Roberto Santibañez' Guacamole with Tequila & Apples Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Author Notes

The problem with chef Roberto Santibañez’s category-defining classic guacamole recipe is that once you try it, you stop acknowledging that others exist. It’s five ingredients and a perfect food, and will make you both an excellent guacamole provider and a terrible guacamole snob. But in the same cookbook, there are nine others worth trying. In making his case for tequila-apple-pecan, he’s very specific. The apple needs to be sweet and crunchy (not Granny Smith-tart) and diced not too fine, to contrast just vocally enough with the guac’s salty heat and richness. The pecans should be tossed in butter after toasting, not before, so you get fresh, unbrowned butter flavor, too. Adapted slightly from Truly Mexican (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011). —Genius Recipes

What You'll Need

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Roberto Santibañez' Guacamole with Tequila &Apples

Ingredients

• For the apples & pecans
• 1 large crisp, sweet apple, such as Gala or Macintosh, peeled, cored, and finely diced
  
• 1 tablespoon silver (blanco) tequila
  
• 1 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
  
• 1/4 cup pecan halves, sliced crosswise or coarsely chopped
  
• 1 teaspoon butter
  
• 1/8 teaspoon fine salt, or 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
  

• For the guacamole
• 1 fresh serrano or jalapeño chile, stemmed
  
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
  
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt, or 1/2 teaspoon fine salt (or to taste)
  
• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro, divided
  
• 1 large or 2 small ripe Mexican Hass avocados, halved and pitted