Our Top 5 Guacamole & Margarita Recipes—Hello, Summer!

Guacamole and margarita recipes are favorites year round at Familia Kitchen. But our love for this double-delicioso Mexican essential combo kicks into high gear every summer. When the heat is on, a freshly made margarita with just-squeezed lime juice and that magical mix of sweet and salty guacamole is what we crave. Whether you add a shot of mezcal in your marg is up to you. (Yes, please, for ours.)

Here’s our summer strategy. We take a break, find some shade, and alternate a sip of ice-frío margarita with a dollop of cool, velvety guacamole. We savor the crunchy contrast of creamy avocado and crisp tortilla chip. Mmmm. So good, right?

As you can tell, verano is our favorite food season here at Familia Kitchen. To wish you a sun-filled summer filled with the 4 f’s—family, friends, food and fun—here are the 5 top guacamole and margarita recipes at FamiliaKitchen.com. These cinco are the most popular with our community of homecooks, all tough comida critics used to the best and most authentic Latino dishes.

Check out all 5, each a family-famous recipe:

Let’s Start with Guacamole! Our 3 Most Popular Recipes

Anjie’s Guacamole: The Secret Is Chopping Serranos ”Really, Really Fine”

This is el famoso guacamole that one of our favorite Mexican-food cocineras Anjie Villalobos brings to every get-together and makes for family (and herself: she is its biggest fan, she says) once a week—at least. Anjie has loved guacamole her whole life, she says. ”My mom is the one who first introduced me to making it. She would just basically take an avocado, mash it up and throw some salsa in there. She’d add a little cilantro, some onion and garlic.” Done. Ever the recipe tinkerer, Anjie experimented with the dish’s shortlist of ingredients—avocado, chile, tomato, onion, lime, cilantro—until she arrived at the combo that hit all her favorite flavor profiles. It has since become her family’s official guacamole.

“If you look at guacamole, it’s the same ingredients that you would make a salsa with, minus a few things. The same could be said about a lot dishes in Mexican food: you can make so many things with the same four or five ingredients,” says Anjie. ”So, mine isn’t made with anything unusual, but it is my favorite all-time version. It was just finding a balance of flavors that I really enjoy. Making sure there’s lots of lime. Making sure that when I am cutting up the serranos, I cut them up really, really fine so that you are still getting a little bite of chile but it’s not adding too much to the texture. Because I think a lot of the texture can be found in the chopped tomatoes and the onions and cilantro.” 

Gollita’s Guacamole, the Winner of the Familia Kitchen Recipe Contest

You would expect a GREAT guacamole from Gregoria ”Gollita” Gonzalez, a tremenda cocinera of traditional Mexican dishes. And you would be right. Gollita’s guacamole is a hit at every family and friends gathering at her home in Illinois. It’s also the winner of Familia Kitchen’s Your Favorite Guacamole Recipe Contest! While growing up in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, in a family of seven, Gollita learned how to cook from her mother. The legacy continues. Today, this Chicago-based abuela is teaching her three daughters, son and grandkids the authentic comida techniques and traditions she learned back in San Luis Potosí.

Gollita’s recipe for guacamole is notable for its timeless simplicity and bold flavors. Be sure to tiny-mince the garlic clove before you mix the ingredients together to let its flavor seep into every bite. And if you want more heat, add the optional chopped and seeded jalapeño. Serve with tortilla chips, homemade or store bought—and you’ll have a memorably great guacamole to impress your guests.

A Twist on Guacamole: Add Bacon & Pile it High on Crostini

Guacamole crostini is a go-to for summer entertaining in the Arizona home of Michelle Ezratty Murphy, one of our favorite homecooks. ”We just love guacamole in my house,” she says. ”And because guacamole is pretty straight-forward, I like to dress it up with one or two ingredients like pomegranate seeds (usually mixed in for holidays or special celebrations) or toasted pepitas for a nutty flavor. They can really take guac to the next level.”

Michelle loves to go into her kitchen and shake up traditional family-favorite Latino dishes. ”For this recipe, I kept the guacamole itself simple and then paired it with a sweet caramelized onion and bacon jam, served on lightly toasted baguette slices. In each bite, you get the fresh citrusy flavor from the guacamole, a hint of smokiness from the bacon, the sweetness of the caramelized onion, and a light crunch from the toasted bread. These guacamole crostinis with onion and bacon jam are perfect as an appetizer or a light lunch. They were a hit with my family. I hope your family loves them too!”

Onto Margaritas—Do You Want Classic or con Mezcal?

The Classic Margarita, Easy and Successful ”Always”

We always say yes to margaritas here at Familia Kitchen and have tried muchos recipes. Trust us: this is a guaranteed-great recipe for a traditional and easy-to-make margarita from our favorite tequila connoisseur, MariCarmen Ortíz Conway. MariCarmen is a globally renowned expert in the spirit. And we mean expert, as in certified Tequila Expert,™ a certification from the Cultura y Capacitación del Tequila, A.C. She is also an official Catadora or “taster,” among other recognitions. The key to this recipe is to use equal parts tequila, lime juice and simple syrup, she says. “This is a VERY successful margarita,” says MariCarmen. “Always.”

The Mezcal Margarita, for a Hint of Smoke and Mucho Sabor

“I love mezcal in my margarita,” says Ana González Quaid of Chicago, who is famous in her family and friend circle for her bartending skills. She is also the daughter of Gollita Gonzalez (see her mom’s Familia Kitchen Recipe Contest-winning guacamole, above). “It gives the margarita this incredible smoky depth and a lot more oomph. I love the flavor of mezcal,” says Ana. “If you are trying to do something different with a cocktail, yet keep it very traditional Mexican, using mezcal in your margarita is a great way to go. You can taste the plant, you get the smokiness. It’s not filtered by other things,” Ana adds. ”It’s pure Mexico in a glass.”

Get your summer on with guacamole, margaritas and more authentic recipes from FamiliaKichen.com!