This Spicy Guacamole Recipe is a creamy mix of avocado, tomato, onion, garlic, lime juice and serrano chile that's ready in just 5 minutes. This avocado dip brings the perfect balance of heat and flavor to your Mexican food nights alongside chile corn salsa!
I love fresh guacamole, whether it's right on my tortilla chips, wrapped inside a California Burrito or on Loaded Steak Nachos!
It makes a mouthwatering party appetizer for summer, birthday parties, Cinco de Mayo, Super Bowl or addition to Mexican recipes! This easy guacamole recipe is sure to be on the favorites list for you and your whole family!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Add some tortilla chips and a Mango Margarita and it's pool party time!
- This Spicy Guacamole Recipe is quick and easy, the best part is it's ready in just 5 minutes!
- The heat level is easily adjustable up or down to please your taste buds, just like in my harissa hummus recipe. More or less pepper will do the trick!
- This simple recipe has fresh ingredients that are easily found at your local grocery stores.
Recipe Ingredients
- Avocados - Using ripe avocados is essential for any creamy guacamole recipe. When choosing ripe avocados, I always make sure they are deep in color and just soft enough to have a bit of give! Those make the best guacamole. That's the same way I pick them for slicing too, like for a chorizo taco.
- Peppers - Because the name of the game is spice, we are using serrano peppers which are 10 times hotter than jalapeño peppers!
- Tomatoes - Vine ripened will have the best flavor, besides your garden that is.
- Onion - Red onion has a strong flavor and is perfect to mesh with the pepper.
- Seasoning - Always use fresh garlic cloves and fresh lime juice!
- Kosher Salt - Properly salting with the correct salt is necessary to make the best guacamole recipe. I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Not a fan of heat? Use jalapeno peppers instead for just a little kick. Fresh jalapeno or pickled jalapeno will work. It goes both ways - feel free to try out Serrano in corn salad with mayo to add heat!
- Try habanero pepper, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce or ghost pepper if you're a true heat lover! I love a good chipotle guacamole for a little change in pace.
- Leave the tomatoes out if you like.
- If you have white onion or yellow onion already in the fridge, they work just as well.
- For a smoother version, use a food processor to mix avocado.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
How To Make Spicy Guacamole
Step 1: Smash avocado, lime juice and kosher salt in a large bowl until you have your desired texture.
Step 2: Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
Expert Tips
- I find the best way to smash avocados is by hand. Grab a glove and get to it. You can also use a fork, pastry cutter or potato masher. If you like a chunky guacamole then smash a little less for chunky avocado.
- Avocados from California tend to be creamier, so they are perfect for smashing. When you want sliced avocado, like for this taco salad recipe with Doritos, sometimes Mexican-grown are firmer.
- Wear gloves when preparing hot peppers so that you don't spread that heat to your eyes or anywhere else!
- Once your avocados are ripe, pop them in the fridge until you're ready to use them. That way they don't continue to ripen and become overripe.
- On the contrary, leave avocados at room temp to ripen them more quickly.
Recipe FAQs
Look for ripe avocados that are darker green or almost black rather than bright green (which is unripe). The skin shouldn't have blemishes or have mushy spots. The avocado should have some give when you press on it.
Serrano peppers are known to be ten times hotter than jalapeno! Not everyone is aware that jalapeños are actually considered a fairly mild pepper. With any peppers, you can adjust the heat by including more or less membranes and seeds, which is where most of the heat is. Try serrano peppers with something sweet like spicy peach galette!
You can always try adding them to a brown paper bag with an apple or banana at room temperature in order to ripen them quickly. I always aim to purchase them ready to go either the day I need them or the day before.
I prefer to use plastic wrap over my air tight container of spicy guacamole - but make sure and press it down onto the guacamole! Cover the plastic with the lid to the container. This keeps all the air out and will help slow the browning process. I've read that some people smooth out the top and add fresh water on top - if you've done that, let us know in the comments!
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📖Recipe
Spicy Guacamole Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 avocados ripe
- 1 tablespoon lime juice fresh
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 medium vine ripened tomato small dice
- ¼ medium red onion fine dice
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped (measured before chopping)
- 1 serrano chile fine dice
Instructions
- Mash avocados, lime juice and salt with a fork or gloved hands until creamy with some chunks
- Stir in garlic, tomato, red onion, cilantro and serrano
Krista
My favorite guac!! The perfect balance of flavor and spice. A must make recipe!