Guacamole is one of my most favorite foods ever, but avocados can get really pricey. So when I’ve got that guac craving I mix up a batch of this simple avocado and tomato salad. It has all the same amazing flavors as guacamole, but with a slightly different ratio of ingredients to make it a bit more budget-friendly. This salad is so good that I love to spoon it over everything–eggs, chicken, fish, green salads, tortilla chips, and sometimes I just scoop it up right out of the bowl with a spoon. 😅

Originally posted 3/31/2010, updated 8/31/2022.

Keeping it Budget-Friendly

Avocados are definitely one of the higher-priced items in the produce aisle, so we’re using Budget Bytes principle #2, Use Ingredients Wisely, to help keep the price of this recipe in check. Whenever you use a higher-priced ingredient make sure to bulk up the recipe with plenty of lower-priced ingredients to help stretch the cost over more servings. For this recipe, I’ve bulked it up with plenty of Roma tomatoes to make those avocados go twice as far.

What Else Can I Add?

I love this salad because it’s not only great as-is, but you can take it in so many other directions. If you want to bulk it up even more by adding some more inexpensive ingredients, try adding some rinsed and drained black beans or thawed frozen corn kernels. You can also make it similar to ceviche by adding some boiled shrimp (whole or chopped).

How to Serve Avocado and Tomato Salad

Whenever I make this salad, I literally put it on everything. It’s good on chicken and fish, I pile it onto scrambled or fried eggs, I scoop it up with tortilla chips, and I also use it as a topper for a big bowl of salad. And sometimes I just serve it on my plate with dinner as its own stand-alone side dish!

How Long Does it Last?

To be honest, I’ve always eaten this entire batch within about 2-3 days, so I’m not sure how it holds up past that point. The lime juice in the salad helps keep the avocados from turning too brown, although their color does become less vibrant as it sits in the refrigerator and everything does soften a bit. That being said, the flavors in the salad begin to blend as it refrigerates and I think it’s absolutely wonderful the next day! So, if I were making this for company I’d definitely assemble it just before serving. If I was making it for myself I’d happily gobble up the leftovers over the next couple of days.

How to Make Avocado and Tomato Salad – Step by Step Photos

For this recipe, you’ll need 3 avocados, 3 small tomatoes, ¼ of a red onion, 1 clove of garlic, ¼ bunch of cilantro, 1 lime, and one jalapeño (oops, forgot to add that one to the pic!). 

Dice the avocado and tomatoes. Finely dice the red onion and jalapeño (seeds removed). Mince the garlic, and roughly chop the cilantro. Add the avocado, tomato, jalapeño, onion, and garlic to a large bowl. Juice the lime and add 1 Tbsp of the juice to the bowl along with 1 Tbsp olive oil, and ¼ tsp salt.

Give everything a brief stir to combine, then taste and add more salt or lime if desired. I ended up using ½ tsp salt and 2 Tbsp lime juice total.

Serve the salad with your favorite meal or just enjoy it straight out of the bowl (with or without chips)!

The post Avocado and Tomato Salad appeared first on Budget Bytes.