The Popular Appetizer You Might Want To Avoid Ordering At A Mexican Restaurant

The popularity of Mexican food in the U.S. has hit the point where it's no more unusual than grabbing a hamburger or pizza, but some customers still don't quite know what they are getting. People certainly dine out to socialize and get out of the kitchen, however, we also go to get the kinds of foods we either can't make or that would be too much of a hassle to prepare at home — most can't make a professional-level pizza in their oven or have the knowledge to whip up a great plate of General Tso's chicken. For Mexican food this might mean a great pastor taco, time-consuming mole, or even homemade salsa that beats anything you can get from a jar. But one food you might not want to order at a Mexican restaurant is guacamole, because it just isn't usually all that special.

It's not that guacamole from a Mexican place will be bad; it will probably be great. But good guacamole is so, so easy to make at home for even the most inexperienced cooks that paying a premium price often isn't worth it. Guacamole is quite expensive at restaurants, even at its simplest, because avocados themselves are pricy. Despite the high price of the fruit, making a crave-worthy guac at home will usually only cost a couple of dollars in comparison to what you might pay at a restaurant. And there really isn't anything restaurants are going to do to them that you can't replicate yourself.

In its most basic form, guacamole is just avocados with a few additions like salt, cilantro, lime juice, onion, and (maybe) tomatoes. All of those ingredients are cheap, and typical staples you'll already have in your fridge. Yes, some Mexican restaurants will dress it up with more expensive toppings — and in that case go crazy — but if it's standard guac you want, you only need a few tips to make it great yourself.

To produce restaurant-level guacamole at home, the first thing to you need to do is make sure that your avocados are fresh and ripe because that's where most of the flavor is coming from. They should have a gentle give when you squeeze them, but they shouldn't be mushy. The next biggest secret to great guac is the way in which the avocados are prepared. Traditionally, guacamole in Mexico is pounded in a molcajete, which is a type of mortar and pestle. Although you don't need one, the act of crushing will release more aromatic and flavor compounds, so pounding your avocados will result in far tastier guacamole than just mashing them with a fork. You can also pound in additions like onion or hot peppers for more flavor, too. Grab the best tortilla chips you can find, and you might never want to spend restaurant prices for guacamole again.