Copycat Chipotle Guacamole
Updated: Jan. 26, 2024
Holy guacamole! Learn how to make the best copycat Chipotle guac recipe with six simple ingredients.
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Tired of paying extra for that scoop of guac in your burrito at Chipotle? Learn how to make copycat Chipotle guacamole at home.
The Chipotle guac recipe was revealed on their Twitter account, so we’re passing along the intel. That way, you can B.Y.O.G. (bring your own guac) the next time you’re craving a foil-wrapped burrito from everyone’s favorite fast-casual Mexican restaurant. Bonus: Keep your guac fresh and green for up to a week with this Guac Lock kitchen gadget.
Ingredients for Copycat Chipotle Guacamole
- Avocados: The key to good guacamole: ripe avocados. To speed up ripening, store them on the counter near bananas.
- Lime juice: Not only does lime juice help balance the flavors in a fresh bowl of guac, it can also help keep guacamole from browning!
- Red onion: While some guacamole recipes use white onion, Chipotle uses red onion to make the dip extra zesty. This ingredient is known for its peppery, spicy flavor.
How to Make Chipotle Guacamole
Ingredients
- 2 ripe Hass avocados
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, diced
- 1/2 jalapeno, including seeds, diced
Directions
Step 1: Prep the avocados
Cut the avocados in half using a sharp knife, remove the pits and scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Toss the avocado halves in lime juice and salt.
Step 2: Mash
Using a fork (or potato masher), mash the mixture together until smooth and only a few chunks of avocado remain.
Step 3: Add remaining ingredients
To the bowl of mashed avocado, toss in the remaining ingredients and mix.
Step 4: Serve
Taste and season the guac with additional salt and/or lime juice, then serve as desired. We suggest with homemade air fryer tortilla chips or on a taco salad drizzled with copycat Chipotle Vinaigrette.
How to Pick the Best Avocados for Guacamole
The secret to the best guacamole is excellent avocados. The easiest way to tell if an avocado is ripe is by performing a simple squeeze test. Perfectly ripe avocados will yield to gentle pressure when pressed. The flesh should give gently, not feel overly mushy or hard. Press in several areas to ensure even ripeness before cutting.
Editors Tip: Another great way to tell if an avocado is ripe is to look at your avocado’s color and stem. Ripe avocados should have a deep, even purple/black color with minimal green color remaining on the skin. Additionally, the stem should be dry and loose. Your avocado is likely not yet ripe if the stem is lodged firmly in place.
How to Ripen Avocados
Sometimes, you’re ready for guac before your avocados are. Should you need to speed up the ripening process, the quickest way to ripen an avocado is to pop it into a paper bag with an unpeeled banana or apple. Seal the bag tightly and then allow it to sit on the counter at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Why does this trick work? Some fruits, such as apples and bananas, release a gas called ethene (also called ethylene) which causes fruit to ripen. The gas breaks down the cellular walls in fruit, converting their starches to sugars which, in effect, causes their flesh to soften and their color to change over time.
Tips for Making Chipotle Guacamole
Here are a few simple tips and tricks to prolong the shelf life of your homemade Chipotle guac and ensure it turns out perfectly every time.
How can you prevent Chipotle guac from turning brown?
If guacamole has one flaw, it’s that it will eventually turn brown. While the citric acid in the lime juice will prevent your Chipotle guac from turning brown immediately, leftover or make-ahead guacamole may need a little more help.
Oxygen is guac’s biggest enemy. Therefore, when storing guacamole, keep it in an airtight container (and follow these other tips to keep an avocado from turning brown). We’ve also found that pressing a piece of plastic wrap directly over the surface of the guacamole before popping on the lid of the container provides extra insurance to prolong the guacamole’s green color.
It’s worth noting that you can eat guacamole that has turned brown. It’s simply the result of oxidation (similar to apples turning brown once cut). However, because it’s not nearly as appetizing as fresh and vibrant green guacamole, we recommend following the above storage tips for best results.
Can you freeze guacamole?
Yes! If you want to make guacamole more than a few hours ahead, freezing it is your best option to prolong its color. Simply prepare the recipe as directed, then store in a freezer-safe airtight container with a tight-fitting lid. Allow the guac to thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.
Editor’s Tip: For single-serving dollops of guac on-demand, store individual portions of guac in an ice cube tray. These are great for popping onto taco salads you intend to take to the office for lunch. Add them, frozen, to your salad in the morning, and by the lunch hour, you’ll have a perfect thawed (and still green) dollop of guac to enjoy on your salad. Woo-hoo!
Check out these other tips for freezing avocado.
What else can you add to this Chipotle guac recipe?
We love to make restaurant copycat recipes because they allow us to jazz them up to our liking. Put your own stamp on this Chipotle guac recipe by adding diced tomatoes, roasted poblano peppers, kernels of sweet corn, chopped crumbled bacon or a handful of feta cheese (or queso fresco). There’s really no wrong way to guac!
How can you make Chipotle guacamole spicy?
If you like your Chipotle guac recipe on the spicy side, feel free to add an extra jalapeno (or two) to the recipe. Keep in mind that the spiciness of a jalapeno varies from pepper to pepper, so we always suggest sampling a piece of your pepper before adding it to the guac. Or add one of these other peppers for extra heat!
The best tool for mashing avocados
While a simple fork works fine, a potato masher is another excellent tool for pulverizing the avocados into the perfect guac. We especially recommend a potato masher if making a double (or triple) batch for a crowd.
What to Serve with Chipotle Guacamole
To keep the Chipotle experience going, don’t stop at copycat guac! Pair the dip with more Chipotle recipes you can make at home, like copycat Chipotle Chicken and Cilantro Lime Rice. And, of course, there’s no better pairing for guacamole than a bag of chips. Don’t miss our Test Kitchen’s picks for the absolute best tortilla chips.
