Good guacamole for a crowd is mostly knife work done before the avocados are cut: a fine dice of white onion, a careful mince of jalapeño, chopped cilantro and salt, all ready in one bowl. Then the avocados go in last, are mashed roughly, and the bowl is covered with plastic wrap pressed right onto the surface. Plan on one avocado for every two or three guests if it is one of several dips, and one per guest if it is the main event.

Dip is the heart of a Super Bowl spread, and guacamole is the one most people reach for first. It is also the one that turns brown fastest if you make it the wrong way round.

How much to make

For a game-day party:

  • 10 guests, several other snacks: 4 to 5 avocados
  • 20 guests, several other snacks: 8 to 10 avocados
  • Guacamole as the main dip: one avocado per guest

Buy avocados a few days ahead if your store’s are hard, and leave them on the counter. A ripe avocado yields slightly when squeezed gently in the palm. Once ripe, move them to the refrigerator, which slows them down and lets you buy early and still have them ready on Sunday.

The base: cut it first

The aromatics carry the flavor, and they need to be cut small, because nobody wants a raw onion chunk on a chip. For eight avocados:

White onion, half a medium onion. White onion is sharper and cleaner than yellow and is the standard in Mexican kitchens. Halve it through the root, make close horizontal and vertical cuts, then slice across for a fine dice, about an eighth of an inch. Rinse the diced onion in a sieve under cold water and shake it dry; that takes off the harshest bite.

Jalapeño or serrano, one or two. Cut off the stem, halve the chile lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds and white ribs with the tip of a spoon if you want less heat. Slice into thin strips and mince across them. Wash your hands, or wear a glove, before you touch your face.

Cilantro, half a bunch. Bunch the leaves and the tender upper stems together, which carry plenty of flavor, and chop through them several times. Stop before the pile turns dark and wet.

Salt and lime. About a teaspoon and a half of kosher salt and the juice of two limes for eight avocados, adjusted at the end.

Some cooks grind the onion, chile, cilantro and salt into a rough paste in a molcajete before adding the avocado. It gives the guacamole a deeper flavor. The knife version is brighter and has more texture. Both are traditional.

Tomato is optional and divisive. If you add it, seed it and dice it the same size as the onion, and fold it in at the end, because tomato juice makes guacamole watery. Pico de gallo with an even dice covers the tomato technique.

The avocados

Cut each avocado lengthwise around the pit, twist the halves apart, and remove the pit. The safe way to do it, without a knife in your palm, is in how to cut an avocado safely. Scoop the flesh into the bowl with the aromatics.

Mash with a fork, a potato masher or the back of a large spoon. Stop while it still has chunks; texture is what separates homemade from store-bought. Taste on a chip, not a spoon, because the chip adds salt, and adjust the lime and salt.

Keeping a big bowl green

Avocado browns because an enzyme in the flesh reacts with oxygen. The fix is to keep air away from the surface.

  • Press plastic wrap directly onto the guacamole, smoothing it so there are no bubbles. Wrap stretched across the top of the bowl leaves an air gap and does very little.
  • A thin layer of lime juice under the wrap helps more. Smooth the top of the guacamole, pour on a tablespoon of lime juice to cover it, then press on the wrap. Pour off the juice and stir before serving.
  • Serve in two rounds. Put half the guacamole out at kickoff and keep the other half covered in the refrigerator for halftime. A fresh bowl looks better than a bowl that has sat for three hours.

The pit in the bowl does not help. It only protects the bit of guacamole it touches.

Make-ahead plan

  • Day before: dice the onion and mince the chiles; store them separately, covered, in the refrigerator.
  • Morning of: chop the cilantro and squeeze the limes.
  • One hour before kickoff: cut the avocados and mix. Cover it the way described above.

Most of the knife work happens a day early and the last step takes ten minutes.

When you scale up, do not multiply the chile and onion blindly. A double batch of guacamole rarely needs double the jalapeño, because heat builds as the bowl sits. Add three quarters of the chile, mix, wait five minutes and taste again. Salt is the same: add it in stages, because a bowl for twenty can go from flat to salty in one generous pinch.

The board

Dicing a whole onion fine enough for guacamole needs a stable surface and a little room to spread out the pile. The WONAMU. bamboo cutting board is 12 by 9 inches, with a juice groove that keeps the lime and onion liquid off the counter. Wash it after the onion and jalapeño so the scent does not carry into anything sweet.

The short version

Allow one avocado for every two or three guests if there are other dips. Dice white onion fine and rinse it, mince the jalapeño, chop the cilantro with its tender stems, and mix them with salt and lime before the avocados go in. Mash roughly, taste on a chip, then press plastic wrap onto the surface over a thin layer of lime juice. Serve it in two rounds so the second bowl comes out green.

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WONAMU. makes a bamboo cutting board designed for daily prep, 12 × 9 inches, bamboo, with a perimeter juice groove. Available on Amazon.

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