This colorful chunky citrus guacamole will jolt your taste buds awake and brighten any meal. Serve it with tortilla chips at happy hour, or as a garnish in fish tacos, fajitas, or grain bowls. 

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Guacamole is one of those dishes so many people love, but not that many people actually make at home. This has always perplexed me because it’s so easy to make: your biggest challenge when making guacamole might very well be to find perfectly ripe avocados at the store!

I started making homemade guacamole years ago and it was an instant hit amongst my friends. I’m often requested to make it and I think the reason why my version of guacamole is so popular is the over-the-top amount of citrus fruit and juice I incorporate in it. Its chunkiness is pretty irresistible too!

Store-bought guacamole is often really bland, so I’m not surprised that my guests would find my guacamole so interesting. My citrus guacamole is the very opposite of boring: it’s zesty and spicy, spiked with fresh coriander, and garnished with pieces of juicy citrus fruits. It’s packed with flavor and, best of all, it’s also good for you.

To garnish my chunky citrus guacamole, I like to combine grapefruit with any member of the orange family—blood oranges are spectacular, clementines and mandarins are especially aromatic, and good old Navel oranges are delightfully juicy. If you’re not a huge fan of grapefruit, you can of course skip it and only use oranges, but I like the complexity the flowery, slightly bitter flavor of pink grapefruit add to the mix. If you can find one, you can substitute pomelo for the grapefruit: it’s sweet and firm and super juicy. It’s just wonderful in this citrus guacamole.

This recipe makes a generous 4 cups of guacamole, which should satisfy 6 to 8 adults at happy hour. If you’re serving fewer guests, I recommend halving the quantities because guacamole doesn’t keep well—it will brown within a few hours, even with a ton of citrus involved.

The amount of lime juice might seem like a lot, but I believe this is what truly makes this citrus guacamole pop. Lime cuts through the avocado’s rich texture and brings all the other flavors forward. If in doubt, no worries: the recipe calls for half the juice first, and then you can add more according to your taste. Just please, never ever use bottled lime juice! The flavor of bottled lime juice is completely estranged from the real thing and using it just won’t properly highlight the other fresh ingredients you’ll make an effort preparing for this citrus guacamole.

For an extra pretty presentation, you can segment the citrus fruits instead of peeling and chopping them. Segmenting removes all skin from the flesh, so the color of the citrus fruits pops out even more! 

Here’s how to segment citrus fruits: First, peel the fruit with a knife: cut off both the top and bottom of the fruit. Stand the fruit on either of the flat ends. Run a very sharp paring knife along the fruit from top to bottom, removing the skin and pith, leaving the flesh bare. Rotate the fruit and repeat. To collect segments, take the peeled fruit in one hand, and run a sharp knife alongside the membranes, leaving entirely bare pieces of fruit behind. You should make sure to do this over a bowl and squeeze the remaining membrane to catch all dripping juices. You can use the juice in this recipe, or save it for your next smoothie or cocktail.

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Chunky Citrus Guacamole

This colorful chunky citrus guacamole will jolt your taste buds awake and brighten any meal. Serve it with tortilla chips at happy hour, or as a garnish in fish tacos, fajitas, or grain bowls.

Prep Time:20 mins

Total Time:20 mins

Author Marie Asselin, FoodNouveau.com

Ingredients

• 1 Navel, Cara Cara, or blood orange, 2 mandarins, or 3 clementines
• 1/2 pink grapefruit or pomelo
• 4 ripe avocados how to tell if an avocado is ripe
• 2 small vine tomatoes diced (about 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup 60 ml minced red onion
• 1/4 cup 60 ml fresh coriander leaves and stems, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup 60 ml freshly squeezed lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 1/4 cup 60 ml freshly squeezed orange, mandarin, or clementine juice
• 1 jalapeño pepper seeded and finely chopped (use less for a milder flavor)
• 1 tsp 5 ml kosher salt, or fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp 2 ml smoked paprika (optional)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• To serve optional
• Fresh coriander leaves
• Toasted pumpkin seeds
• Tajín Mexican chili and lime seasoning or crushed red pepper
• Tortilla chips if serving as a dip

Instructions

• Peel the oranges or clementines and the grapefruit. Remove the pith and pits, if there are any, and chop up the flesh. Transfer to a measuring cup: you should get about 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) chopped citrus. (If you have more, just keep the extra citrus to enjoy as a snack, top your morning granola, or use in a smoothie.)
• Slice one avocado in half, twist open, then remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh. Repeat to prepare the other avocados. Transfer the flesh from two of the avocados to a plate, then mash with a fork. Transfer to a large, nonreactive mixing bowl. Roughly chop up the flesh from the remaining two avocados. Add half of the reserved chopped citrus, tomatoes, red onion, coriander, lime juice, orange juice, jalapeño pepper, salt, and paprika. Use a fork or a spatula to gently mix all the ingredients together: you want to distribute the flavorings but avoid overmixing to keep some texture. Taste the guacamole and adjust the seasoning (salt and pepper) as well as the citrusy levels (lime juice) to your taste.
• If serving this citrus guacamole as a dip: Transfer the guacamole to a wide bowl for serving. Garnish with the remaining chopped citrus, then top with the additional garnishes of your choice: fresh coriander leaves, pepitas, and Tajin or crushed red pepper.
• If serving this citrus guacamole as a condiment: Use in fish tacos, fajitas, or grain bowls, or serve alongside quesadillas. Serve the remaining chopped citrus as an additional topping.
• STORAGE: Avocado flesh browns upon coming into contact with air, even when mixed with citrus juice. To save extra citrus guacamole, transfer it to the smallest container possible, smooth out the top, and cover with a thin layer of extra-virgin olive oil. This will eliminate any contact with air and will keep the citrus guacamole’s bright colors for up to 1 day. Before serving, simply mix the olive oil into the guacamole.

Did you make this?

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