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FAQ

about Guacamole

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The kind that makes you cry…just kidding! Traditional guacamole recipes use sweet white onions. Red onions give your guac a more pungent bite (and color). Yellow onions are milder and add some good texture and moderate sweetness to guacamole.

You just did. (Bet you didn’t expect that plot twist.) The Aztecs invented guacamole more than 700 years ago and named it ahuacamolli, meaning “avocado sauce.” In the 1500s, Spaniards found that name hard to pronounce and simplified it to guacamole, which is used by Spanish and English speakers alike today. Just make sure you’re pronouncing it the Mexican-Spanish way: waka-MOH-lay.

The authentic Mexican-Spanish pronunciation is waka-MOH-lay. Add extravagant hand gestures and a dramatic smolder while you say it, and we pronounce you a pro pronouncer.

When Spanish conquistadors tasted the original guacamole invented by the Aztecs, the Spanish word for “perfection” was already taken. They settled for “guacamole” because it sounded like aguacate, the Spanish word for avocado, and ahuacamolli, the Aztec word for guacamole.

When life gives you lemons, squeeze ’em all over your guacamole. Lemons are sweeter than limes, so some people prefer lemon juice in their guac, such as in these recipes for Charred Lemon & Feta Guacamole and Pistachio Goat Cheese Guacamole. Lemon juice is also just as good as lime for preventing leftover guacamole from turning brown in the fridge.

How do you describe perfection? The base ingredient of guacamole is avocado, which has a creamy texture and buttery flavor, making it a perfect canvas for any ingredients you prefer. Like it hot? Toss in some spicy jalapeños. Like it sweet? Try mangoes. Like to smile? Try guacamole for yourself.

In two words: always good. In a few more words: The tastiest substance on the planet. Guacamole is an avocado dip typically blended with salt and lime juice, but that’s only the beginning — any spices, acids, herbs, or veggies can be added for a unique taste. Guacamole is commonly eaten with tortilla chips, but it can also be used as a sandwich spread, a taco topping, or a side dish to accompany any other food you love.

As long as it’s sealed in an air-tight container, your guacamole should last between one and two days in the refrigerator. But let’s be honest: Guacamole is irresistible. You know you’ll want to eat it before then.

Tortilla chips are the traditional guac dipper, but don’t be afraid to get creative. Try some other crunchy dippers such as carrots, crackers, cucumbers, or breadsticks. Guacamole also makes a good topping for tacos and burgers and is the most important layer in seven-layer dip.

Guac is made of avocados, spice, and everything nice, of course! Beyond fresh, mashed avocados, guacamole ingredients are usually salt, lime juice, onions, jalapeños, and cilantro. Additional mix-ins can be added to make it smooth and simple or loaded with goodies.

A guac that’s brown is a guac with a frown, but it just needs cheering up. Brown guacamole isn’t bad; it’s just been oxidizing from exposure to the air. All you have to do is scrape off that brown top layer to discover fresh green guac. It’s just like digging up buried treasure.

Avocado Basics

Real fundamental stuff, like “Cogito ergo sum avocadum.”

Avocado is a fruit (a berry, to be precise), but don’t let that stop you from grabbing a bowl of guac when Mom tells you to eat your greens. Avocados have a seed and grow on trees from the ovary of a flowering plant, which are characteristics of fellow fruits. In fact, an avocado is technically a superfood, meaning its super good flavor is super good for you, too.

You can freeze just about anything, but should you? No way. Avocados and guacamole should never be put in the freezer because once they’ve been frozen and thawed, they lose all the fresh flavor and texture you love them for. Instead, mash avocado into an impromptu guac snack or squirt leftover guac with lemon juice and cover it with plastic wrap. It’ll stay good for a few days in the fridge.

One medium-sized avocado contains approximately 3g of protein. Avocados are always a good ingredient to include in meals and snacks as they’re essentially the only fruit with good fats, which can help improve intake of dietary fat without raising LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.

