North America → Mexico → Michoacán
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Guacamole con Totopos
Ripe avocados crushed in a molcajete over a paste of white onion, serrano chile, cilantro and salt, folded with tomato and served at once with warm fried corn tortilla chips.
Mexican · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 10 min
~428 cal · 6g protein · 34g carbs · 32g fat · 10g fiber · 3g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Guacamole takes its name from the Nahuatl āhuacamōlli, from āhuacatl, avocado, and mōlli, sauce. It is one of the oldest dishes in Mexico, and the traditional way to make it has not changed much: in a molcajete, the three-legged mortar of volcanic stone, with its pestle, the tejolote.
The method is what makes it. Onion, serrano chile, cilantro and salt are ground together first into a rough paste, which releases their oils so the flavour runs through the whole bowl. Then the avocado goes in and is crushed only until it is chunky, never smooth, and chopped tomato is folded through at the end. Lime is a matter of taste. Many Mexican cooks, and the cookbook writer Diana Kennedy, leave it out or use only a little.
It is served as a botana, something to eat at the start of a meal or with a drink, scooped up with totopos, crisp fried wedges of corn tortilla, and it also goes to the table beside carne asada and tacos. It does not keep: it darkens within the hour, so it is made just before it is eaten.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 3 tbsp white onion, finely chopped
- 2 serrano chiles, finely chopped, seeded for less heat
- 3 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 tsp coarse salt, plus more to taste
- 3 ripe Hass avocados, they should give slightly when pressed
- 1 ripe plum tomato, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 to 2 tsp lime juice, optional; many Mexican cooks leave it out
- 8 corn tortillas, or a bag of totopos
- 1 cup vegetable oil, for frying the tortillas
Instructions
- 1Make the totopos: cut each tortilla into 6 wedges. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the wedges in batches for 1 to 2 minutes, turning once, until crisp and golden. Drain on paper and salt lightly.
- 2Put the onion, serrano chiles, cilantro and salt in a molcajete (or a heavy bowl) and grind them with the pestle, or the back of a fork, into a coarse, juicy paste.✎ Chef’s noteGrinding the aromatics first releases their oils, so the chile and onion season every bite instead of sitting in lumps.
- 3Halve the avocados, remove the stones and scoop the flesh into the molcajete. Crush it into the paste with the pestle, stopping while it is still chunky.
- 4Fold in the tomato, and a little lime juice if you like. Taste and add more salt or chile.
- 5Serve straight away, in the molcajete, with the warm totopos for scooping.✎ Chef’s noteGuacamole browns as it sits. If you must hold it for a few minutes, press a sheet of plastic wrap onto its surface.
Mexican tradition (Nahuatl āhuacamōlli).
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Michoacán. Carnitas are cooked in copper. Pork goes into a wide copper cazo, hammered out in Santa Clara del Cobre a short drive from Quiroga, and simmers in its own lard for hours before being crisped at the end. Quiroga is the town most often credited with the technique, and the copper is not incidental to it.
🗺️
Mexico. Underneath almost everything is nixtamalization: dried maize simmered and steeped in lime water, then hulled and ground. It softens the kernels into a masa that will hold together as a tortilla, adds calcium, and releases the tryptophan the body turns into niacin, which is why maize-eating Mesoamerica escaped the pellagra that later maize cultures suffered.
🌍
North America. Almost every regional cooking here records who arrived and on what terms. Enslaved West Africans brought rice, okra, black-eyed peas and the techniques behind Lowcountry and Creole food; Chinese railway labour and later Italian, Jewish, Mexican and Vietnamese arrivals built the way the cities eat; and Indigenous foodways sit underneath all of it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Mexico
Cochinita PibilPork marinated blaze-orange in achiote and sour orange, wrapped in banana leaves and roasted until it shreds itself.
EnfrijoladasCorn tortillas bathed in silky black-bean sauce, folded and finished with cheese, crema, and onion.
BirriaJalisco’s chile-marinated slow braise, served as a rich consomé with tortillas, or griddled into dripping quesabirria tacos.
Browse all Mexico recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan, Mortar and pestle.
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Mexico meal
HorchataDrink
Calabaza en TachaDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Guacamole con Totopos?
Ripe avocados crushed in a molcajete over a paste of white onion, serrano chile, cilantro and salt, folded with tomato and served at once with warm fried corn tortilla chips.
Where does Guacamole con Totopos come from?
Guacamole con Totopos is a Mexican dish from Michoacán, Mexico.
Can Guacamole con Totopos be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Guacamole con Totopos recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Guacamole con Totopos safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Guacamole con Totopos take to make?
About 30 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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