10 Store-Bought Guacamole Brands, Ranked Worst To Best
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Avocados are everywhere. They are on your toast, in your smoothies, added to your salads, and maybe even holding your eggs. They are also pretty polarizing. The pros: Avocados have a ton of micronutrients, a solid amount of healthy fats, a creamy consistency when ripe, and the contemporary coveted ability to sneak their way into everything. The cons: They sneak their way into everything, so you're out of luck if you don't like them. But, somehow, you know what's a lot less polarizing? Guacamole.
Guacamole is the heavenly spread made from mashed avocados, plus typically some chopped tomatoes and onions, a touch of olive oil and lime juice, a fast and loose blend of herbs and spices, and salt. Definitely salt. And while many people scoff at avocados trying to be everything everywhere all at once, those same people may scoff at Chipotle for charging them extra for their scoop of guac.
We love guacamole over here. It's creamy and chunky, fresh and flavorful, bright and luxurious, satisfying and moreish. But good guac can be hard to find. Naturally, we had to embark on an adventure to taste-test as many store-bought guacamoles as we could get our hands on, ranking them from worst to best. Though sometimes it all comes down to personal preference (more or less lime? Garlic or not?), we're here to give you a guide to picking out a guac that's ripe for maximum enjoyment.
10. Yucatan
Expectations were high for Yucatan's guacamole: It's not a store brand, it's marketed and packaged as a slightly more authentic food product, and it had a generally higher price point. Though it is a lot of pressure to choose the very best guacamole of so many worthy contenders, and we really hate to give low scores, this just isn't it. Guacamole isn't supposed to be sweet (unless you go for mango, in which case, right on) but it's not supposed to be sour, either. This one's more earthy and vegetal than any of the other guacamoles, which might indeed mean that it's the most organic and close to a bare naked avocado fruit. But even if that's the case, Yucatan's product didn't taste as delicious.
We're not strong enough to choose less-than-luxurious guacamole when more delightful options are sitting next to it in stores. We'd rather plan a trip to Yucatan and eat whatever store brand of guacamole is over there. But don't worry, it's not bad, so if it's all that's available, you can still buy your guac. It just wasn't the best, especially since we spent nearly $7 on it. Since it is so mild and more like avocado purée than the guacamole we're looking for, it would probably be a good choice for mixing into recipes that make the most of the consistency and nutrition of avocados without interfering with the recipe's primary tasting notes.
9. Park Street Deli
We came into this guacamole with both excitement and trepidation. First, we anticipated something hot and spicy that might be brilliant, but also too much. Second, the Chipotle Restaurant-Style Guacamole from Aldi's Park Street Deli looks bad. It's too dark, which obviously implies that the avocados are on the overripe or even on the rotten side. But when we tried it, we found that actually none of the above concerns were warranted. The chipotles are, as we realized the container suggests, mild, and just bring in a slight jazzy peppery flavor with neither a lot of spice nor a lot of a challenge. Thankfully, it didn't taste "bad," but who knows, maybe it won't last the night.
There is onion, lime juice, and garlic to round out the savory, salty, and umami flavors, all things that a well-rounded guacamole need for success. It's pretty good for a slight twist, but we have to dock major points because it's just so darn ugly. If you want to try other flavor variations on basic guacamole, we have one in particular in mind. Avocado is technically a fruit, so let's now make it into a fruit salad by adding mango. Yes, it's not really a fruit salad because it's all blended together in typical dippy guacamole fashion, but you get the idea. It's not too far-fetched to say that creamy, mild avocados and sweet, tropical mango is a flavor match made in heaven in this delightful fresh mango guacamole recipe.
8. Taste of Inspirations
This one came from our local Food Lion, which may or may not be a go-to in your region. Around us, at least, it's one of the most easily accessible grocery stores around, which made it a store brand worth throwing into the mix. Single-serve is incredibly useful for guacamole. We probably don't have to tell you why; everyone knows that the absolute worst thing about avocados is stopping them from getting brown once you've had your first luscious portion. Well, that and figuring out when to cut them open in the first place.
