.
Good luck on an avocado tree. I had one for years as a house plant. It got about 6 feet tall, but it’s too cold here to plant it outside. It was a very beautiful plant but we never got any avocados. Maybe in a warmer climate.
yeah, the cold/frost will be one of our challenges too – we’ve managed to get some mexican limes going so keeping our fingers crossed; it will be a project for sure :)
luuv chunky guac! I did try a version with Thai basil and Thai chili (was so excited about the idea) but funny enough, didn’t like the taste; have been using sweet (Italian) basil from our garden instead; just fun to play around with the different flavors.
Interesting! I’ve never used basil in guacamole ! I tend to keep it on the Mexican side of things, using cumin and also lemon pepper. As an old hippy, I tried for years to grow those damn avocado pits. Never worked for me, so good luck!
heehee, cheers to growing those damn avocado pits! we might opt to plant one already in progress, hopefully that will give us a start ;-)