Avocados are a good source of fiber, containing about 3g of fiber per 50g serving (around 1/3 of a medium avocado). Dietary fiber from fruit such as avocado, as part of a healthy diet, can help reduce your blood cholesterol. So eat up!

Not only do avocados have fiber, they’re a good source of it! A medium-sized avocado contains about 3g of fiber per 50g serving (around 1/3 of a medium avocado), so it’s a great (and scrumptious) fruit to include in every healthy diet.

You can’t freeze guacamole without losing the fresh flavor and creamy texture that makes guac rock. Guac’s other fresh ingredients — especially onions, jalapeños, and tomatoes — don’t like the freezer either. Here’s how to keep leftover guac good without freezing it.

A medium-sized avocado contains approxiamately 12g of carbohydrates. More good news: Fresh avocados are certified by the American Heart Association as a heart-healthy fruit! They provide naturally good fats and are cholesterol-, sugar-, and sodium-free.

There are three fool-proof ways to tell if an avocado is ready to eat that day. Color: A ready avocado has dark green skin. Texture: Bumpy skin means the avocado’s probably ripe. Give: The golden rule of ripeness is how the avocado feels. Squeeze it, and if it yields to gentle pressure without feeling mushy, it’s ready to go. If it’s hard, just wait three to four days for it to ripen. Remember these methods by remembering you Can’t Top Guac.

One serving of avocado (50g) contains approxiamately 250mg of potassium (6% of your Daily Value). A diet rich in potassium helps to offset some of the harmful effects of sodium on blood pressure. Potassi-yum.

Avocado trees can grow up to 60 feet tall and 35 feet wide, so they’ll dunk on you easily. All the Avocados From Mexico you eat come from one of our 54,000 orchards in Michoacan, and each tree produces around 350 pounds of avocados per year. Talk about your heavyweight champs.

The best avocados come from Mexico, and we’re not bragging just because. Mexico is one of the few places where avocados can grow 365 days a year. Avocados From Mexico come from one of our 54,000 orchards in the mountainous terrain of Michoacán, which provides a rhythmic bloom cycle from lower to higher elevations throughout the year, keeping guacamole on the menu every day

Yeah, and we pump iron too, bro. A medium-sized avocado contains 0.3mg of iron (2% of your Daily Value). Even better, iron’s just one of the nearly 20 vitamins and minerals an avocado offers to your diet.

Molcajetes are giant pester-and-mortar bowls made of volcanic rock. If they look like something out of the Stone Age, that’s because they are. They’ve been used for around 8,000 years to crush spices and fruits, but most importantly, they’re great for mashing avocados into guacamole.

It breaks our heart to say it, but no. Don’t give us those puppy eyes, it’s for your pet’s own good. Avocados contain a fungicidal toxin called persin that (while harmless to humans) is a digestive irritant or even toxic to most animals. If it’s any consolation, we think your pet would be happy to know this means more guac for you.

Ancient tradition tells of avocados raining from the heavens and mashing into guacamole upon contact with our noggins. This is, as far as we can tell, not true. The truth is less exciting but, thankfully, more realistic: Avocados grow on avocado trees. Ta-da.

We love getting asked this question because Avocados From Mexico are in season 👏 all 👏 year 👏 round, and yes, we just applauded ourselves for that. Thanks to the diverse climates of our orchards in Michoacán, Mexican avocados are one of the only varieties that grow and are harvested daily, 365 days a year. See, now you’re clapping.

Avocados love nothing more than snuggling up in a cool fridge while patiently waiting for you to be ready to eat them. A soft, dark-skinned avocado is ready to eat, but if you’re not ready to eat, pop it in the fridge. It’ll be good for two to three more days. Just don’t forget it’s in there.

This is a question we weirdly get asked a lot, and we can only answer by saying…um, no? We love that you love avocado, and maybe you even love licking the pit clean to savor every green drop. OK, but please, don’t eat the pit.

Not only are avocados naturally cholesterol-free, but 75% of the fats in avocados are “good fats,” which can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke and offer benefits in the body without raising LDL (bad) cholesterol levels when eaten as a part of a heart-healthy diet.