Chunky Tableside Guacamole

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This mouth-watering chunky tableside guacamole recipe (AKA Game Day Guac) is packed full of fresh whole ingredients and sure to be the talk of the tailgates!

When my brother and I were in college, we had ordered tableside guacamole at a local Mexican restaurant and later challenged each other to see who could recreate the recipe the best.

Long story short, my brother happily accepted defeat to our challenge and has been enjoying my guacamole ever since.

This recipe has been a family favorite thanks to our fun little challenge my freshman year of college.

Having grown up in Texas, I am familiar with – and a huge fan of – tableside guacamole. For those who don’t know what that is, it is exactly as it sounds – guacamole made at your tableside by your waiter.

I like to refer to it as real guacamole, not pureed avocados with some salt and called guacamole.

Homemade chunky tableside guacamole is by far the best guacamole you can get – it’s chunky, flavor packed, and filled with fresh whole ingredients.

Become the house where everyone wants to be for game day this football season with this homemade chunky guacamole recipe! Simply chop up some produce, dish it into an all too appropriate serving bowl, and garnish with a lettuce leaf!

Homemade Chunky Tableside Guacamole

Bear in mind, I do not measure my ingredients when it comes to guacamole. I never have and never will. Instead, I do the same as I did when first creating this recipe – I simply taste test and go with what looks about right ratio-wise.

The only time I ever measured was when trying to write this recipe to share with you – which was no easy feat when I have only ever relied on taste!

With that in mind, I encourage you to use this as a guide rather than a rigid recipe. Get creative with it, use what you have on hand, and tailor it to you and your families personal preferences.

Just like tableside guacamole is made to order at a restaurant, this recipe is completely customizable to your taste. Feel free to add or subtract ingredients and amounts to your personal preference.

If you ask my husband, he will say you can never have too much lime. If you ask my brother, he will say you can never have too much onion. Tailor it to you and your families preferences for some crave-worthy guacamole that everyone will love!

Ingredients for Chunky Tableside Guacamole:

Avocados – You can use any size of avocados, but may need to use more or less depending on the size. I typically use large Hass avocados.

Tomatoes – I prefer to use grape tomatoes over large juicy tomatoes for my chunky guacamole. I do not recommend canned tomatoes for guacamole. The extra juice from large or canned tomatoes will cause your avocados and guacamole to turn brown and unappealing.

Onions – You can honestly use whatever onions you have on hand. I have used white, yellow, and red – my preferred in this instance is white.

Garlic Salt – I love using garlic salt and more often than not, use that instead of sea salt and garlic powder. In fact, my original recipe was made using garlic salt. I chose to use sea salt and garlic powder in this recipe as most people might have those in their kitchen as opposed to garlic salt specifically.

Cilantro – We love cilantro! The amount used in this recipe I consider to be a complimentary ratio to the other ingredients, but if you love cilantro like we do, go ahead and toss in a handful. If cilantro isn’t your thing, feel free to leave it out.

Lime – Used to add some amazing flavor and help retain freshness by slowing the oxidation of the avocados. Can be substituted with lemon, but we highly recommend the lime!

Jalapeno – An optional ingredient that adds both flavor and heat to the guac. Kick it up a notch and throw in some of the seeds and ribs! Don’t have jalapeno on hand? Toss in 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

How to know when an avocado is ripe?

Avocados are ripe when they are dark green/purple and slightly soft.

Solid light green and firm avocados typically need about 3-4 days to ripen.

Partially light or dark green and firm or just barely soft avocados typically need 1-2 days to ripen.

Avocados are overripe and no good when they are very soft, dark, have sunken areas, or pop open when you gently squeeze them. I recommend always cutting them open to check because sometimes you can just cut out a bad spot and use the rest.

Set the avocados on the counter at room temperature to ripen. They ripen fast, especially if placed near bananas, so be sure to keep an eye on them daily.

Store ripe avocados in the refrigerator and use soon.

Can guacamole be refrigerated or made ahead of time?

Yes, but fresh is by far the best! We are talking by a long shot here. Even if prepping to serve that day, I recommend making it fresh upon serving and not refrigerating beforehand.

You will benefit the most on the flavor and color of the guacamole when it is fresh and not prepared in advance.

Why does guacamole turn brown?

Avocados oxidize and turn brown after cutting and being exposed to the oxygen in the air, similarly like apples.

Ways to prevent the avocados, and in turn the guacamole, from turning brown upon serving are to add lime or lemon juice, not use tomatoes with a lot of juice, and avoid over-stirring. Refer to the helpful tips below for more information.

Helpful Tips When Making Chunky Tableside Guacamole:

• Substitute sea salt and garlic powder with 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt.
• Stir as little as possible. Frequent stirring results in mushy guacamole rather than chunky.
• If you prefer less chunky guacamole, mash and stir the avocados before adding the other ingredients.
• Use grape tomatoes instead of canned or large juicy tomatoes. The more tomato juice present when stirred in causes the avocados to turn from a fresh green to brown appearance. This is due to a combination of both the tomato juice and over-stirring.

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

Kitchen Tools:

• Medium-sized mixing bowl
• Cutting board
• Knife
• Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients:

• 2 large avocados, cut into chunks
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, diced (about 10 – 12)
• 1/4 cup onion, diced (1/2 small onion)
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (about a handful)
• 1 lime, juiced (or 4 teaspoons lime juice)
• 2 tablespoons jalapeno, diced (1/2 jalapeno) *optional

How to Make Homemade Chunky Tableside Guacamole

Cut the avocados into chunks and place in the bottom of a medium-sized mixing bowl.

Sprinkle sea salt and garlic powder all over the avocado.

Chop the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno. Toss in on top of the avocado.

Squeeze the lime juice across the top and give the entire mixture a stir.

Serve in a bowl over a fresh lettuce leaf and enjoy!

Printable recipe available below!

More Farmhouse Recipes:

• Easy Taco Soup
• Einkorn Banana Bread

More of our favorite Tex-Mex recipes coming soon! Find more homemade recipes here.

I hope your family loves this chunky tableside guacamole as much as our family! Let us know by tagging us on social media or leaving a comment below!

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