Charring fruits and vegetables to deepen their flavor is a pretty common practice, but Chris Kimball hadn’t seen charred avocados until a recent trip to Mexico City, where the fruits are cooked until partially blackened before being mashed into guacamole.

It’s a technique we love using when we make salsa and tomato sauce, and in most cases when working with lackluster produce, and it’s one that will elevate your guacamole from good to unforgettable. Charred Guacamole isn’t just smoky—it’s also more flavorful and complex.

How to char ingredients for the best guacamole

Charring ingredients in a hot pan—a technique referred to as tatemar, in Spanish—develops a toasted complexity that pairs beautifully with buttery avocados.

A comal, grill or cast iron skillet can be used to char the avocados, onion slices, poblano chili and tomatillos, no need to grease the pan. Heat the skillet over medium-high until water flicked onto the surface sizzles and evaporates within seconds, or do what Chris does and hold your hand a couple inches above the surface. “If I can’t let it sit there for more than five seconds, you know the pan is ready to go.”

Place the avocado halves cut side down in the pan, then add the onion slices, poblano chili and tomatillos. Cook, occasionally turning everything but the avocado halves, until mostly charred all over, then transfer to a plate and cool completely.

How to pit an avocado

You can watch Cooking School Director Rosie Gill demonstrate her technique in this video, but getting the pit out of the avocado is easy. Halve the avocado lengthwise and hold one half in your non-dominant hand, pit facing out.

Using a sharp knife, give the pit a firm whack so the blade gets stuck in the pit. Please be sure your knife is actually sharp; a dull knife can bounce or skid off the pit, potentially careening into your hand. Twist the knife 45 degrees to free the pit, then use a kitchen towel (to protect your hand) to remove the pit from the knife.

To remove the flesh, just peel the skin. If your avocado is nice and ripe, it should peel away with ease.

Food processor or by hand?

Rather than whirr everything together in a food processor or blender, the chilies and onion are finely chopped by hand, ensuring their flavor is evenly dispersed throughout the guacamole, without any distractingly large pieces. For the avocados, a potato masher or large fork both work well. “If you put this in the food processor, it’s going to get pasty,” explained Chris.

Mash to a coarse purée, then season with salt and pepper and lime juice to taste.

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Claire Lower

Claire Lower is the Digital Editor for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, with over a decade of experience as a food writer and recipe developer. Claire began writing about food (and drinks) during the blogging boom in the late 2000s, eventually leaving her job as a lab technician to pursue writing full-time. After freelancing for publications such as Serious Eats, Yahoo Food, xoJane and Cherry Bombe Magazine, she eventually landed at Lifehacker, where she served as the Senior Food Editor for nearly eight years. Claire lives in Portland, Oregon with a very friendly dog and very mean cat. When not in the kitchen (or at her laptop), you can find her deadlifting at the gym, fly fishing or trying to master figure drawing at her local art studio.