Christmas Guacamole Wreath Appetizer

Name: Christmas Guacamole Wreath Appetizer
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 6 ripe avocados; 2 cans RO*TEL® Original Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies ((10 ounces each) drained well); 2 Tablespoons lime juice; ½ cup red onion (chopped); 3 cloves garlic (minced); ½ teaspoon ground cumin; ½ cup fresh cilantro (finely chopped); salt (to taste); cherry tomatoes and cilantro leaves (for garnish); tortilla chips or vegetables (for serving)

Special diet: gluten-free, nut-free, oil-free, soy-free, vegan

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Wow your guests this holiday season by serving Christmas guacamole in the shape of a wreath. This crowd-pleasing appetizer is easy to make in about 15 minutes. No special mold required!

Guacamole garnished with cherry tomatoes and cilantro in the shape of a wreath with a bowl of tortilla chips on the side.

When it comes to holiday entertaining, you can't go wrong with serving a variety of plant-based appetizers like hummus with sesame seeds and vegan stuffed mushrooms.

But if you're looking for something really festive, this Christmas guacamole is a centerpiece your friends and family will rave about.

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Why you'll love this recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
Storing
Serving suggestions
Recipe FAQs
More vegan appetizers for entertaining
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Why you'll love this recipe

Almost everyone loves guacamole, and the pop of red makes it extra festive.
No special equipment is required: simply use a small bowl and a large platter to create your wreath mold.
You can serve it with a variety of dippers including tortilla chips, whole-grain crackers, and fresh vegetables such as red bell pepper strips, celery, and jicama sticks.

Ingredients

While you can use your favorite guacamole to make your wreath, I experimented with a lot of different ingredients until I came up with what I think is the perfect Christmas guacamole recipe.

Besides the ingredients shown in the image above, you will also need ground cumin and salt for seasoning. (You can also take a short cut and make my easy guacamole with only 4 ingredients.)

Then for garnishing, use some cilantro leaves and cherry tomatoes. I love how they look like sprigs of holly.

For the complete list of ingredients with measurements plus recipe instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Instructions

As you can see in the step-by-step photos below, once you've prepared the guacamole, turning it into the shape of a wreath is quite easy. You don't need any special equipment, just a shallow serving bowl and a small bowl to form a mold.

Collage of 4 numbered images showing how to make this recipe.

Take the small bowl and place it in the center of the large bowl.
Spoon the guacamole around the "ring".
Continue adding guacamole until it forms the shape of a wreath.
Carefully remove the small bowl from the center. Don't worry if your fingers mess up the shape a little. You can smooth out the guacamole to correct for any little imperfections.

Guacamole garnished with cherry tomatoes and fresh cilantro leaves.

Add your desired garnishes such as cherry tomatoes and fresh cilantro leaves.

Storing

To store leftover guacamole in the refrigerator, try this method which I learned from the kitchn:

In a bowl with a tight-fitting lid, pat down the guacamole with a spoon to remove any air bubbles.
Drizzle about ½ an inch of lukewarm water on top of the guacamole.
Put the lid on and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
When ready to eat, pour off the water from the top of the guacamole.
Stir well and enjoy.

Serving suggestions

This Christmas guacamole wreath pairs well with other vegan holiday recipes. It's also wonderful with your favorite Mexican-inspired foods.

For a starter, you can't go wrong with a Mexican Christmas salad or hearts of palm vegan ceviche.

And for main dishes, soyrizo taco pasta, jackfruit chili, and vegan sweet potato tacos are all perfect choices.

Recipe FAQs

How do you choose a ripe avocado?

There's nothing more disappointing than slicing into an avocado and finding a mushy brown mess on the inside. While I can't guarantee this method will work 100% of the time, I've found that it's best to choose avocados that have a little piece of the stem still attached. If the stem is missing, don't buy it.

If you can't easily pull out the little stem, the avocado isn't ripe yet. I prefer to purchase avocados in this unripe state and let them ripen on my counter for a day or two.

If the stem comes out with no resistance, check the color of the small circle under the stem:

Brown: the avocado is mostly likely overripe.
Light yellow: it's not quite ripe yet.
Bright green: your avocado is ripe and ready to go.

How can I ripen an avocado very quickly?

Place the avocados in a brown paper bag with either some apples or bananas. Fold over the top of the bag and place it on your kitchen counter to speed up the ripening process.

What can I use instead of Rotel?

Substitute canned diced tomatoes. You can add some diced green chilies, if you like, as well.