Cleo Addams has a M.S. Degree in Natural Health & Nutrition. She enjoys researching and writing in her free time.

About a year and a half ago, I went vegetarian. At first, it was a little bit of a challenge switching from eating meat at every meal to not eating meat at all.

My first "go-to" meals were hummus or guacamole with tortilla chips. These were easy meals that I could pick up at the supermarket, throw into a lunch box, and carry to work several times a week. But, soon, I started to read all the "added ingredients" on the labels, and it kinda turned me off a bit. So, after doing some research (and through trial and error), I developed a very easy and delicious recipe for homemade guacamole. The best part is that you don't even need a food processor.

What You'll Need for This Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 ripe Hass Avocados
• 3 tablespoons of Lemon or Lime Juice
• 1/2 a medium Onion
• 1 medium to small Tomato
• Fresh Cilantro

Utensils:

• Masher
• Knife
• Tablespoon Measuring Spoon
• Metal Spoon
• Large Mixing Bowl

(This recipe serves 3.)

Quick Start Guide for Those on the Go

If you don't have time to read this article in-depth, I've provided this quick start guide for you. However, if this is the first time that you've made guacamole, I suggest taking the time to read all the way through.

• Cut, pit, peel, and slice the avocados.
• Toss avocado slices into bowl, add lemon or lime juice, and give a quick stir.
• Dice onion and add to bowl.
• Dice tomato, discard pulp, and add to bowl.
• Add cilantro to taste, stir, and mash.

Step 1: Cut, Pit and Peel the Avocados

The very first thing that you'll need to do is cut, pit, and peel the avocados.

If you don't know how to cut an avocado, it's very easy. The first thing that you'll need to do is cut a slit from the top of the avocado (where the stem was) all the way around. Then take your hands and pull the avocado apart.

Next, you'll need to remove the pit. Take your spoon and carefully scoop the pit out. If there are any large chunks of avocado attached to the pit, simply scrape them off with the spoon and put them into the bowl.

Last, you'll need to peel the avocado. A lot of people use a spoon to scoop the avocado out of the rind, however, you're often loosing the deep green outer part of the avocado which contains the most nutrients. To keep these nutrients in, it's best to peel it. This is simply done by grasping a part of the rind and literally peeling it away from the fruit.

After you're done cutting, pitting and peeling your avocados, slice them into pieces and add them to the mixing bowl.

Step 2: Add Lemon or Lime Juice

If avocados are left out too long they start to oxidize. This is where the fruit turns from a beautiful green to brown. To fight this (and add some extra flavor to your guacamole) add 3 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice into the bowl with your avocado slices and give it a stir.

Step 3: Dice the Onion

The next thing you'll need to do is dice 1/2 of a medium onion and add it to the bowl.

Sometimes, if the onion is very strong, I'll mince it instead. It all depends on how much you love the taste of onion. Of course, if you hate onion, feel free to omit it.

Note: Onion powder can be substituted for the diced onion. Add to taste.

Step 4: Dice the Tomato

Now it's time to dice the tomato and toss it into the mixing bowl. Take care to only add the firm parts of the tomato and toss out the pulp. Using the pulp can make the guacamole runny, so it's best to leave it out.

Step 5: Add Cilantro to Taste

Now it's time to add the fresh cilantro!

You can add as much or little as you like. There is no set measurement. I do suggest that you buy it fresh at the supermarket. You can get it for around 89 cents, sometimes cheaper. If you don't want to buy it fresh, you can purchase it dried and let it soak in water for 10 minutes. Then drain well before adding it to your guacamole mix.

Step 6: Stir and Mash

The last and final step is to give your guacamole mix a good stir and then mash away! When you're done mashing, give it one more good stir to make sure that you didn't miss any large chunks of avocado. Personally, I like my guacamole to be more on the chunky side, but you can mash it to whatever consistency you like.

Serve and Enjoy!

Congratulations! You've just made fresh, homemade guacamole without all the added (and potentially harmful) ingredients that most name brands have.

I like to eat this recipe the traditional way—with tortilla chips. However, you can make this more healthy by using it as a veggie dip or add a layer of guacamole to some celery sticks and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1/3 of mixture

• Calories: 338
• Fat 32 g
• Carbohydrates 20 g
• Sugar 2 g
• Protein 5 g

The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

© 2017 Cleo Addams