Why You Should Think Twice Before Freezing Guacamole

Crave-worthy guacamole is a staple for many households. Per Statista, Americans spent close to $2 billion on avocados in 2021. What are people doing with all those avocados? From making avocado toast to adding slices to a favorite salad to ordering up some guacamole at your favorite Mexican restaurant, there are plenty of ways all of those avocados are being eaten — especially when you consider on any given Super Bowl Sunday, NFL fans are scooping up 8 million pounds of guac in a single day, per First Coast News.

That said, it's easy to make more guacamole than you or your guests might be able to consume. And rather than let the garbage disposal get after it, you might wonder if guacamole is a dip you can freeze. It's a fair question when you consider, according to MasterClass, you can freeze avocados either in their whole form, halved, sliced, or even mashed. But while it is a natural leap to believe that if you can freeze mashed avocados, you can freeze guacamole, that might be a leap too far, per the experts at Food Network. 

In fact, you might want to think twice before freezing this dip.

According to Food Network, mashed-up avocados get a green light when it comes to freezing them, but guacamole gets a yellow. Why? As they explain, a traditional guac made with tomatoes and onions doesn't defrost well. This is because as Healthline and Colorado State University, respectively, point out, each has a high water content. This adds unwanted fluids when guacamole goes from a frozen state to an unfrozen, creating a watery guac that is not comparable to what your tastebuds expect.

Food Network goes on to say a classic guac not only takes on water when it thaws, but it also lacks that fresh avocado flavor. However, if you stick with a simple guacamole recipe that shuns the onions and tomatoes and just uses a little cilantro, lime, salt, and pepper, the thawed version will be less impacted after freezing. That said, they suggest using your defrosted guac for your burritos or tacos and not necessarily as a dip.

Meanwhile, Avocados From Mexico takes it a step further, saying while you can freeze anything, guacamole should not be on your list of anything. The avocado grower explains that when you freeze an avocado, you mess up the buttery texture and taste of the fruit.