Camp Guacamole
Avocados mashed in the bag with lime, cumin, and garlic. Day one only, and worth the weight.
- calories
- 250
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 50
- protein
- 3 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- Lunch
- No cook
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Day hike
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Grab and go
- Day one only
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Ripe avocados | 3 | buy them hard, pack them the day they give to a thumb |
|---|---|---|
| Lime | 1 | or 2 tbsp bottled juice, which travels better |
| Granulated garlic | 1/2 tsp | |
| Ground cumin | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Roma tomato | 1 | firmer and less watery than a slicing tomato |
Method
- Halve the avocados against the pit, twist apart, and scoop the flesh into a quart freezer bag.
- Press the air out, seal, and mash the bag against your knee until it is as smooth or as lumpy as you want.
- Open the bag, add the lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper. Seal and squeeze again to mix.
- Dice the tomato on a lid or a flat rock and fold it in last so it stays in pieces.
- Eat from the bag with chips, or snip a corner and squeeze it onto tortillas.
This is a day-one food. Avocados do not keep, do not tolerate being sat on, and go brown within hours of being opened, so it earns its place only on trips where you are eating it the first afternoon. Car camping, a paddle day, a basecamp you walked into that morning.
The short ingredient list is the point. No onion, no cilantro, no jalapeño means nothing to chop and nothing to wilt. Granulated garlic and cumin come from the same spice bag you already carry, and the lime does double duty: acid for flavor, and it slows the browning. Mashing in the freezer bag means no bowl, no cutting board, and one thing to pack out.
Packing
Avocados ride in a hard-sided container or a pot, or they turn to paste in your pack. Premeasure the garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper into one small bag at home. A whole lime is heavy and leaks less than a bottle; either works.
Variations
- Skip the tomato and add a packet of hot sauce. Less to carry, less to bruise.
- Freeze-dried guacamole powder rehydrated with cold water covers the same ground on longer trips, with none of the fun.
- A pouch of tuna folded in turns it into lunch.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/simple-guacamole-recipe