Guasacaca, pronounced “wah-sa ca-ca” (with the accent on the wah) is the Venezuelan version of guacamole. More savory and delicate than guacamole, guasacaca is a staple throughout the country and is kept in bottles as a popular condiment in homes, restaurants, and street food stands.
It’s also called wasakaka and guasacaca sauce. Some refer to it as avocado salsa.
You’ll need a food processor or blender for this recipe so you can get the avocados nice and smooth. Here’s how to make guasacaca.
Guasacaca
Use guasacaca sauce as a vibrant, delicious dip for vegetables, chips, crackers or bread. I scoop it out and eat it on top of salad or tortillas. Sometimes I’ll mix in beans. Guasacaca is light and healthy. It’s full of good fats and lots of protein.
This guasacaca recipe takes just 15 minutes prep time. You’ll also want to leave time for it the flavors to meld. Overnight is best but even leaving it to rest for one hour will make a big difference.
Read below for instructions on how to make guasacaca venezolana. Be sure to use ripe avocados. You can use this fresh condiment like you do salsa and guacamole.
Guasacaca recipe ingredients. You can substitute white vinegar for red wine vinegar.
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 2 green bell peppers, deveined, seeded, and roughly chopped
- 2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
- 2 cloves roasted garlic (or raw garlic)
- ½ bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
- ½ bunch fresh cilantro
- ⅓ cup red wine vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt – or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 jalapeno, seeded, stemmed, and finely chopped (optional)
Serves: 2 ½ cups
How to Make Guasacaca
- Combine all ingredients (onion, green peppers, avocados, garlic, parsley, cilantro, red wine vinegar, lime juice, and jalapeno if using) except for the olive oil, salt, and pepper in your food processor.
- Pulse until the mixture is a smooth puree. Stop occasionally to scrape the sides of the bowl.
- While the processor is running, add the olive oil into the mix. Continue processing until it is smooth.
- Remove guasacaca mixture from food processor and put in bowl. Be sure to scrape the sides. Add in the salt and pepper to taste.
- Let the guasacaca sauce stand at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to marry.
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper before serving.
- You can store guasacaca covered in the fridge but bring to room temperature before you serve it.
Drizzle this delightful Venezuelan sauce over fish, chicken, or beef. Try it over your fried eggs for a real breakfast treat. It also makes a nice mayonnaise alternative on sandwiches.
How Long Does it Keep?
I purposely double this recipe because I want to have leftovers. Just like with guacamole or any avocado dishes, they don’t last long once you open them. This means it is really important to seal wasakaka in an airtight container. Be sure to cover it completely whether you are making it in advance or if you are storing leftovers. It will keep in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 days.
What is the Difference Between Guasacaca and Guacamole?
While both guasacaca and guacamole use ripe avocados and cilantro, guasacasa also uses parsley, green peppers, and vinegar. Also, guasacaca has a smoother texture than guacamole. It’s less chunky.
What is the Best Way to Ripen Avocados?
Ideally, you can buy hard or just-ripening avocados from the grocery store and set them on your kitchen counter to ripen further. Once they are ripe, you will want to use them in two or three days. Once they over-ripen and turn brown, they don’t taste good.
To speed up the ripening process, you can put them in a brown paper bag. Check the avocados every day to check if they are ripe.
Adding Fresh Herbs
Adding fresh cilantro and fresh parsley really elevate this dish. Because you process them in the blender or food processor, the flavor really comes out. You won’t be eating the leaves like you may when these herbs are in other recipes.
The end result is a fresh sauce that’s bursting with fresh ingredients and lots of bold flavors.
Adding Jalapeno
Adding jalapeno really takes the spice level up a notch as well.
The great thing too is if someone likes it spicy hot and someone doesn’t, you can separate it into different bowls and add more jalapeno to one serving and less or none at all to the others.
Also, if you don’t have a jalapeno or don’t want to worry about burning your lips and your eyes by mistake, you can use hot sauce instead.
I wear disposable gloves when working with jalapeno. Another option is to use grocery bags or grocery produce bags and use them as gloves. I’ll cut up the entire pepper even if I’m not going to put the entire jalapeno in the recipe. Then I’ll spoon it out as I need it. I rarely use the whole jalapeno when I make guasacaca. But I’ll save it to put in stew or something else. But I only deal with cutting it up one time.
If you’ve ever touched hot peppers and then touched your eye by mistake, you’ll never make that mistake again. I highly recommend using produce bags or disposable gloves to protect your fingers unless you are experienced working with hot peppers.
Seasoning It to Your Taste
Once you’ve made it a few times, you will start to get better at knowing how you like it. You may want to add more fresh lime juice or more red wine vinegar. If you don’t have red wine vinegar, you can substitute white vinegar.
You may decide to forgo the spicy jalapenos and add more bell peppers instead. Make it your own based on what your family enjoys. It’s a flexible recipe.
It is also so easy to make as you put everything in the food processor. Add more or less, depending on your personal taste. On that note, you can also control the texture and consistency.
Homemade Guasacaca Venezolana
There are so many foods you can make from scratch. This fresh guasacaca recipe is easy to make and uses a lot of pantry staples such as red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and olive oil. I mostly always have garlic bulbs, onions, green peppers and limes. So when I want to make guasacaca, I just need to add avocados, parsley and cilantro to my shopping list.
Also, it’s a fairly forgiving recipe. So if you don’t have every last ingredient, you can still make it. I’ve made it without parsley before, and it still tastes amazing. (You will definitely want to use peppers, onion and avocado though!)
Having a food processor or blender means it takes just minutes to whip this up. It’s the first thing I make when I’m starting dinner so that the flavors have a chance to blend. I often double the recipe to enjoy the next day for leftovers.
My kids aren’t big fans of avocados, so they won’t eat guasacaca sauce. But my husband and I love it. I’ll just spoon it out and enjoy it plain. The combination of avocados, onions, peppers, with citrus, cilantro and parsley is just amazing. You can enjoy it as a dip, sauce or a salsa.
Learn how to make taco shells and use this sauce to top them. Yum!
It also has the benefit of being vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free.
If you make this homemade guasacaca recipe, please let me know how it was in the Comments. I’d love to hear how it went and what you served it with.
Guasacaca Recipe ~ Venezuela’s Answer to Guacamole
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion roughly chopped
- 2 green bell peppers deveined, seeded, and roughly chopped
- 2 ripe avocados pitted and peeled
- 2 cloves roasted garlic or raw garlic
- ½ bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
- ½ bunch fresh cilantro
- ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 jalapeno seeded, stemmed, and finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except for the olive oil and salt and pepper in your food processor.
- Pulse until the mixture is a smooth puree. Stop occasionally to scrape the sides of the bowl.
- While the processor is running, add the olive oil into the mix. Continue processing until it is smooth.
- Add the salt and pepper to taste.
- Let guasacaca sauce stand at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to marry.
- Taste and adjust your seasoning before serving. Store covered in the fridge but bring to room temperature before you serve it.