Tyler Florence’s Guacamole Recipe

[Updated from the Recipe Archives]

About five months ago, while my brother was recovering from a very minor surgery, I received a phone call from him. He is completely fine now and fully recovered, but at the time he was at home, on painkillers, and spending every hour of every day in my parents’ house. That combination was apparently enough to make even the smallest family drama feel like a national emergency.

He did not bother with hello. He went straight to the point.

“Joanne,” he said in a low, urgent voice. “Is this a safe line?”

A safe line? What were we, in an episode of a crime show?

“Daniel, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He groaned, clearly frustrated. “Are you being tapped?”

I paused. “Tapped by whom? The government? Unless they are deeply interested in my conversations about food, school, and the strange behavior of twenty-year-old men, I think we’re safe.”

“Not the government,” he whispered. “Your parents. Can they hear this?”

At that point, I began to understand the real diagnosis: prolonged exposure to the Bruno household. Symptoms may include anxiety, paranoia, sudden whispering, and the completely rational fear that someone is always listening.

“Considering you are the one in the same house as them, I’m not sure I can answer that,” I said. “But on a related note, your doctor did tell you not to take more than one painkiller at a time, right?”

“Joanne! This is not the time for jokes. This is serious.”

So I played along. “All right. Tell me what happened.”

“Today,” he said, “your father did something really bad. Really, really bad.”

“How bad are we talking? On a scale from he took you out for ice cream to he’s running away with a Russian mail-order bride named Olga?”

“Nine point five.”

That sounded severe.

“Please describe, in your own words, exactly what happened.”

He took a deep breath. “I was lying on the couch, minding my own business, when he tried to make me guacamole.”

Code red. A reported case of questionable guacamole-making had occurred in Queens, New York.

All joking aside, bad guacamole is a tragedy, especially because good guacamole is so simple to make. This easy homemade guacamole recipe is one I originally shared years ago, and I have made it again because it is absolutely worth revisiting. When I brought it to a surprise birthday barbecue for my cousin’s roommate, the bowl disappeared in about ten minutes. My cousin declared it the best guacamole he had ever tasted, and that was all the confirmation I needed.

This is the kind of fresh avocado dip that belongs at cookouts, parties, game days, summer dinners, and casual weekends when all you really want is a bowl of tortilla chips and something bright, creamy, and full of flavor. It is chunky but cohesive, rich from the avocados, fresh from the tomatoes and cilantro, sharp from the red onion, and balanced with lime juice, cumin, chili powder, and salt.

I also love this guacamole because it is flexible. You can serve it with chips, spoon it over burgers, spread it on turkey sandwiches, add it to tacos, or simply eat it straight from the bowl. No judgment here. If a recipe is good enough to make more than once, especially in a kitchen where I rarely repeat dishes, then it is definitely good enough to share again.

Happy Memorial Day weekend, and if you are planning a barbecue or party, make this guacamole. Your guests will thank you.

Tyler Florence’s Guacamole

Ingredients
5 avocados
2 small tomatoes, chopped
¾ lime, juiced
½ large red onion, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon chili powder
¼ cup cilantro, plus more to taste
Salt, to taste

Instructions
Add the avocados, chopped tomatoes, lime juice, red onion, cumin, chili powder, cilantro, and salt to a large bowl. Mash everything together until the guacamole is chunky but well combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, lime juice, or cilantro if needed. Serve immediately with tortilla chips, on burgers, in sandwiches, or alongside your favorite barbecue dishes.

As a side note, I hope to continue updating older recipe posts with fresh photos and cleaner instructions, especially for recipes that are still worth making. This guacamole is one of them.

I also recently had the chance to try a few customizable chocolate bars, including combinations with ingredients like figs, pistachios, roasted chickpeas, and honey chocolate drops. They were rich, fun, and surprisingly memorable, even for someone who does not usually consider herself a serious chocolate person. If you enjoy creative sweets, the idea of building a personalized chocolate bar can make a thoughtful gift or a special treat.

Disclaimer: Although I received the chocolate products for free, I did not receive monetary compensation for reviewing them. All opinions are my own.