Silky smooth, fluffy and bright green avocado crema will brighten any dish. Made with a little spicy addition of jalapenos is perfect to top your favorite Mexican dishes, use as a dipping sauce for taco night or add it to your favorite taco salads.
Or any salad honestly. With or without jalapenos, this scrumptious avocado crema tastes hea-ven-ly.
We love all things tex-mex and I have shared many recipes in this category on the blog.
One of the most favorite and quite popular ones include Easy Taco Dinner Party Board, Creamy Chicken Tacos, and Taco Salad With Catalina Dressing.
In our family, we love serving all of these dishes with plenty of side dishes and salsas too. Try this simple 3-ingredients Guacamole, Easy Pico De Gallo or zingy Mango Salsa.
And this, creamy dip is a great addition to your favorite appetizer's collection.
There is a skip-to-recipe button in the top left corner along with a clickable table of contents list (just below) that will quickly take you to the part you are more interested in. Enjoy!
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Why It's Yummy
- Loaded with fresh flavors and textures and each bite tastes heavenly.
- The universal perfect topping for almost any savory dish.
- Easy to make, fast and another batch can be whipped up in literally minutes.
- Fully customizable. The recipe ingredients and amounts are more or less my guidelines for you. I highly recommend customizing this recipe further to your liking. Things like lime juice, salt, pepper, and jalapeno or garlic can be swapped out or used less to better match your cooking.
Avocado Crema Details
Its texture: smooth, silky (or make it chunky, I won’t judge), creamy and thick.
And flavor: cool, bright, tangy, and fresh thanks to lime and cilantro, mildly spicy (a little jalapeno goes a long way), salty, with a hint of garlic.
Ingredients
My few comments on the ingredients + don't forget to read the Tips section!
The full recipe and ingredients can be found in the recipe card below this post.
- Avocado - I used two avocados, very ripe ones as they are the easiest to prep and mash. I don’t refrigerate the crema but I do use chilled ingredients right from the fridge.
- Seasonings - use a generous amount of salt and black pepper, it is much needed here.
- Lime juice - fresh is always best, but you can also use lemon juice instead. My 1 tablespoon of lime juice in the recipe is more or less a guideline for you. Add the lime juice to your liking, more or less to your taste.
- Jalapenos - adds that needed zing if you like the spicy and a little smoky flavor to it. Other smoky hot peppers will work too, substitute the jalapeno with green chiles, habanero, or serrano pepper. Or just a splash of hot sauce could work wonders too.
- Fresh herbs - cilantro is my go-to herb in southwestern dishes, but things like basil or parsley will add a different vibe and feel, especially if you are not in the cilantro fan club.
Instructions
This is a very simple method of making the avocado dip. You'll need a food processor but can totally make it by hand too.
This may take more time and not result in an ultra-smooth consistency, but totally doable and is fine too.
Add all the ingredients into your blender or mini food processor. Pulse until smooth and the desired texture. I also like to use a handheld blender, super easy and less cleanup!
You can add a little cold water and olive oil to thin it out, but essentially crema should be thick and spreadable.
Serve right away with homemade tortilla chips, tacos, or buddha bowls. Taco Tuesday has never been so good!
How To Choose A Ripe Avocado
The star ingredient for this avocado crema - is choosing a perfectly ripe avocado.
Some easy steps to help you:
- Avocado Stem - When shopping for avocados, always go for avocados with stems on. If there’s no stem, then it's more likely your avocado may have brown spots inside.
- Next, do a so-called press test. Gently press your thumb into the skin around the avocado. If the avocado yields to firm gentle pressure, it means it’s ripe and you’re good to go.
- The color is also a great indicator of ripeness. The darkest green turning purple is the best. However, this depends on your location and type of avocados too. For example in Asia, I always find super green colored and huge avocados. But they pass my ‘’press test ‘’ and are perfectly ripe inside. You can make a ton of crema and guacamole with just a few of these!
Benefits of Avocado
What are the benefits of eating avocado?
Avocados are super nutrient-rich foods! They are delicious and a great source of monounsaturated fat, which can reduce your risk of heart disease.
I have at least 1 avocado per day, I add it to my toast, eggs, salads, main courses, you name it!
And this is because avocados are:
- Loaded with fiber, which helps you to feel full for longer
- Contain more potassium than bananas
- Good source of B vitamin which helps to fight off the diseases
- Contain Vitamin C and E
- Contain natural plant chemicals that may help to prevent cancer
Tips
- Avocados need lots of salt, especially when mixed into sauce or crema. Yogurt makes things creamy but takes away the flavor that we bring back with the right amount of seasonings.
- The dipping sauce will get brown on top once stored. So just keep this in mind and scoop out the top layer where you'll find bright green avocado crema underneath. I don't recommend storing this for more than 24-48 hours tops, as the flavor will change and more browning will occur.
- You can also make this a creamy avocado sauce to drizzle over salads or barbecues. For a thinner consistency, simply add a little water or plant-based milk to thin it out. Then transfer into sauce or squeeze bottle and refrigerate until ready to use. You may need to adjust the rest of the ingredient quantities.
- If you love jalapenos, be sure to check out these melt-in-your-mouth delicious Jalapeno Cornbread Muffins. These freeze very well too!
Serving Suggestions
Okay, along with chunky guacamole this avocado crema it’s the ultimate sauce for anything Tex-Mex-related. It pairs beautifully with a variety of foods.
You can top your fajitas, tacos, and burritos with it. Use in chicken wraps, sandwiches, crunchwraps, buddha bowls, taquitos, and quesadillas. Or dip veggies and tortilla chips in this silky smooth perfection.
