Five-Minute Party Guacamole with Lime-Salt Chips

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A fast, forgiving guacamole built the way the big burrito chains do it: ripe Hass avocados, a generous hit of lime, finely minced red onion, jalapeño and cilantro — mashed chunky, never pureed. The lime ratio here does double duty, seasoning the dip and keeping it bright green through a whole party. Warm, salty baked tortilla chips take ten minutes and make it feel like a full order.

Ingredients

• 3 large ripe Hass avocados (about 1 1/2 lb total)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 2 limes)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/3 cup red onion, minced very fine
• 1 jalapeño, seeds and ribs removed, minced
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems, chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)

• 12 corn tortillas
• 3 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or avocado
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400°F with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Stack the tortillas and cut the stack into 6 wedges. Toss the wedges in a large bowl with the oil until every piece is lightly slicked, then spread in a single layer on two rimmed baking sheets.
2. Bake the chips 10 to 12 minutes, swapping and rotating the pans halfway through, until the wedges are firm, blistered, and lightly golden at the edges. Sprinkle immediately with the 1 teaspoon salt and a squeeze of lime while hot; they crisp fully as they cool.
3. While the chips bake, check your avocados: a ripe Hass yields to gentle pressure at the stem end and the little stem cap flicks off easily to reveal green underneath. If it's brown under the cap, that avocado is past it. Rock-hard ones can be ripened 1 to 2 days in a paper bag with a banana.
4. Halve the avocados, twist out the pits, and scoop the flesh into a molcajete or a wide, sturdy bowl. Add the lime juice and 1 teaspoon salt right away and mash with the pestle or a fork or potato masher for 20 to 30 seconds — leave it distinctly chunky, with plenty of pea-size lumps. Do not use a food processor.
5. Fold in the red onion, jalapeño, cilantro, and cumin if using with a spatula, just 5 or 6 turns so the pieces stay suspended rather than crushed.
6. Taste and adjust: it should read bright and clearly salty on its own, because a salty chip mutes it. Add salt 1/4 teaspoon at a time and lime 1 teaspoon at a time until it tastes lively, not flat.
7. Serve within the hour in a shallow bowl with the warm chips. To hold it, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface so no air touches the guacamole and refrigerate up to 24 hours; stir before serving.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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