It's hard to eat a whole avocado in one sitting if you're just one person and the avocado isn't baby-sized, and if you turn your avocados into guacamole, leftovers (lucky you) fall victim to the same issue. It's so hard to keep things fresh and that lovely, vibrant green, which is why we had to figure out how to do some troubleshooting. Having one-and-done servings is great for preventative action, though. Other than that, this guacamole is nothing special. It's too smooth, doesn't have quite enough flavor, and sadly has no inspiration to show for it. But for a simple, easy, and cost-efficient guac to carry with you to the work fridge, have no fear. This will do just fine.
7. Sabra
We came to a unanimous conclusion quickly after tasting the Sabra Classic Guacamole with Lime; bland but with lime. Yeah, this a polarizing one, but none of us found it a favorite. The amount of lime will push some people away from it, for sure. You don't have to add any lime as we would suggest for some of the others in this ranking, but there's nothing you can do when there's too much lime in the guacamole already. If you're making your own guacamole at home, be careful not to ruin it with easy mistakes like too much lime, forgetting the lime entirely, or even chopping the ingredients the wrong way.
We appreciated the Sabra guacamole's consistency. Though almost entirely smooth, it's very thick without being too dense. We've all had guacamole, or any dip, that takes it too far and is the viscosity of a cement brick. We wanted to avoid that at all costs, and, for the most part, none of our guacamoles sported such an instant turn-off. It needs to feel indulgent in your mouth, neither watery nor practically chewable. But, hey, if you're a lime lover, you will finally have found the guac of your dreams that doesn't require bringing your own limes to the party (there's a chance we were once that person). It's certainly a bright and acidic spread, which might play off richer or spicier salsas with aplomb. We're not counting it out entirely.
6. Good and Gather
The fresher, more simple guacamoles tended to rank higher, while the ones that had too much going on seemed like they were overcompensating. We agreed that we could do without all the extra jazz in our guacamole because we're really just here to taste the good stuff itself.
But this Target iteration swung too hard in the other direction. It can be hard to have a lot of notes on food when it just tastes dull. What are you going to do, add more of everything except the avocado itself? That might have helped, so you can go ahead and try to read the ingredients themselves and increase them. Zest and juice a lime, grind some black pepper, dice and fold in your favorite hot pepper. Also, maybe it just needs more salt. We tried the easy way out first, and the salt did help. It made the avocado more snappy and fresh, seemingly of a better ripeness and higher quality. But it's still never going to be one of those things you need more of in your life from this moment on.
Maybe it's because this one from Target's Good & Gather line is "Classic" as opposed to "Traditional" or "Homemade," but this one tasted pretty forgettable. Since it's a milder choice, we also believe it would be a nice accompaniment to non-Mexican staples. A schmear would play off a simple roasted salmon, or help hold a quick lunch sandwich together much like a mayo.
5. Trader Joe's
We simply had to pick up guacamole from our favorite fun grocery store, Trader Joe's. We've ranked many of TJs items, from frozen appetizers to Japanese food products, so it was only fair that we include one here. This specific tub turns out to be made with Greek yogurt, promising a lighter (in nutrition and potentially texture) option than classic recipes. We had very low expectations based on that inclusion and thought that Joe had finally failed us.
We were so happy to be wrong. None of us, upon tasting the guacamole, disliked it, though we did agree that the flavor of the avocado itself was slightly muffled by the Greek yogurt bolster. But the texture was actually a dream. Thick but light, almost puddingy, it spread effortlessly onto our tortilla chips. Give it a try and don't be too put off by the lightness. You might even prefer it to your usual choice if you aren't only in it for the pure taste of avocados or the richness of full-stop guac.
Trader Joe's offers a few other varieties you can sample, including a new product called Avocado Mash that we were very tempted to try during this taste test. But avocado mash and guacamole are definitely two different beasts, so to keep everything pure and aligned, we had to save that ranking for another day.