My favorite on this blog are:
Tuna Tacos - fish tacos with avocado crema taste amazing, with or without the Mango Salsa.
Cauliflower Tacos - oven-baked cauliflower bites combined with this creamy sauce just melt in your mouth.
I love adding leftover crema .. well, essentially everywhere. Serve this dip with Pork Chops or Tuna steak. You'll not regret this.
Also, grilled chicken goes very well with this avocado lime crema recipe.
Freezing And Storing Instructions
Store. Transfer avocado crema into an airtight container or zip lock bag and refrigerate for up to 48 hours (is best but can be up to 2-3 days tops).
If stored in an airtight container, you can add a piece of plastic wrap on top or pour a bit of cold water on top and close the lid (this is the same when storing guacamole).
This will delay the browning effect just a bit.
If you add water, don’t store the crema for longer than a day, just my experience as the flavor will change and texture too.
Some browning will still occur, and this is normal. It is safe to eat but I recommend removing the top layer before consumption.
Freeze. I don’t recommend it but it can be done the same way by packing the crema into zip lock bags or using a vacuum sealer machine if you have one. Freeze for up to 1-2 months.
Meal prep. The process of making avocado crema is fairly easy and quick. I don’t recommend making it upfront or cutting avocados earlier as they will brown quickly especially ripe avocados.
FAQ
Absolutely. Avocado crema is traditionally made using lime juice but If you like the lemon taste more, you can do that instead. Or what I like to do sometimes, is to mix lemon and lime juice 50:50 and add it to my homemade guacamole. These two citrus fruit juices combined result in an even better final result. Orange juice can be used as well but the flavor will change more.
You can freeze ready-made avocado crema. But the flavor may change and not taste the freshest. You can add more lime juice to help prevent the crema from oxidizing and getting too brown, which it will eventually do. Pack the crema into an airtight container or zip lock bag (there should be no air at all) and freeze for 1-2 months.
Recommended Equipment
- Food Processor - makes your crema ultra creamy and smooth.
- Handheld Blender - another alternative that is super easy to use and less cleanup.
- Squeeze Bottles - add some water to your crema and it becomes a sauce. Use squeeze bottles to drizzle the sauce over salads, grilled meats, and more.
- Airtight Food containers, Zip Lock Bags, Vacuum Sealer Machine - for easy hassle free storage!
Easy Appetizer Recipes
All APPETIZER recipes.
More Tex Mex Recipes
We love everything Southwest and Mexican Style food recipes, tacos, fajitas, wraps, chilis, taco salads, you name it!
Check out my latest favorites:
- Easy Steak Fajita Tacos - steak and tacos, just melt-in-your-mouth--delicious-kinda-flavor!
- Easy Shrimp Fajita - a single skillet, mouth-watering dish that’s loaded with irresistible flavors, tender shrimp, and seasoned veggies.
- Taco Salad With Catalina Dressing - the salad is great but the Catalina dressing even greater!
- Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme - the all-time favorite Taco bell copycat Crunchwrap Supreme recipe with ground beef and more.
Taco dinner boards are fairly easy, cheap, delicious, and most importantly healthier than the restaurant. If you want more Taco Bar ideas I have a great one-stop-shop kinda deal for you, check out my Easy Taco Dinner Party Board recipe over here.
And more healthy tacos!
Anything from Creamy Chicken Tacos, Easy Steak Fajita tacos, to completely vegan options such as Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Kale tacos. We love 'em all!
I hope you'll enjoy this avocado crema recipe, please leave a rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo of your food and tag me on Instagram @theyummy_bowl. I love seeing your creations!
Thank you for reading,
Love,
Julia
Avocado Crema With Jalapeno
INGREDIENTS
- 2 large ripe avocados (about 10 oz or 280 grams)
- ½ cup plain greek yogurt (unsweetened or sour cream at least 18-20% fat)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (or bottled)
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon fresh garlic (minced or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon jalapeno (seeds removed, chopped)
- 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves
- Dash of olive oil (optional) (or avocado oil for smoother texture)
INSTRUCTIONS
- This is a very simple method of making this avocado dip. You'll need a food processor but can make it by hand too. This will although take more time and not result in an ultra-smooth consistency, which is fine too.
- Add all the ingredients into your blender or mini food processor. Pulse until smooth, and the desired texture, You can add a little cold water to thin it out, but essentially crema should be thick and spreadable.
- Serve right away with tortilla chips, tacos, or buddha bowls. Taco Tuesday has never been so good!
- This recipe makes about 2 cups of avocado crema.
Video
NOTES
- Store. Transfer avocado crema into an airtight container or zip lock bag and refrigerate for up to 48 hours (is best but can be up to 2-3 days tops). If stored in a container, you can add a piece of plastic wrap on top of the crema or pour a bit of cold water on top and close the lid (this is the same when storing guacamole). This will delay the browning effect just a bit. If you add water, don’t store the crema for longer than a day, just my experience as the flavor will change and texture too.
- Some browning will still occur, and this is normal. It is safe to eat but I recommend removing the top layer before consumption.
- Can you freeze avocado crema? You can freeze ready-made avocado crema. But the flavor may change and not taste the freshest. You can add more lime juice to help prevent the crema from oxidizing and getting too brown, which it will eventually do. Pack the crema into an airtight container or zip lock bag (there should be no air at all) and freeze for 1-2 months.
- Avocados need lots of salt, especially when mixed into sauce or crema. Yogurt makes things creamy but takes away the flavor that we bring back with the right amount of seasonings.
PRIVATE NOTES
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Julia
Serve this easy and quick creamy avocado dip with sandwiches, tacos, nachos, tortilla chips or as a spread on toast!