4. Wholly Guacamole
Wholly Guacamole always tastes great. Unless it's spoiled, but that's different. It's the standard guacamole that you expect — and crave — at a party, next to your chips and salsa, or in your fridge anytime. Since this is your basic guac, it could use an upgrade if you have the time or energy to go a little bit farther. "You know, this one has a bit of a quantity over quality issue," one taste-tester noted, and we think that's mostly a negative attribute.
But sometimes, yeah, go for the loaded guac and have a grand old time. Sizeable lumps of avocado are one of the first things we noticed about this guac. Usually, this is a delicious find, but the guacamole brand toes the line between "perfect" and "overdoing it." If it tastes too much like we just scraped in the raw fruit, the guacamole is a bit of a letdown, and we wound up wishing it was actually homemade. Overall, though, the Wholly Guacamole brand is never a bad choice.
3. Simple Truth Organic
The Simple Truth Organic Guacamole from Harris Teeter is an elevated version of the normal, wholly expected Wholly Guacamole we ranked right behind. (But if you have even just a tad more leeway, try going homemade and adding those upgrades at the beginning. You really can taste the difference, we promise.) Some people love to see their guacamole dotted with tomatoes and onions, vying for attention and distracting from the avocado. It does seem like the guacamole is going to taste more "fun" when more guests are invited to the party. But onions are tricky because they are almost as polarizing as avocados: You love 'em or you hate 'em. And tomatoes? Be careful, or you're getting into watery nothingness territory.
Simple Truth pairs it all down and focuses on, ahem, simplicity. It's a little more expensive, but we think that most of the time it will be worth the cost. A little of this stuff goes a long way, but that wouldn't stop us from eating the whole container in one sitting if we had the tortilla chips to spare. Heck, we'd probably just use a spoon if we ran out of chips. Our only other critique is that the spicier palates might find it a little tame, and the garlic lovers might have the same feedback. So go ahead and add pinches of this and that, but if you end up tasting it yourself and have nothing to add, we wouldn't be at all surprised.
2. Good Foods
Good Foods is indeed some good food to add to your tacos, nachos, or toast (you don't have to use whole avocados for avocado toast, you know. Go ahead and cheat, the influencers aren't onto you). We also found out after trying this one that we generally prefer "Traditional" to "Classic" guac treatments. Good Foods Traditional Chunky Guacamole is the sort of guacamole that, once you have a bite, you stick the other half of your tortilla back into the dip immediately. It's a delicious product, full of zesty brightness but also decadently creamy. We unabashedly love a good chunk of avocado in our guac to remind us where it came from, and this product doesn't disappoint.
The chunks taste as if you scooped them up yourself out of one of those miracle avocados you hacked open at exactly the right day and time for peak deliciousness. It's silky but full of flavor. We're always excited to see visible cilantro leaves peppering the guacamole with its garden-fresh taste. There's a chance it's a bit salty, but so slight a chance that it's really a matter of opinion. If you like to go a little bigger sometimes and steer away from the usual suspects, and if you can really go for that garlic and spice, this might be the guacamole for you. It's a bit more adventurous, and the brand as a whole excels in its other guac flavor of Spicy, so you can't go wrong with this one.
1. 365 by Whole Foods Market
This was our favorite guacamole we tried. This made sense, considering we were huge fans of most of the salsas we tried from Whole Foods Market. It's highly convenient to know that you can buy the two products together (when you so often want both if you want one, let's be honest), and expect high-quality results without having to think too hard about it. Everything about this guacamole is nicely balanced. We loved the texture that kept us interested bite after bite thanks to the combination of smoothness and chunks of real avocado. We also loved the spice blend, which offered hints of all the necessary ingredients like garlic, cracked black pepper, and a touch of fresh-tasting cilantro. In fact, the overall consensus is, as Rotten Tomatoes would say, certified fresh.
Let's add the key clarification that nothing, nothing at all, tastes rotten in this guac, including the well-proportioned tomatoes. Just in case there's any confusion. There's nothing that we would change here except that maybe it could use some fresh lime juice. Whole Foods Market guac is even available in those lovable single-sized portions if that's a more efficient option for you. Any guac flavor or product type you get from this brand will satisfy you and your taste buds.